This outline addresses key development components of a standard NSF proposal; however, it does not address all elements required to complete the application or budget. Be sure to refer to the program solicitation applicable to your proposal and the application instructions in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
...
See PAPPG (NSF 20-1) Chapter II.C.g for NSF's full budget guidelines and instructions.
...
, including the "NSF 2-month rule," which limits salary compensation for senior personnel to no more than two months of their regular salary in any one year across all NSF grants.
In the Maxwell School, your contact person in the SU Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for assistance with your budget and other technical documents, and for submitting your application, is Caroline McMullin (cmcmulli@syr.edu).
...
Depending on your academic department or research center, the departmental administrator or budget manager might also be able to help.
...
If you are not sure who to work with, contact Jill Ferguson (jsfergus@maxwell.syr.edu).
...
Budget Development Resources
- OSP Budget Template
- Budget Justification Template
- Determining Allowable Direct Costs and Indirect Costs
- Maxwell Research Policies and Rates
...
Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources
Required; no page limit
From the PAPPG (NSF 20-1):
This section of the proposal is used to assess the adequacy of the resources available to perform the effort proposed to satisfy both the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts review criteria. Proposers should describe only those resources that are directly applicable. Proposers should include an aggregated description of the internal and external resources (both physical and personnel) that the organization and its collaborators will provide to the project, should it be funded. Such information must be provided in this section, in lieu of other parts of the proposal (e.g., Budget Justification, Project Description). The description should be narrative in nature and must not include any quantifiable financial information. Reviewers will evaluate the information during the merit review process and the cognizant NSF Program Officer will review it for programmatic and technical sufficiency.
...
Required; limited to 2 pages
From the PAPPG (NSF 20-1):
Data Management Planning Resources
...
If applicable; limited to 1 page
From the PAPPG (NSF 20-1):
Documentation of Collaborative Arrangements
- Subaward
- Any substantial collaboration with individuals not included in the budget should be described in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal and documented in a letter of collaboration from each collaborator. The letter should follow content and format instructions provided by the NSF (see below).
- While letters of collaboration are permitted, unless required by a specific program solicitation, letters of support should not be submitted as they are not a standard component of an NSF proposal.
From the PAPPG (NSF 20-1):
Documentation of collaborative arrangements of significance to the proposal through letters of collaboration. (See Chapter II.C.2.d(iv)). Letters of collaboration should be limited to stating the intent to collaborate and should not contain endorsements or evaluation of the proposed project. The recommended format for letters of collaboration is as follows:
"If the proposal submitted by Dr. [insert the full name of the Principal Investigator] entitled [insert proposal title] is selected for funding by NSF, it is my intent to collaborator and/or commit resources as detailed in the Project Description or the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal."
While letters of collaboration are permitted, unless required by a specific program solicitation, letters of support should not be submitted as they are not a standard component of an NSF proposal. A letter of support is typically from a key stakeholder such as an organization, collaborator or Congressional Representative, and is used to convey a sense of enthusiasm for the project and/or to highlight the qualifications of the PI or co-PI. A letter of support submitted in response to a program solicitation requirement must be unique to the specific proposal submitted and cannot be altered without the author’s explicit prior approval. Proposals that contain letters of support not authorized by the program solicitation may be returned without review.
...
Collaborators and Other Affiliations Information
Required; no page limit
- Collaborators and Other Affiliations (COA) information must be separately provided for each individual identified as senior project personnel (see NSF PAPPG, Chapter II.C.1.e.)
- The COA information must be provided through use of the COA template. The template has been developed to be fillable; however, the content and format requirements must not be altered by the user.
- Save the template in .xlsx format and directly upload into FastLane as a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Single Copy Document.