The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) held its latest Virtual Office Hour on March 13, 2023. Program Officers discussed the new Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and how it shapes funding opportunities. We host these office hours 1-2pm EST on the 2nd Monday of every month. There is a designated theme each time, but attendees are welcome to ask about other NSF-related topics. Program Officers (POs) from different research areas are present at each Virtual Office Hour, so a wide range of scientific perspectives are represented.

The presentation and other documents are available here:

Slides (PDF)

PAPPG 23-1

DEB Core Programs Solicitation

If you were unable to attend, here are some of the questions asked during the Q & A section:

For the DEB Core Programs guidance for specimen management within the data management plan, is the important part of this requirement making it clear to NSF reviewers how the specimens will be managed (e.g., would it be OK to indicate that specimens may be consumed during analysis or destroyed at the end)?

The specimen management plan requirement is meant to encourage the community to archive specimens that could be of value to science.  We want to see a clear plan showing that samples that should/could be archived are in fact preserved, but if there are things that need to be consumed or destroyed as part of the analysis, that is of course acceptable. Be sure to include both your plan, and critically, your rationale, for specimen management in your data management plan.

Regarding archiving specimens, will there be a push to have a plan to archive experimental data or lab strains?

Experimental data are already covered in the data management plan requirements. Lab-generated strains aren’t specifically included in the updated guidance on specimen management, but we encourage you to include that information in your specimen management plan as reviewers/panelists ask these questions during the review process.

Is there an advantage to applying to the Small Grant program? For example, does it draw from a less-competitive pot of money?

The Small Grant (SG) special category is meant to provide a track for complete, rigorous research projects that happen to be smaller in scope (and budget) than a typical project. There is not a separate pot of money for SGs, and they are reviewed under the same merit review criteria as other “core” proposals.  However, the “SG” designation flags these projects as smaller in scale, and reviewers are thus alerted to not expect the same grand scale of a project as one with a much larger budget. SGs have a budget cap of $200,000. SGs could also be used to support graduate student research ideas. In that case, though, the student would not be an official Co-PI, but it should be clear in the proposal where the ideas originate and to whom the funds would be directed. In sum, we suggest you submit your proposals with a budget that is necessary for you to complete the project you have described, whether that is a “Small Grant” or not will depend on your particular situation and scope.

Does a plan for safe and inclusive working environments plan apply to work done remotely, example, surveys/ trainings over zoom?

Off-campus or off-site research is defined as data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site, such as fieldwork, and research activities on vessels or aircraft. Each proposing organization must determine whether the proposed work is considered off-campus or off-site. If the surveys and trainings are done from your home institution via a computer, it is unlikely that this would qualify as off-campus, but having a conversation with your Sponsored Research/Program Office is smart. The final determination of what qualifies as off-campus or off-site must come from your institution.

NSF BIO/GEO would like the safe and inclusive working environments plan to be project specific. However, do you have a recommendation of minimum language? How detailed do we need to describe the field setting? We have multiple sites (international) that will differ each trip. Also, what if a non-lead on a collaborative has fieldwork but not the lead?

The Safe and Inclusive Working Environments Plan (SAI Plan) requires one plan per project, and it must cover all field sites and settings in the project, regardless of whether that is international or in different places during different years. The lead PI for the entire project is the only one who will see the checkbox for off-campus or off-site research on the Cover Page, so that PI must be the one who checks that box for the proposal (and uploads the SAI Plan) even if a non-lead PI is the only one doing fieldwork. The level of detail required for the 2pg Supplementary Document should allow the reader of the plan to understand the safety challenges in the various settings and how the plan ameliorates those challenges. 

Please reach out to a PO if you have any questions about the proposal submission and review process in DEB programs. NSF has suggested 5 tips on working with Program Officers as part of the NSF 101 series on our Science Matters blog.

Check out the upcoming office hour topics below and be sure to check back here or on the NSF Events Page for information on how to register. Our next virtual office hour will be held April 10, 2023, from 1-2pm Eastern Time where we will be discussing research opportunities available to primarily undergraduate institutions.

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:                  

April 10: Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI)

May 8: CAREER Solicitation

Name and Cluster:  Steve Dudgeon, Population and Community Ecology

Education: Earned a B.A. degree in Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Maine

Home Institution: California State University Northridge

Tell us about your research:

What I enjoy most about ecology is how much we learn from integrating information across different levels of biological organization, from molecules to ecosystems, and across disciplines. I am an ecologist working primarily at community, population and organismal scales of organization. My interests in ecological communities lie in studying how an environment, at different times, can support different community assemblages; an increasingly frequent and concerning theme in the 21^st century. Our work shows that variability in the interactions between species and their environment through time, as well as the tempo of ecological dynamics, enables switches between community states and influence the resilience and persistence of different communities.

This same idea of a single system having multiple states permeates my other research interests as well. I am fascinated by clonal eukaryots that have complex life cycles having more than one free-living stage. I study red algae with multiple free-living stages, including both sexual and asexual individuals, to learn how species generate and maintain variant life cycles and the ecological benefits they afford. At the organismal level, I study colonial hydrozoans to understand how physiology regulates morphological plasticity in colonial invertebrates.

Why do you want to serve with NSF?

I have always enjoyed reviewing proposals and serving on panels when I have been given the opportunity. The intellectual stimulation of reviewing and discussing ideas at the forefront of research has provided a much-needed balance in my career development as scholar, teacher and mentor. It is important to me that I put my skills to their best use. Serving at NSF provides an opportunity to put my strengths as a scientist scholar to greater use at a larger scale than my individual research by contributing to the collective effort of advancing research in the nation.

What are you looking forward to in your tenure here at NSF?

I am looking forward to many things while at NSF, but 4 top the list: (1) I am excited to work with my colleagues in DEB as part of a team to advance knowledge in ecology and evolution. (2) I look forward to meeting many new people from the broad spectrum of ecological sub-disciplines studying different ecosystems and assisting with their efforts to advance knowledge in ecology, (3) how NSF operates to deliver its mission (from the outside, seemingly so smoothly!), and (4) how much I will learn about all of the fascinating research happening in ecology and evolution!

Join us Monday, March 13th, 1 – 2pm ET for DEB’s next Virtual Office Hour. Program Officers will be discussing the new Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and how it shapes funding opportunities. Representatives from DEB programs will be available for questions. To participate, please use the registration link below. Upcoming DEB Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on DEBrief, so we suggest you also sign up for blog notifications.    

REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE

If you can’t make it to this or any future office hours, don’t worry! Come back to the blog afterwards, as we post recaps and the presentation slides of all office hour sessions. You can also visit our Office Hours homepage for slideshows and recaps of past topics.  

DEB’s Virtual Office Hours are on the second Monday of every month from 1 – 2pm ET. Below is a list of upcoming dates and topics (subject to change). Be sure to add them to your calendars and register ahead of time.        

Upcoming Office Hour Topics:                       

March 13: PAPPG: Cracking the code – Understanding NSF policies and procedures that shape your funding opportunities.

April 10: Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI)

May 8: CAREER Solicitation

On February 27, BIO and GEO Program Officers hosted a Virtual Office Hours about the international aspects of the Biodiversity on a Changing Planet (BoCP) program. The BoCP solicitation describes how to submit a proposal to work in locations outside the U.S. as well as formal partnerships with NSFC (China), FAPESP (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and NRF (South Africa). You can find a recording of the webinar here as well as the transcript, and the presentation slides here.

Check out this post from our friends at the Office of the Assistant Director here or in full below:

As was noted previously in this blog, several solicitations from the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO) and Geological Sciences (GEO) will soon require the submission of a Safe and Inclusive Work Environments Plan (list of those solicitations below) that will be considered as part of the Broader Impacts criteria during the review process.

A virtual office hour was held on February 7. Slides and a recording are available at https://beta.nsf.gov/events/safe-inclusive-working-environments-requirements/2023-02-07.

A second Virtual Office Hour will occur on March 20, 2023 from 3 – 4 PM ET. Program Officers from BIO and GEO will provide an overview of the new requirement and take your questions and comments.

As a reminder, this 2-page supplementary document must address the following four sections:

1. a brief description of the field setting and unique challenges for the team;  
2. the steps the proposing organization will take to nurture an inclusive off-campus or off-site working environment, including processes to establish shared team definitions of roles, responsibilities, and culture, e.g., codes of conduct, trainings, mentor/mentee mechanisms and field support that might include regular check-ins, and/or developmental events;   
3. communication processes within the off-site team and to the organization(s) that minimize singular points within the communication pathway (e.g., there should not be a single person overseeing access to a single satellite phone); and   
4. the organizational mechanisms that will be used for reporting, responding to, and resolving issues of harassment if they arise.   

If you are planning a submission that will involve off-campus or off-site research, defined as data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site including via fieldwork and research activities on vessels and aircraft, we encourage you to join this webinar. 

Register for the webinar HERE

The solicitations that currently include this requirement are:

• BIO Core Solicitations:
  • Division of Environmental Biology (NSF 23-549) 
  • Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (NSF 23-547) 
  • Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (NSF 23-548) 
• Biodiversity on a Changing Planet (BoCP, NSF 23-542) 
• Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP, NSF 23-559)
• Pathways into the Geosciences (GEOPAths NSF 23-540) 
• Cultural Transformation in the Geosciences Community (CTGC NSF 23-539) 

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) held its latest Virtual Office Hour on February 13, 2023. Program Officers were joined by representatives from the Division for Grants and Agreements where they discussed tips and tricks for writing a great budget. We host these office hours 1-2pm EST on the 2nd Monday of every month. There is a designated theme each time, but attendees are welcome to ask about other NSF-related topics. Program Officers (POs) from different research areas are present at each Virtual Office Hour, so a wide range of scientific perspectives are represented.

The presentation and other documents are available here:

Slides (PDF)

PAPPG 23-1 

If you were unable to attend, here are some of the questions asked during the Q & A section:

Is the level of detail in budget justifications a matter for institutional policy/practice? How closely  are budgets considered during the review process?

The budget justification should provide enough information in order to illustrate how the amount was determined as well as that the funds are considered necessary, reasonable, allocable, and allowable under the solicitation. The PAPPG is specific about trying to estimate costs for travel, and the grantees and PIs must adhere to travel policies as written and specific to the institution, as well as federal policy.  Please remember that the closer the estimate, the better the program can plan to fund your costs if your proposal is recommended. Budgets are reviewed as part of the review process especially if funds are allocated for international collaboration.

Does the NSF offer any additional training for small institutions for how to manage budgets if the institution does not have a defined Sponsored Research Office?

There are resources available on the Office of Budget, Finance and Award Management website including the Prospective New Awardee Guide as well as the PAPPG to provide you with additional guidance. There are training, tools, and resources sections and webinars where we provide information on managing your award  step by step to understand what is expected of the grantee. Additionally, the Division of Grants and Agreements partners with NSF Cost Analysis and Pre-Award Branch where they will provide business assistant visits to check suitability and provide feedback on policies and procedures.

Is it possible to request more than two months of support to be able to buy out some teaching?

This is an institutional call to determine if the support is needed to ensure that the PI has enough time and resources to complete the project aims.

Is there a particular form for the budget justification? I have been looking online in the NSF Document Library, but I haven’t found anything.

There is no form for the budget justification.

In the Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) program (NSF 22-603), the solicitation allows for up to $100K in direct, non-salary costs to support the PI’s project. It also allows subawards. Normally, the subaward’s indirect costs are considered part of the lead institution’s direct cost. For the NSF MCA solicitation, should subaward indirect costs be excluded when calculating that $100K direct cost cap?

This would depend on the grantee’s current written negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA). Reach out to your Sponsored Research Office to find out.

For Participant Support Costs, do we put the field study and transportation under Participants Support Costs? And if the proposal includes field trips to museums and chaperones/project director need to attend, where do we put the faculty chaperone’s entrance fee or per diem?

This category can be a challenge to characterize because grantees describe and define things differently. Take a look at the PAPPG: (v) Participant Support (Line F on the Proposal Budget).

This budget category refers to direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with NSF-sponsored conferences or training projects. (See also Chapter II.F.7.) Speakers and trainers generally are not considered participants and should not be included in this section of the budget. However, if the primary purpose of the individual’s attendance at the conference is learning and receiving training as a participant, then the costs may be included under participant support. If the primary purpose is to speak or assist with management of the conference, then such costs should be budgeted in appropriate categories other than participant support. 

Field study costs and transportation costs will probably be placed and described under G6 other, travel (if applicable).  Chaperones will probably be under G6 because technically they are not participants, but other types of temporary employees.  The organization should follow established procedures on how these costs can be added to the budget appropriately.

Can you explain what the Participant Support Costs stipend consists of? If we give participants money to cover their travel expenses, will that be a stipend? If we pay for their travel expenses, will that just be under Other Participant Support Costs?

Each institution should have internal policies and procedures as it relates to this cost category. Please follow the internal policies when preparing the budget.

Please reach out to a PO if you have any questions about the proposal submission and review process in DEB programs. NSF has suggested 5 tips on working with Program Officers as part of the NSF 101 series on our Science Matters blog.

Check out the upcoming office hour topics below and be sure to check back here or on the NSF Events Page for information on how to register. Our next virtual office hour will be held March 13, 2023, from 1-2pm Eastern Time where we will be discussing the new Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and how it shapes funding opportunities.

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:                   

March 13: PAPPG: Cracking the code – Understanding NSF policies and procedures that shape your funding opportunities

April 10: Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI)

May 8: CAREER Solicitation

Earlier this month, BIO and GEO Program Officers hosted a Virtual Office Hours for the newly required Safe and Inclusive Work Environments Plan. You can read more about the plan here and find a recording of the webinar here and the presentation slides here.

Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity – GRANTED is a new initiative at NSF that seeks to fund conferences, symposia, and workshops around one or more of three primary themes: enhancing practices and processes within the research enterprise, strengthening the research enterprise workforce, and partnering with national and regional professional societies to translate effective practices into diverse institutional and organizational contexts.

The GRANTED website is full of additional information including a video explaining the concept of the initiative and information on how to sign up for upcoming Office Hours.

• Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (ET)
  GRANTED Office Hours
• Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (ET)
  GRANTED Office Hours

Conferences proposals are due March 15th, 2023 and here are the webinar slides that contain some helpful Q&As.

Questions about GRANTED and the submission process can be sent to GRANTED@nsf.gov.

The Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation has initiated a Permanent Program Director search in the Evolutionary Processes and Ecosystem Science clusters, which will close 03/02/2023.

Permanent Program Director is a full-time position within the Federal Government. The responsibilities of Program Directors include program planning and management; representation of the program, Division, and the Foundation within the scientific community; communication within and outside of NSF; and scientific and programmatic leadership. Additionally, these positions involve professional development, including active participation in professional activities, as well as pursuing individual research, as workload and travel funds permit.

You are encouraged to contact the Program Directors below to learn more about the position:

For more details and how to apply, please visit the job announcement.

Join us Monday, February 13th, 1 – 2pm ET for DEB’s next Virtual Office Hour. Program Officers will be joined by the Division of Grants and Agreements to discuss tips and tricks for writing a great budget. Representatives from DEB programs will be available for questions. To participate, please use the registration link below. Upcoming DEB Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on DEBrief, so we suggest you also sign up for blog notifications.    

REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE

If you can’t make it to this or any future office hours, don’t worry! Come back to the blog afterwards, as we post recaps and the presentation slides of all office hour sessions. Visit our Office Hours homepage for slideshows and recaps of past topics.  

DEB’s Virtual Office Hours are on the second Monday of every month from 1 – 2pm ET. Below is a list of upcoming dates and topics (subject to change). Be sure to add them to your calendars and register ahead of time.        

Upcoming Office Hour Topics:                       

February 13: How to Write a Great Budget

March 13: PAPPG: Cracking the code – Understanding NSF policies and procedures that shape your funding opportunities

April 10: Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI)

May 8: CAREER Solicitation