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Funding Notification (FY2010)

Q: When can proposers expect to receive notification of FY2010 funding? 
A: Spring of 2010

Q: What is a realistic project start date for projects receiving FY2010 funding?
A: Spring/Summer 2010 Eligibility

Q: Can a proposer be a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on multiple ISE grant submissions?
A: The current solicitation does not place any limits on the number of proposals that a PI can submit.

Q: Can a PI be from a corporate agency?
A: Yes. Proposals can be submitted by non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Q: Can universities and businesses collaborate on a proposal? Does it make a difference if the business is a not-for-profit?
A: Proposals to the ISE Program can include any combination of organizational types, including not-for-profits.

Q: Will a PI or Co-PI who does not have a history of prior NSF support be penalized?
A: No. Each proposal is evaluated on the merits of the case that is made for funding and on the qualifications of the PI and team, whether they have received NSF funding before or not.

Program Audiences

Q: Is the ISE Solicitation (RFP 09-553) designed to serve K-12 settings?
A: The mission of the Informal Science Education program is to stimulate innovations in learning STEM in out of school settings. This doesn’t mean that informal learning can’t occur inside of school buildings, such as, after-school or community programs. What we don’t fund is the development of, for example, 5th grade classroom earth science instructional materials developed exclusively for a formal, K-12 academic program. Additionally, formal education audiences may be appropriate secondary audiences are often targeted as part of the outreach efforts of exhibit and television projects when constituting a small fraction of the total audience. Studies of linkages between formal and informal educational practices are encouraged.

Q: According to the solicitation, the audiences for full scale in full scale development projects are the general public and professionals. Are undergraduate students considered to be a professional audience?
A: Undergraduates can be considered “professional audiences” if the project’s goal is to train them to contribute to the education of the public about STEM or otherwise gain advance the knowledge and skills of informal STEM education professions – the same way that, say, “science center volunteers” might be trained to work with visitors. One issue is whether that training comes as part of a formal education experience where tuition and fees are involved. The ISE program does not pay for undergraduate tuition and fees. See also DR-K12 Solicitation: 09-602.

Q: The solicitation refers to the broad topic of "science.” Would projects related to health or medicine fall under "science" and be considered appropriate for an ISE grant?
A: Typically, health and medicine are not eligible for NSF funding, but would be eligible at NIH. However, the operative rule is that, if one can find that NSF supports research in the discipline of interest, then one can submit to us for an education project. For example, microbial ecology research is funded by NSF, so education related to that is eligible. Health education and clinical medicine would not be. Refer to the Grant Proposal Guide.

IRB

Q: Are we required to submit our proposals to a human subjects review board in advance of the full proposal submission?
A: You are not required to have the IRB process completed by the time one submits the full proposal. However, it is important that the Human Subjects issue is addressed in the proposal and that the determination has been made whether to check the box on Human Subjects on the front cover of the proposal.

Q: When is the official IRB letter needed?
A: An IRB approval letter is not required for preliminary proposals. However, an official IRB letter must be in place before funding can be received after a full proposal has been recommended for funding. Generally, proposers wait until they get to the negotiation phase before obtaining an IRB letter. So, it depends on the availability of your IRB to process your required documents and produce the IRB letter once funding is imminent. In other cases, research protocols cannot be established until sometime after the project has been underway. In such cases the award letter will stipulate that the research cannot be conducted until the IRB letter has been received.

Deliverables

Q: What specific types of project activities will the ISE program fund? For instance, will you fund programs, summer camps, and learning materials, as well as support an online sharing communities and national competitions?
A: The program funds informal science education research as well as the development, production and evaluation of innovative out of school learning experiences. It does not fund the actual operations of those once they are developed and evaluated. So, for example, it doesn’t fund the operational expenses of a summer camp as a stand alone endeavor. But it can fund the development and evaluation of new ideas on how to improve the STEM learning outcomes of summer camps or summer camps that are part of a comprehensive, year-round youth program. In the same regard, the program can’t fund a competition, but it can fund something like a study of how to develop effective competitions.

Q: Will the ISE program support book publishing as a primary deliverable?
A: The program funds the development of innovations in informal science education and have several different project types to meet various needs and circumstances as described in the program solicitation 09-553. Book publishing as a stand-alone activity is not something that we can fund. However, exhibit development, film, etc. are appropriate. In the case of exhibits or other comprehensive projects, books can accompany or may result from an exhibit, media, research, or other ISE project.

Budget, Costs, & Expenses

General Questions

Q: Is the funding level for projects denoted in the solicitation for the life of the project or for each year of the project? For example, are full scale development projects funded $1 to $3 million dollars for the full five years or for each year?
A: The funding level is for the life of the project, not for each year. Some projects, for example, may receive a total award amount of $3 million and the life of the project is 5 years.

Allowable Expenses

Q: What activities and expenses are ineligible for funding through the ISE program?
A: Funding for the following are not supported by the ISE program: capital or operating expenses; purchase of major or office equipment; vehicles; undergraduate tuition; paid advertising; admissions or similar fees; school field trips, camps, science fairs or similar competitions; or projects whose primary focus is health or medicine. Funds cannot be requested for costs recovered through the organization's federally negotiated indirect cost rate. [Refer to ISE Program Solicitation: 09-553]

Q: Is it permissible to request funding for graduate tuition for participants?
A: The ISE program budget allows for graduate student tuition, as does most of the NSF funded projects. Undergraduate tuition funding is not permissible.

Q: In Section B. Budgetary Information under the Other Budgetary Limitations, it states “Funds cannot be requested for costs recovered through the organization’s indirect cost rate”, what does this mean?
A: This means that you can’t put direct cost line items into your budget that are appropriate for the indirect cost line items. In other words, you can’t ask for the same funding twice in the budget.

Q: With regards to the new budgeting guidelines for Senior Personnel found in the GPG, can you provide more information about the two month salary limit for senior personnel?
A: The new NSF requirement on PI and other ISE personnel time relates mostly to university researchers. Many of the proposals to the ISE program request senior personnel at more than 2 months. You must provide a brief rationale for the time beyond 2 months in the budget justification section.

Budget Submission

Q: For projects with budgets greater than the NSF request, should we still include a total project budget spreadsheet as a Supplementary Document?
A: This is a bit more complicated now since the maximum award for some project types has some flexibility, but only in rare cases. The best thing to do is contact a program officer to explain the total budget situation and get advice on how best to proceed.

Q: We anticipate seeking funding from other sources, should we enter our expected cost sharing amount in line item “M” on the budget form?
A: No. The ISE program no longer requires fiduciary information related to cost sharing. Line item “M” should always be entered as $0 for the ISE program, regardless of a project’s intent to acquire additional funding resources.

General Questions

Q: If you submit a preliminary proposal as one project type, can you submit that full proposal as a different project type? Can you change the PI from the prelim to the full proposal? Can you change the lead institution from the prelim to the full proposal?
A: In moving from preliminary proposals to full proposals, the project type can change and in some instances, reviewers might actually suggest that the PI consider changing the project type. Such comments are advisory, as is the Encourage or Discourage evaluation. The PI can also change, although it is best if the change is to make a Co-PI the PI. Consideration needs to be given to the fact that the preliminary proposal forms the basis of the reviews that the PI will receive, and thus a full proposal should benefit from those reviewer comments. However, the submitting institution cannot change.

Q: Is there a limit to the number of awards an institution can receive across all project types, or within a project type?
A: The guidelines indicate no limits on the number of proposals that can be submitted. The number of awards to an institution or PI does depend on a range of portfolio-balancing assessments that are taken into account at NSF.

Q: In the new solicitation, it seems that we are not required to have a collaborator for all types of projects. It seems that some research proposals, for example, may not have a collaborator. Are collaborators required for all types of proposals? A: The Project Management section of the narrative is the same for all project types. This includes a description of the collaborations that are appropriate to the nature of the proposed project and the impact it hopes to have.

Q: The solicitation says that research projects "may" be evaluated by an advisory board. Is it OK to use an external evaluator to evaluate a project instead of an advisory board? A: Yes. However, it is also a good idea to have an advisory board for a diversity of perspectives. Pathways Projects

Q: What category does a planning grant fall under? A: We expanded the planning grant category into what is now called Pathways, which allows for a range of activities as described in the guidelines.

Q: When applying for a Pathways grant, how much information should we include in the full proposals describing the major project we are working toward versus what we're seeking funding for under Pathways? A: A Pathways proposal must provide sufficient information that clearly indicates (1) what is the team’s intent, at the time the Pathways proposal is submitted, for what a future full-scale project might entail, and then, related to that, (2) what major issues/problems/decisions (via a feasibility study, pilot program, front-end audience work, etc.) need to be explored during the Pathways project to help clarify what the concept of the full-scale project will be.

Q: Is there a limit to the amount of money (or proportion of funds awarded, if successful) that can be allocated by the prime to its subcontractor(s) for Pathways Projects? A: Every project distributes its funds in different ways. There is no specification on that distribution. When the full proposal is submitted in November, the budget justification pages are where we and reviewers will look to see your rationale for the budget components. Full-Scale Development Projects

Q: What is the difference between full-scale development and broad implementation projects? A: Full-scale development is intended for the development of major NEW deliverables, e.g. TV programs, exhibits, etc. Broad implementation is intended specifically for expanding the impact of deliverables that have already been developed and proven their worth. If you need to clarify this issue, it is important to discuss your particular case with a program officer. Broad Implementation Projects

Q: What is the difference between full-scale development and broad implementation projects? A: Full-scale development is intended for the development of major NEW deliverables, e.g. TV programs, exhibits, etc. Broad implementation is intended specifically for expanding the impact of deliverables that have already been developed and proven their worth. If you need to clarify this issue, it is important to discuss your particular case with a program officer.

Q: In regard to Broad Implementation grants, is a formative evaluation required? A: It’s not required for all Broad Implementation projects, but it is expected for those that are planning adaptations such as improving the original product, reaching new audiences, or other incremental innovations.

Q: Do we have to identify all consultants and their roles in the full proposal?
A: Yes. In some cases, however, as with an exhibit development project, it might no be possible to identify the fabricator of the exhibit at the time of the submission. That is fine. If awarded, the award letter will contain a clause about the requirement for having the fabricator approved by the program officer when the project gets to that stage.

Q: Which section of the proposal should include the intended impacts?
A: The Project Rationale section is the primary place where the proposal should explain the intended impacts. Since Rationale, Design and Management are inter-related, the format allows PIs to continue to build and reinforce their case for the work.

Q: The guidelines mention mailing in CD/DVD's for media which cannot be submitted electronically. But can we still send panelists to a prototype website?
A: Yes.

Q: Please clarify what is allowed in the supplementary documents section and what the consequences may be for what is included and the length of documents.
A: In the new solicitation, we are trying to reinforce the idea that supplementary documents should not be extensive. The reasons for this are: (a) equity and a level playing field for PIs and (b) to reduce the burden on reviewers. ISE proposals have had a long history of including supplementary documents, some quite lengthy. Evaluation plans have not infrequently been longer than the proposal itself and have included pages of boilerplate descriptions of the evaluation firm.

So, while the new solicitation continues to allow for supplementary documents, the wording reinforces the principle of “judicious” use and deliberately does not specify page length, just as previous solicitations didn’t specify page length.

One important thing to keep in mind is that we will “return without review” proposals only with respect to the specific criteria stipulated in the solicitation, which talks about Research, Pathways, and CRPA proposals. We will not automatically return proposals, for example, based on the length of the evaluation plan. Nor will we tell reviewers to rate proposals lower whose supplementary documents are longer than any definite page length. Also, NSF has distinguished between “Appendices” and “Supplementary Documents,” a distinction that is not always understood by PIs. Like the rest of NSF, ISE can allow Appendices only if they receive prior authorization.

The ISE program staff has been strongly encouraging PIs to make sure that evaluation processes are seriously integrated into the 15 pages. This stems in part from our attempt to be responsive to the evaluation community’s interest in being fuller players in the conceptual development of proposals and, of course, in the project implementations.

Q: For full proposals, should we include a list of references cited?
A: Yes, a references cited page is required for the full proposal submissions.

Q: Are the review panels going to change?
A: In general, review panels will be organized as has been done in the past. However, ISE program staff and management continue to assess how to improve these processes, especially as we continue to get proposals from the field that combine several kinds of deliverables.

Q: Will preliminary proposals be fully reviewed in time to help the full proposal?
A: Yes. The timeframe between June 25 and November 19, 2009 was set to allow for timely feedback.

General Questions

Q: What’s the difference between a “supplement to research” and a “Communicating Research to Public Audiences” proposal?
A: All NSF awards are eligible to request from the program that gave the award a small amount of supplemental funding to assure adequate completion of the original scope of work. Typically, these involve additional research for a research award or, in the case of ISE, increasing the potential impact of an exhibit, TV program, etc. The “Communicating Research to Public Audiences” (CRPA) projects were previously designated as supplemental funding but are now distinct grants available to NSF researchers.

Supplemental awards are small awards made to existing ISE grant projects of up to six months beyond the project end date to ensure the adequate completion of the original scope of work. CRPAs are considered to be regular awards, not supplements.

Q: Can we list two PIs for CRPAs that are collaborations between a researcher and a science center (one from each)?
A: This is fine. The main point is that the submitting PI must have an active NSF research award, and the proposal is submitted via that PI’s institution; therefore, funding of the co-PI will pass through the lead institution to the other.

Q: Have funding levels for the ISE program changed now that it incorporates CRPA?
A: Since 2003, CRPA projects have been funded within the annual budget of the ISE program. That will continue.

Due Dates

Q: What are the proposal due dates for CRPA?
A: There are no deadlines for the CRPA project type.

Funding Notification

Q: How will decisions be made about the CRPA proposals, and how fast? Will they be sent out for review, or with the rolling deadline will it be an ISE staff decision?
A: All CRPA proposals go through the NSF merit review process and must have at least 3 written reviews and ratings. Reviewers have backgrounds in the science under consideration and in designing experience in informal science education. Evaluation processes are also important. We try to process proposals no longer than 6 months after the submission date. Since there is no deadline for CRPAs, decisions are made throughout the year.

Format

Q: What is the basic format for CRPA proposals?
A: The proposal format for the CRPA is the same as for other project types.

Eligibility

Q: Can education research projects from the basis for what is communicated in a CRPA proposal and/or project?
A: The intent of the CRPA is to communicate to the public about the scientific research of the PI. Education research is eligible.

Allowable Expenses

Q: Can CRPA funds be used to communicate only the results of cutting-edge research by an NSF investigator, or can they be used to convey information that includes the cutting-edge research and other related material?
A: The intent is to fund projects whose goal is to help the public understand some aspect of the research that the PI has conducted. Often such work needs to be put in a broader context, which is fine.

Q: Can the funds be used to support the refinement of a public lecture on a broad topic that is related to the investigator's current NSF-funded research?
A: Public lectures are rarely funded via the CRPA mechanism. The objective is to engage the public with learning experiences that go beyond traditional educational formats. These experiences could be exhibits, online experiences, film, radio, citizen science, and other communication vehicles.

Q: Could a CRPA grant be used to fund a series based on current NSF-funded research, or would each video have to highlight a current piece of research?
A: The main issue here is that the proposal must include the award number of the NSF-funded research that forms the basis of the proposed project.

Q: Can a postdoc salary be written into the CRPA grant?
A: Staffing for CRPA projects can include anyone who needs to be part of the team to do the job. Remember that NSF requires that postdocs have mentors who are identified in the proposal. Also, for CRPA projects, successful proposals include professionals with experience in informal science education on their teams – i.e. who know what the best practices are with respect to the informal education experiences that are proposed. The communication vehicles should not be activities like giving public lectures.

Evaluation

Q: What are evaluation criteria for CRPA proposals?
A: CRPA projects are usually relatively small in scope; however, the ISE program expects that informal science education evaluation professionals will be involved in these projects. Typically, evaluation should include some front-end analysis of the audience (especially since the STEM content will focus on current research), formative evaluation pertinent to the kind of project, and a modest summative evaluation indicating how well the intended impacts have been achieved. As with other ISE projects, the "Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects" document is a helpful tool. Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits should also be consulted.

General Questions

Q: Earlier solicitations talked about grant supplements. Do these still exist?
A: Yes. Those are awards that are generic to all NSF programs. For ISE they are supplements to active ISE awards. Supplements to research awards of other NSF programs are submitted to the research program. The NSF grants manual explains more about supplements.