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Heilmeier’s Catechism

Posted in Uncategorized

A set of questions credited to George H Heilmeier that anyone proposing a research project or product development effort should be able to answer.

  • What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
  • How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
  • What’s new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
  • Who cares? If you’re successful, what difference will it make?
  • What are the risks and the payoffs?
  • How much will it cost? How long will it take?
  • What are the midterm and final “exams” to check for success?

NSF CAREER Program Webinar – May 15th

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May 15, 2018 1:00 PM  to May 15, 2018 3:00 PM

 

The NSF CAREER Coordinating Committee hosts a webinar to answer participants’ questions about development and submission of proposals to the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER). The webinar will give participants the opportunity to interact with members of the NSF-wide CAREER Coordinating Committee in a question-and-answer format.

Further details here

https://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244740

WPI retires Cayuse and moves to Workspace

Posted in Uncategorized

Beginning April 2018, WPI will be transitioning away from Cayuse for Grants.Gov proposal applications, including NIH, DOE, ONR and DOD submissions. We will instead be utilizing Workspace, which is a submission portal integrated into the Grants.gov website.

Workspace utilizes fillable PDFs via webform to complete your application in a simple layout. Grants.Gov has issued an extremely helpful, short YouTube series on how to register and use Workspace. We encourage you to spend about 15 minutes watching the series on Workspace functionality here. You will find workspace registration instructions attached to this post as well.

Please contact your OSP department representative with questions and further guidance.

 

Thank you,

The WPI OSP Pre-Award Team

Lisa, Michelle, Tammy and Orla

 

NSF CAREER Workshop

Posted in Uncategorized

This workshop will provide you with the opportunity to hear from colleagues who have recently won a CAREER award.  Profs. Ivon Arroyo (SSPS), Lyubov Titova (Physics), and Craig Shue (CS) have graciously agreed to talk about their experiences and answer your questions.

In addition, Prof. Chrys Demetry, the Director of the Morgan Teaching and Learning Center, and a representative from the STEM Education Center will be available to provide you with advice and resources to help with the education/broader impact aspects of your application.

Lunch will be provided.

Date and Time: Thursday, April 26, 2018, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Location: Research Solutions Institute (RSI), 85 Prescott St., 4th Floor (Large Conference Room)

Registrationhttp://wpi.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_25bNiZYS7a78KGh

NSF PAPPG Changes and Proposal Compliance Checking Updates – January 29, 2018

Posted in NSF

Below is a link to the PAPPG (NSF 18-1) Policy Changes and Proposal Compliance Checking Updates Coming to FastLane and Research.gov on January 29, 2018.

https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp?t=0&idx=2

Here are a few significant changes regarding proposal preparation:

  • Collaborators and Other Affiliations Information – Please be sure to use the most up to date NSF COA template, which changed in January 2018.

https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/coa.jsp

  • Project Description – “Intellectual Merit” should now be specifically identified as a separate section.
  • Budget Justification – The page limitation has now been increased to 5 pages.

If you are planning a submission to the National Science Foundation, please carefully read the update in its entirety.  Please be advised that non-compliance with these changes could result in your proposal being returned without review.

Do not hesitate to reach out to your pre-award contact with any questions or concerns.

NIH new Parent Announcements and Clinical Trial determination

Posted in NIH

NIH have issued FORMS E for applications due after January 25th 2018.  One major change that we want to highlight is the importance of identifying at the outset if your study is a clinical trial, as this now impacts which funding opportunity you select.

Please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm for the list of NIH parent announcements for the new FORMS-E packages. Note that Parent announcements are now split by Clinical Trial Required, and Clinical Trial Not Allowed.  For example, the R01 parent solicitation has changed from 16-160 to 18-484 (clinical trial not allowed) and 18-345 (clinical trial required).

If you need help in determining if your proposal is a clinical trial, please see https://grants.nih.gov/ct-decision/index.htm which brings you through 4 questions to help you decide.  We found the case studies https://grants.nih.gov/policy/clinical-trials/case-studies.htm particularly useful.

Note that Cayuse have implemented these changes so there are new screens to reflect this.  Give yourself plenty of time during proposal preparation to familiarize yourself with what is now required in these sections.

National Science Foundation Formatting Guidelines

Posted in NSF

Below are the National Science Foundation (NSF) formatting guidelines as outlined in the newest Proposals& Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) for proposals submitted on or after January 29, 2018.  The full PAPPG can be found at:

https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf18001

In the last few months, during administrative reviews, we have noticed documents that are not following these formatting guidelines.  This has become increasingly important as NSF have implemented automated format checks at initial proposal compliance review.  Please be advised that non-compliance could result in your proposal being returned without review.

Some common issues deal with 1) the number of lines per vertical inch, 2) margin size, and 3) font type and size.  In particular, we have noticed these issues with files that originate in LaTeX and Google Docs.  Please double check your formatting settings.

Be sure to review the guidelines carefully, and do not hesitate to reach out to your pre-award contact with any questions.

Format of the Proposal

Prior to submission, it is strongly recommended that proposers conduct an administrative review to ensure that proposals comply with the guidelines established in Part I of the PAPPG or the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide. The Proposal Preparation Checklist (Exhibit II-1) may be used to assist in this review. The checklist is not intended to be an all-inclusive repetition of the required proposal contents and associated proposal preparation guidelines. It is, however, meant to highlight certain critical items so they will not be overlooked when the proposal is prepared.

  1. Proposal Pagination Instructions

Proposers are advised that FastLane does not automatically paginate a proposal. Each section of the proposal that is uploaded as a file must be individually paginated prior to being uploaded to the electronic system.

  1. Proposal Margin and Spacing Requirements

The proposal must conform to the following requirements:

a. Use one of the following typefaces identified below:

  • Arial9, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at a font size of 10 points or larger;
  • Times New Roman at a font size of 11 points or larger; or
  • Computer Modern family of fonts at a font size of 11 points or larger.

A font size of less than 10 points may be used for mathematical formulas or equations, figures, table or diagram captions and when using a Symbol font to insert Greek letters or special characters. PIs are cautioned, however, that the text must still be readable.

b. No more than six lines of text within a vertical space of one inch.

c. Margins, in all directions, must be at least an inch.

These requirements apply to all uploaded sections of a proposal, including supplementary documentation.

  1. Page Formatting

Proposers are strongly encouraged to use only a standard, single-column format for the text.

The guidelines specified above establish the minimum type size requirements; however, PIs are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in selection of an appropriate font for use in the proposal. Small type size makes it difficult for reviewers to read the proposal; consequently, the use of small type not in compliance with the above guidelines may be grounds for NSF to return the proposal without review. Adherence to type size and line spacing requirements also is necessary to ensure that no proposer will have an unfair advantage, by using smaller type or line spacing to provide more text in the proposal.

(National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, 18-1)

 

New Study Suggests Proposals are 2x More Likely to be Funded if Reviewed Before Submission

Posted in Uncategorized

A study released by Columbia University School of Nursing shows that proposals which undergo an internal review process before being submitted to an external agency are twice as likely to get funded than those submitted without review. Though this may not come as a surprise, this demonstrates why it’s so beneficial to send your draft proposal to your colleagues and OSP for feedback as early as possible. To read more, view the “Inside HigherEd” article here.

 

NIH‐funded Human Subjects Research/Clinical Trials and the Transition to Forms E

Posted in NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has instituted new requirements for studies involving clinical trials and human subjects, as well as new forms that go into effect for NIH applications with deadlines on or after January 25, 2018.  The attached PDF file outlines the new changes and contains helpful links to the NIH policies. Please contact your OSP representative with any questions.

 

NIH_formsE

Updated Fringe Benefit Rate

Posted in Uncategorized

The Office of Naval Research has issued WPI a new fringe benefit rate for FY18 (07/01/2017 – 06/30/2018), effective immediately. The rate has been increased to 27.2%. A copy of the rate is available on our Institutional Rate page and is also attached to this post. In addition, the blank budget template and justification posted on the OSP Proposal Development webpage have been updated to reflect this increase. Please contact your OSP department representative with any questions.

 

Fringe Benefit Rate Agreement FY18