NSF 06-577: Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL)
Program Solicitation
Document Information
Document History
- Posted: June 12, 2006
- Replaces: NSF 05-590
- Replaced by: NSF 11-554
THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPLACED BY NSF 11-554
Program Solicitation NSF 06-577
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):
September 15, 2006
September 15, Annually Thereafter
September 15, 2009
September 15, Annually Thereafter
Revision Notes
Please be advised that the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) includes revised guidelines to implement the mentoring provisions of the America COMPETES Act (ACA) (Pub. L. No. 110-69, Aug. 9, 2007.) As specified in the ACA, each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. Proposals that do not comply with this requirement will be returned without review (see the PAPP Guide Part I: Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II for further information about the implementation of this new requirement).
Summary Of Program Requirements
General Information
Program Title:
Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) data, infrastructure and computational methods
Synopsis of Program:
This multi-year funding partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports projects to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Made urgent by the imminent death of an estimated half of the 6000-7000 currently used human languages, this effort aims also to exploit advances in information technology. Funding will support fieldwork and other activities relevant to recording, documenting, and archiving endangered languages, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. Funding will be available in the form of one- to three-year project grants as well as fellowships for up to twelve months. At least half the available funding will be awarded to projects involving fieldwork.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) will participate in the partnership as a research host, a non-funding role.
Cognizant Program Officer(s):
Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.
- Joan Maling-NSF PD, Linguistics Program Director, 995 N, telephone: (703) 292-8046, fax: (703) 292-9068, email: jmaling@nsf.gov
- Anna Kerttula-NSF PD, Arctic Social Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7432, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: akerttul@nsf.gov
- Helen Aguera-NEH Contact, Senior Program Officer, Preservation & Access, National Endowment for the Humanities, telephone: (202) 606-8573, email: haguera@neh.gov
- Jane Aikin-NEH Contact, Senior Academic Advisor, Division of Research Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities, telephone: 202-606-8212, email: jaikin@neh.gov
Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):
- 47.075 --- Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Award Information
Anticipated Type of Award: Standard and Continuing Grants, and Fellowships
Estimated Number of Awards: 18 to 22 including 12 Fellowships
Anticipated Funding Amount: $2,000,000 annually (approximately $1 million from NSF and $1 million from NEH), pending the availability of funds
Eligibility Information
Organization Limit:
Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
- Academic institutions and non-profit, non-academic organizations located in the United States are eligible. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply to this program. However, personnel in for-profit organizations may participate as co-investigators.
PI Limit:
For PROJECT GRANTS: No eligibility limit.
For FELLOWSHIPS: U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for fellowships. Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the proposal deadline are also eligible to apply for fellowships.
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:
None Specified
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 1
One proposal per prospective PI
Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions
A. Proposal Preparation Instructions
- Letters of Intent: Not Applicable
- Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not Applicable
- Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: This solicitation contains information that supplements the standard NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) proposal preparation guidelines. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information
B. Budgetary Information
- Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required under this solicitation.
- Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable
- Other Budgetary Limitations: Not Applicable
C. Due Dates
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):
September 15, 2006
September 15, Annually Thereafter
September 15, 2009
September 15, Annually Thereafter
Proposal Review Information Criteria
Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria apply.
Award Administration Information
Award Conditions: Additional award conditions apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.
Reporting Requirements: Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.
I. Introduction
At least half of the world’s six to seven thousand currently used human languages are about to be lost. About three hundred of these languages now have fewer than one hundred native speakers (Crystal, 2000). These endangered languages constitute an irreplaceable treasure, not only for the communities who speak them, but also for scientists and scholars.
- Each endangered language embodies unique local knowledge of the cultures and natural systems in the region in which it is spoken.
- These languages are among the few sources of evidence for filling in the record of the human past.
- The great variety of these languages represents a vast, largely unmapped terrain on which linguists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers can chart the full capabilities—and limits—of the human mind.
Since the discipline of linguistics is a responsibility both of the National Science Foundation and of the National Endowment for the Humanities, addressing this intellectual crisis is an appropriate and timely use of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by NSF and NEH in August and September of 2002, respectively. A coordinated interagency initiative for the rest of the decade would represent a serious response to this emergency. The program will be evaluated by an external evaluator prior to opening the discussion for the extension of the MOU to continue the program until 2010.
Recent advances in information technology can magnify the effect of prompt and coordinated fieldwork. These advances make it possible not only to document endangered languages before they perish, but also to integrate and analyze that body of knowledge in unprecedented ways. Computerization of speech and universal Internet access can transform the practice of linguistics in the area of endangered languages.
- Linguists will be able to work from the same data sets rather than from informally collected data.
- The data will be searchable in a large variety of ways. For example, finding ALL occurrences of a particular phoneme in a database will become feasible.
- The actual sounds of a language will be available. Linguists will be able to check written transcriptions; they will be able to focus more attention on such matters as intonation in syntax.
- Computerization will drive the development of a unified ontology for linguistics, eventually replacing inconsistent descriptive terminologies.
The endangered languages include entire, highly divergent language families, which often present the most extreme cases of language differentiation.
- This wider range of data will enable linguists to achieve much greater time depth, for example, in using the comparative method to construct proto-languages.
- It will enable linguists to test more precisely claims about linguistic universals and about what humans can learn.
- Since most endangered languages lack their own writing systems, this new data will enable linguists to evaluate the effects of literacy on a language and on language users. For example, does becoming literate in a second language always reduce capacity to handle spoken variability in the first?
- This wider range of data will seriously test the categories of any proposed unified ontology.
The Smithsonian Institution will participate in the partnership as a research host, a non-funding role. A coordinated, sustained, and technologically sophisticated interagency initiative by these three U.S. partner agencies is intended to complement efforts already underway elsewhere in the world, sponsored by organizations in Germany and the UK, as well as by UNESCO, which the United States has recently rejoined. The partnership is also interested in efforts related to the International Polar Year 2007-2008, for which NSF is the lead U.S. planning agency.
References
David Crystal, Language Death (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
II. Program Description
Documenting Endangered Languages is a joint, multi-year funding program of the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop and advance scientific and scholarly knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Made urgent by the imminent death of approximately half of the 6000-7000 currently used human languages, DEL seeks not only to document these endangered languages but to integrate, systematize, and make knowledge concerning them widely available by exploiting advances in information technology.
Principal Investigators (PIs) and Applicants for Fellowships (Applicants) may propose projects to:
1. conduct fieldwork to record in digital audio and video format one or more endangered languages;
2. carry out later stages of documentation including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases;
3. digitize and otherwise preserve and provide wider access to such documentary materials, including previously collected materials and those concerned with languages which have recently died and are related to currently endangered languages;
4. further develop standards and databases to make this documentation of a certain language or languages widely available in consistent, archivable, interoperable, and Web-based formats;
5. conduct initial analysis of findings in the light of current linguistic theory;
6. train native speakers in descriptive linguistics;
7. create other infrastructure, including workshops, to make the problem of endangered languages more widely understood and more effectively addressed.
PIs or Applicants may propose projects involving one or more of the above activities. Proposed projects may range from a single investigator working for six months to a group of investigators working for three years. DEL gives the highest priority to projects that involve actually recording in digital audio and video format endangered languages before they become extinct.
Documentation is a key complement to language revitalization efforts, but DEL does not support other aspects of projects to revive or expand the actual use of endangered languages. Tribal groups interested in the full range of language revitalization activities should also contact the Native Language Program of the Administration for Native Americans in the Administration for Children & Families of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Roles of the Partner Agencies
All DEL proposals will be accepted and processed by means of the NSF FastLane system. All DEL proposals will receive their specialist (ad hoc) and then panel review within the NSF review process. Reviewers will be chosen jointly by NSF and NEH staff. Proposers will be asked to address, and reviewers asked to apply, the two general NSF criteria (intellectual merit and broader impact) in ways specific to the joint DEL program.
The estimated number of awards to be funded by NSF and NEH is 18 to 22. Approximately twelve DEL fellowships and two to four project grants will be funded and administered by NEH. Proposers of the projects identified for NEH funding will be asked to withdraw their proposals from NSF and resubmit them to NEH. (This process generally can be accomplished electronically.) All other DEL awards will be funded and administered by NSF.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History will invite some Fellows and personnel from some funded projects that are particularly concerned with language materials held by the Smithsonian to use the Museum as a research base.
III. Award Information
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds. However, it is expected that about $2 million in funding will be available (approximately $1 million from NSF and approximately $1 million from NEH).
At least half of the available funding will be awarded to projects involving fieldwork.
Funding will be available not only in the form of standard and continuing grants, but also as fellowships.
Award Size and Duration
Approximately 6-10 Standard or Continuing Grants ranging from $12,000 to $150,000 per year for one to three years.
Approximately 12 Fellowships of $4,200 per month for awards lasting from six to twelve months; the maximum stipend is $50,400 for a twelve-month tenure period.
Special Fellowship Conditions
A Fellowship award of $4,200 per month will support six- to twelve-month full-time individual tenure. Proposers should request tenure periods that suit their schedules and the needs of their projects. A request for a shorter tenure period will not improve chances of receiving an award. The earliest that Fellows may begin their fellowship tenure is June 1, nine months after the proposal deadline date. For proposals submitted for the September 15, 2007 deadline, that date would be June 1, 2008. The latest that Fellows may begin their fellowship tenure is September 1, twenty-three months after the proposal deadline date. For proposals submitted for the September 15, 2007 deadline, that date would be September 1, 2009. Recipients must complete their fellowship tenure within two years of the beginning of the fellowship tenure. An award recipient must work full-time on the project and may not accept a teaching assignment or undertake any other major activity.
Time devoted to the project may be divided into no more than two separate periods of no less than three months each.
Fellowship proposals may be submitted not only by individuals but also by two persons working together on a single project. Both of them must be eligible to submit proposals for fellowships under this program solicitation; see "PI Eligibility Limit" in Section III above. In dual proposals, both the unifying purpose of the project and contributions to be made by each proposer must be clear. Awards will not be made for parallel but unintegrated projects. All fellowships will be awarded to individuals, so two persons working together on a single project must each submit a separate proposal.
Fellowships awarded under this program are not intended to support pre-Ph.D. course work or completion of a degree.
All fellowships will be awarded and administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
IV. Eligibility Information
Organization Limit:
Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
- Academic institutions and non-profit, non-academic organizations located in the United States are eligible. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply to this program. However, personnel in for-profit organizations may participate as co-investigators.
PI Limit:
For PROJECT GRANTS: No eligibility limit.
For FELLOWSHIPS: U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for fellowships. Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the proposal deadline are also eligible to apply for fellowships.
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:
None Specified
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 1
One proposal per prospective PI
V. Proposal Preparation And Submission Instructions
A. Proposal Preparation Instructions
Full Proposal Instructions: Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the guidelines specified in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG). The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg. Paper copies of the GPG may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone (703) 292-PUBS (7827) or by e-mail from nsfpubs@nsf.gov.
The following information supplements the GPG standard proposal preparation guidelines.
The Title of the proposed project should identify the specific language(s) it concerns by using the three-letter SIL codes, if possible. See http://www.ethnologue.com/codes Do not use more than three SIL codes.
The Summary of the proposed project should identify the most general family(ies) to which the specific language(s) belong. Indicate if this matter is in question. See http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/find-a-language-or-family.html.
The Project Description should not exceed 15 pages. Included within this limit is a maximum of five pages detailing the results of work supported in the past five years by NSF or NEH, if any. Also included should be brief sample materials (i.e.. entries, records, or database results for specific queries) that illustrate the content and presentation of any final product.
In general, the Project Description should indicate the work to be undertaken, the methodologies to be employed, the schedule according to which the work will be carried out, and the roles and qualifications of the project participants. The two general NSF criteria should be addressed explicitly and separately.
In addressing the intellectual merit criterion, including the relevant considerations in Section VI.A. (below), discuss also the degree of endangerment of the language(s) to be documented and the urgency of the need for documentation. Describe the level, quality, and accessibility of any existing documentation of the language(s). Discuss any special linguistic, historical, cognitive, cultural, or social significance of the language(s).
Discuss plans for archiving recordings, field notes, and processed documentary materials in a stable environment. Simply placing materials on a CD or a Web site will not in and of itself guarantee sustainable archiving. In discussing methods to be employed in recording, documenting, and archiving the endangered language(s), include reference to current statements of best practices (e.g. Bird and Simons, 2003; E-MELD; "Methodology and Standards" statements of the NEH Preservation and Access Division).
Discuss aspects of the project that will ensure interoperability with related materials.
In addressing the broader impacts criterion, including the relevant considerations in Section VI. A. (below), discuss also collaboration and other arrangements made with the speaker community. Discussion may include reference to the training of native speakers in the practice of linguistics and to the production of resources useful to the community of native speakers.
Discuss any intellectual property issues that might affect the availability of the materials.
References
Steven Bird and Gary Simons, "Seven Dimensions of Portability for Language Documentation and Description," Language, Vol 79, No. 2 (2003), pp. 557-582.
E-MELD: http://cf.linguistlist.org/cfdocs/emeld/school/index.html
NEH Preservation and Access "Methodology and Standards" statements:
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/referencematerials.html;
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/researchdevelopment.html;
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pcahc.html.
Proposers are reminded to identify the program solicitation number (NSF 06-577) in the program solicitation block on the NSF Cover Sheet For Proposal to the National Science Foundation. Compliance with this requirement is critical to determining the relevant proposal processing guidelines. Failure to submit this information may delay processing.
B. Budgetary Information
Cost Sharing: Cost sharing is not required under this solicitation.
Budget Preparation Instructions:
In the Summary Proposal Budget, proposals for Fellowships only have to indicate the intended number of months of tenure of the award [line A.1 "CAL"] and the consequent total stipend [line A.1 "Funds Requested by proposer"] at the rate of $4,200 per month.
In the Budget Justification, proposals for Fellowships only have to enter (as appropriate):
"The NEH Fellowship stipend is $4,200 per month."
C. Due Dates
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):
September 15, 2006
September 15, Annually Thereafter
September 15, 2009
September 15, Annually Thereafter
D. FastLane Requirements
Proposers are required to prepare and submit all proposals for this program solicitation through use of the NSF FastLane system. Detailed instructions regarding the technical aspects of proposal preparation and submission via FastLane are available at: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/newstan.htm. For FastLane user support, call the FastLane Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188 or e-mail fastlane@nsf.gov. The FastLane Help Desk answers general technical questions related to the use of the FastLane system. Specific questions related to this program solicitation should be referred to the NSF program staff contact(s) listed in Section VIII of this funding opportunity.
Submission of Electronically Signed Cover Sheets. The Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must electronically sign the proposal Cover Sheet to submit the required proposal certifications (see Chapter II, Section C of the Grant Proposal Guide for a listing of the certifications). The AOR must provide the required electronic certifications within five working days following the electronic submission of the proposal. Further instructions regarding this process are available on the FastLane Website at: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp.
VI. NSF Proposal Processing And Review Procedures
Proposals received by NSF are assigned to the appropriate NSF program where they will be reviewed if they meet NSF proposal preparation requirements. All proposals are carefully reviewed by a scientist, engineer, or educator serving as an NSF Program Officer, and usually by three to ten other persons outside NSF who are experts in the particular fields represented by the proposal. These reviewers are selected by Program Officers charged with the oversight of the review process. Proposers are invited to suggest names of persons they believe are especially well qualified to review the proposal and/or persons they would prefer not review the proposal. These suggestions may serve as one source in the reviewer selection process at the Program Officer's discretion. Submission of such names, however, is optional. Care is taken to ensure that reviewers have no conflicts of interest with the proposal.
A. NSF Merit Review Criteria
All NSF proposals are evaluated through use of the two National Science Board (NSB)-approved merit review criteria: intellectual merit and the broader impacts of the proposed effort. In some instances, however, NSF will employ additional criteria as required to highlight the specific objectives of certain programs and activities.
The two NSB-approved merit review criteria are listed below. The criteria include considerations that help define them. These considerations are suggestions and not all will apply to any given proposal. While proposers must address both merit review criteria, reviewers will be asked to address only those considerations that are relevant to the proposal being considered and for which the reviewer is qualified to make judgements.
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?
How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields? How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the quality of the prior work.) To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts? How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to resources?What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?
How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?
Examples illustrating activities likely to demonstrate broader impacts are available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf.
Mentoring activities provided to postdoctoral researchers supported on the project, as described in a one-page supplementary document, will be evaluated under the Broader Impacts criterion.
NSF staff also will give careful consideration to the following in making funding decisions:
Integration of Research and Education
One of the principal strategies in support of NSF's goals is to foster integration of research and education through the programs, projects, and activities it supports at academic and research institutions. These institutions provide abundant opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students and where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the diversity of learning perspectives.Integrating Diversity into NSF Programs, Projects, and Activities
Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all citizens -- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities -- is essential to the health and vitality of science and engineering. NSF is committed to this principle of diversity and deems it central to the programs, projects, and activities it considers and supports.
B. Review and Selection Process
Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation will be reviewed by Ad hoc Review and/or Panel Review.
Reviewers will be asked to formulate a recommendation to either support or decline each proposal. The Program Officer assigned to manage the proposal's review will consider the advice of reviewers and will formulate a recommendation.
After scientific, technical and programmatic review and consideration of appropriate factors, the NSF Program Officer recommends to the cognizant Division Director whether the proposal should be declined or recommended for award. NSF is striving to be able to tell applicants whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months. The time interval begins on the deadline or target date, or receipt date, whichever is later. The interval ends when the Division Director accepts the Program Officer's recommendation.
A summary rating and accompanying narrative will be completed and submitted by each reviewer. In all cases, reviews are treated as confidential documents. Verbatim copies of reviews, excluding the names of the reviewers, are sent to the Principal Investigator/Project Director by the Program Officer. In addition, the proposer will receive an explanation of the decision to award or decline funding.
In all cases, after programmatic approval has been obtained, the proposals recommended for funding will be forwarded to the Division of Grants and Agreements for review of business, financial, and policy implications and the processing and issuance of a grant or other agreement. Proposers are cautioned that only a Grants and Agreements Officer may make commitments, obligations or awards on behalf of NSF or authorize the expenditure of funds. No commitment on the part of NSF should be inferred from technical or budgetary discussions with a NSF Program Officer. A Principal Investigator or organization that makes financial or personnel commitments in the absence of a grant or cooperative agreement signed by the NSF Grants and Agreements Officer does so at their own risk.
VII. Award Administration Information
A. Notification of the Award
Notification of the award is made to the submitting organization by a Grants Officer in the Division of Grants and Agreements. Organizations whose proposals are declined will be advised as promptly as possible by the cognizant NSF Program administering the program. Verbatim copies of reviews, not including the identity of the reviewer, will be provided automatically to the Principal Investigator. (See Section VI.B. for additional information on the review process.)
B. Award Conditions
An NSF award consists of: (1) the award letter, which includes any special provisions applicable to the award and any numbered amendments thereto; (2) the budget, which indicates the amounts, by categories of expense, on which NSF has based its support (or otherwise communicates any specific approvals or disapprovals of proposed expenditures); (3) the proposal referenced in the award letter; (4) the applicable award conditions, such as Grant General Conditions (GC-1); * or Research Terms and Conditions * and (5) any announcement or other NSF issuance that may be incorporated by reference in the award letter. Cooperative agreements also are administered in accordance with NSF Cooperative Agreement Financial and Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC) and the applicable Programmatic Terms and Conditions. NSF awards are electronically signed by an NSF Grants and Agreements Officer and transmitted electronically to the organization via e-mail.
*These documents may be accessed electronically on NSF's Website at https://www.nsf.gov/awards/managing/award_conditions.jsp?org=NSF. Paper copies may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone (703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from nsfpubs@nsf.gov.
More comprehensive information on NSF Award Conditions and other important information on the administration of NSF awards is contained in the NSF Award & Administration Guide (AAG) Chapter II, available electronically on the NSF Website at https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=aag.
Special Award Conditions:
Upon conclusion of the review process, meritorious proposals may be recommended for funding by either NSF or NEH at the option of the agencies, not the proposer. Subsequent grant administration procedures will be in accordance with the individual policies of the awarding agency.
NEH award conditions are available electronically at: http://www.neh.gov/manage/ggps.html.
C. Reporting Requirements
For all multi-year grants (including both standard and continuing grants), the Principal Investigator must submit an annual project report to the cognizant Program Officer at least 90 days before the end of the current budget period. (Some programs or awards require more frequent project reports). Within 90 days after expiration of a grant, the PI also is required to submit a final project report, and a project outcomes report for the general public.
Failure to provide the required annual or final project reports, or the project outcomes report will delay NSF review and processing of any future funding increments as well as any pending proposals for that PI. PIs should examine the formats of the required reports in advance to assure availability of required data.
PIs are required to use NSF's electronic project-reporting system, available through FastLane, for preparation and submission of annual and final project reports. Such reports provide information on activities and findings, project participants (individual and organizational), publications, and other specific products and contributions. PIs will not be required to re-enter information previously provided, either with a proposal or in earlier updates using the electronic system. Submission of the report via FastLane constitutes certification by the PI that the contents of the report are accurate and complete. The project outcomes report must be prepared and submitted using Research.gov. This report serves as a brief summary, prepared specifically for the public, of the nature and outcomes of the project. This report will be posted on the NSF website exactly as it is submitted by the PI.
NEH has its own reporting requirements, which will be outlined in NEH award documents.
VIII. Agency Contacts
Please note that the program contact information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.
General inquiries regarding this program should be made to:
- Joan Maling-NSF PD, Linguistics Program Director, 995 N, telephone: (703) 292-8046, fax: (703) 292-9068, email: jmaling@nsf.gov
- Anna Kerttula-NSF PD, Arctic Social Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7432, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: akerttul@nsf.gov
- Helen Aguera-NEH Contact, Senior Program Officer, Preservation & Access, National Endowment for the Humanities, telephone: (202) 606-8573, email: haguera@neh.gov
- Jane Aikin-NEH Contact, Senior Academic Advisor, Division of Research Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities, telephone: 202-606-8212, email: jaikin@neh.gov
For questions related to the use of FastLane, contact:
- FastLane Help Desk, telephone: 1-800-673-6188; e-mail: fastlane@nsf.gov.
IX. Other Information
The NSF Website provides the most comprehensive source of information on NSF Directorates (including contact information), programs and funding opportunities. Use of this Website by potential proposers is strongly encouraged. In addition, National Science Foundation Update is a free e-mail subscription service designed to keep potential proposers and other interested parties apprised of new NSF funding opportunities and publications, important changes in proposal and award policies and procedures, and upcoming NSF Regional Grants Conferences. Subscribers are informed through e-mail when new publications are issued that match their identified interests. Users can subscribe to this service by clicking the "Get NSF Updates by Email" link on the NSF web site.
Grants.gov provides an additional electronic capability to search for Federal government-wide grant opportunities. NSF funding opportunities may be accessed via this new mechanism. Further information on Grants.gov may be obtained at http://www.grants.gov.
Related Programs:
Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) - (NSF-06-509)
About The National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent Federal agency created by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 USC 1861-75). The Act states the purpose of the NSF is "to promote the progress of science; [and] to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare by supporting research and education in all fields of science and engineering."
NSF funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering. It does this through grants and cooperative agreements to more than 2,000 colleges, universities, K-12 school systems, businesses, informal science organizations and other research organizations throughout the US. The Foundation accounts for about one-fourth of Federal support to academic institutions for basic research.
NSF receives approximately 40,000 proposals each year for research, education and training projects, of which approximately 11,000 are funded. In addition, the Foundation receives several thousand applications for graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. The agency operates no laboratories itself but does support National Research Centers, user facilities, certain oceanographic vessels and Antarctic research stations. The Foundation also supports cooperative research between universities and industry, US participation in international scientific and engineering efforts, and educational activities at every academic level.
Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with disabilities to work on NSF-supported projects. See Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II, Section D.2 for instructions regarding preparation of these types of proposals.
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The National Science Foundation Information Center may be reached at (703) 292-5111.
The National Science Foundation promotes and advances scientific progress in the United States by competitively awarding grants and cooperative agreements for research and education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. To get the latest information about program deadlines, to download copies of NSF publications, and to access abstracts of awards, visit the NSF Website at https://www.nsf.gov
Privacy Act And Public Burden StatementsThe information requested on proposal forms and project reports is solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The information on proposal forms will be used in connection with the selection of qualified proposals; and project reports submitted by awardees will be used for program evaluation and reporting within the Executive Branch and to Congress. The information requested may be disclosed to qualified reviewers and staff assistants as part of the proposal review process; to proposer institutions/grantees to provide or obtain data regarding the proposal review process, award decisions, or the administration of awards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers and educators as necessary to complete assigned work; to other government agencies or other entities needing information regarding applicants or nominees as part of a joint application review process, or in order to coordinate programs or policy; and to another Federal agency, court, or party in a court or Federal administrative proceeding if the government is a party. Information about Principal Investigators may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF-50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records," 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004), and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records," 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004). Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and complete information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an award. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 3145-0058. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding the burden estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Suzanne H. Plimpton |
