NSF 13-548: NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF)

Program Solicitation NSF 13-548

National Science Foundation Directorate for Geosciences      Division of Earth Sciences

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

     July 18, 2013

     July 18, Annually Thereafter

Important Information And Revision Notes

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity. Proposers who opt to submit prior to January 14, 2013, must also follow the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

Please note that this program solicitation may contain supplemental proposal preparation guidance and/or guidance that deviates from the guidelines established in the Grant Proposal Guide.

Revision Summary

• Deadline has been modified;
• The requirement for an education activity has been changed to a broadening participation activity;
• Eligibility criteria has been modified:
  • eliminating specific years since PhD. Applicants must be graduate students or, at the deadline time, have served in a position that requires a doctoral degree for no more than 18 full-time-equivalent months since earning the degree;
  • applicants now may choose to stay at their current institution; if so, they must have two scientific mentors, one at the hosting institution and another mentor at a different institution;
• The biographical sketches for the PhD advisor and scientific mentor(s) must be uploaded as single copy documents;
• Language regarding fellowships at international research institutions has been modified to indicate that additional funds will be available for those proposing to spend more than 9 months in a foreign location;
• Award amount and allowances have changed;
• Interim report is required 90 days after the start of the fellowship.

Important Information about Automated Proposal Compliance Checking

FastLane will check for required sections of the proposal, in accordance with Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) instructions described in Chapter II.C.2. The GPG requires submission of: Project Summary; Project Description; References Cited; Biographical Sketch(es); Budget; Budget Justification; Current and Pending Support; Facilities, Equipment & Other Resources; Data Management Plan; and Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan, if applicable. If a required section is missing, FastLane will not accept the proposal.

Please note that the proposal preparation instructions provided in this program solicitation deviate from and/or supplement the GPG instructions. Additional information and guidance is contained in Section V.A. Proposal Preparation.

Summary Of Program Requirements

General Information

Program Title:

EAR Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF)

Synopsis of Program:

The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) awards Postdoctoral Fellowships to recent recipients of doctoral degrees for research and training in topics relevant to Earth sciences. The fellows must develop and implement 1) research projects that seek to address scientific questions within the purview of EAR programs and 2) plans to broaden participation in Earth sciences. The program supports researchers for a period of up to 2 years with fellowships that can be taken to the institution of their choice (including facilities abroad). The program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential, and provide them with research experience, mentorship, and training that will establish them in leadership positions in the Earth Sciences community. Because the fellowships are offered only to postdoctoral scientists early in their career, doctoral advisors are encouraged to discuss the availability of EAR postdoctoral fellowships with their graduate students early in their doctoral programs. Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.

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.

• Lina Patino, telephone: (703) 292-5047, email: lpatino@nsf.gov

Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):

• 47.050 --- Geosciences

Award Information

Anticipated Type of Award: Fellowship

Estimated Number of Awards: 10 fellowships per year contingent upon availability of funds.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $87,000 per year per fellowship during fiscal years 2014 to 2015.

Eligibility Information

Organization Limit:

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

• Proposals must be submitted by individuals. NSF postdoctoral fellowships are awards to individuals not to institutions. However, the individuals must affiliate with an institution (e.g. colleges and universities, privately-sponsored nonprofit institutes and museums, government agencies and laboratories) anywhere in the world. For international affiliations, additional funding from NSF's Office of International and Integrative Activities (OIIA) may be available.

PI Limit:

An individual is eligible to submit a proposal to the NSF EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship program if all the following criteria are met:

• Be U.S. citizens (or nationals) or legally admitted permanent residents of the United States (i.e., have a “green card”) at the time of application;
• Either currently be a graduate student or, at the deadline date, have served in a position requiring the doctoral degree for no more than 18 full-time-equivalent months since earning the degree. If more than 18 months have elapsed between conferral of the doctoral degree and the deadline date, the candidate must include specific language in their Biographical Sketch (discussed below) affirming that they meet this eligibility requirement;
• Must present research plan that falls within the purview of the Division of Earth Sciences at NSF (https://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=EAR);
• Applicants choosing to carry out the fellowship at the institution where they received their PhD or current institution, at the time of submission, must have two scientific mentors, one at the hosting institution and another mentor at a different institution;
• Not have submitted concurrently the same project to another NSF program.

Individuals may submit only one fellowship proposal to EAR per fiscal year.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

Only individuals may submit proposals. There is no limit on the number of fellows that an institution may host.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 1

Individuals may submit only one fellowship proposal to EAR per fiscal year.

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

• Letters of Intent: Not Applicable

• Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not Applicable

• Full Proposals:
  • Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Guidelines apply. 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.
  • Full Proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide)

B. Budgetary Information

• Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.

• Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable

• Other Budgetary Limitations: Other budgetary limitations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

C. Due Dates

• Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

       July 18, 2013

       July 18, Annually Thereafter

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

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

The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) offers 2-year postdoctoral fellowships to provide opportunities for scientists early in their careers to obtain training beyond their graduate education. The postdoctoral fellowship program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential, and provide them with experience that will establish them in positions of leadership in the scientific community. During the tenure of the fellowships, participants will be conducting research on topics supported by EAR and implementing a broadening participation plan. Projects may employ any combination of field, laboratory, and computational studies with observational, theoretical, or experimental approaches. Fellows must affiliate with appropriate research institutions and are expected to devote themselves full time to the fellowship activities during its term.

II. Program Description

A. Appropriateness for EAR priorities

A research plan whose focus falls within the scope of any of the EAR disciplines is eligible for support. EAR focuses on improving our understanding of the Earth’s structure, composition, evolution, and the interaction with the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. The list of EAR programs can be found at https://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=EAR and include EarthScope, Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry, Geomorphology and Land Use Dynamics, Geophysics, Hydrologic Sciences, Petrology and Geochemistry, Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology, and Tectonics. If your research area is in a discipline not funded by EAR or if you are uncertain, you are strongly encouraged to contact the cognizant program officer to discuss the appropriateness of the research.

In addition, fellowship applicants are expected to include a coherent plan to broaden the participation of groups under-represented in Earth Sciences. In this solicitation, the term under-represented groups will refer to women, persons with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders. Effective broadening participation plans would leverage resources and programs at the host institution or other organizations. As a rough guideline, fellows should plan for the broadening participation activities to take up no less than 10% and no more than 25% of their time. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the proposed broadening participation activities with their proposed host institution prior to proposal submission to ensure that their plan is consistent with opportunities and plans at the institution. Applicants are also encouraged to review relevant documents and other resources, for example:

• Journal of Geoscience Education (2007), volume 66 no. 6. (Special issue on Broadening Participation);
• Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2011), Committee on Underrepresented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and Engineering Workforce Pipeline; Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy; Policy and Global Affairs; National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. National Academies Press (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12984);
• Report to the President "Engage to Excel: producing on million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics" (2012), Executive Office of the President President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-engage-to-excel-final_2-25-12.pdf);
• Institute for Broadening Participation (http://www.ibparticipation.org/);
• Awards from NSF Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in Geosciences Program (OEDG)

B. Location of Work

Research and broadening participation activities supported by this fellowship program may be conducted at any appropriate U.S. or foreign host institution. Appropriate institutions include colleges and universities, private nonprofit institutes and museums, government installations and laboratories. Fellows are expected to be fully integrated into the research and relevant activities of their host institution. The justification of the choice of institutions must be made clearly and compellingly in the proposal.

Because the objectives of the fellowships include broadening the perspectives and experiences of the Fellows and promoting interdisciplinary research careers, careful consideration should be given to the selection of the scientific mentor(s) and host institution(s). In general, NSF expects that the fellowship will support work at an institution(s) other that the fellow's graduate institution or organization of current affiliation. Consequently, candidates proposing to be hosted by their graduate/current institution must: (1) present a strong justification and must clearly explain the benefits of this choice to their research and broadening participation goals; (2) identify an additional scientific mentor at a different institution and clearly describe a plan for interactions with this additional mentor; (3) submit a letter of commitment from each scientific mentor.

EAR and NSF's Office of International and Integrative Activities (OIIA) are cooperating to support EAR postdoctoral Fellows who wish to pursue significant international research collaborations. When such collaborations involve the fellow being at the foreign location(s) for a combined total of 9 months or longer, extra travel and research expenses may be allowed. See OIIA guidelines for details (https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/iprffapp.jsp).

C. The Scientific Mentor(s)

The Fellow must affiliate with a host institution(s) at all times during the entire tenure of the fellowship. The applicant is responsible for making prior arrangements with the host institution(s) and scientific mentor(s). If the location of work is the PhD granting institution or current institution at time of submission, the fellow must list two scientific mentors: a host mentor and an external mentor. The host mentor, at the location of work, will provide mentoring and guidance with research and broadening participation activities, and will design a training program for the fellow. The external mentor, at a different institution, is expected to also provide guidance with the research activities and to facilitate the amplification of scientific perspectives of the fellow beyond those provided by the host mentor. An important basis for judging the suitability of the host institution(s) is the degree to which the institution letter(s) describes and offers a research, broadening participation, and mentoring plan that could not be provided without fellowship support. (See Section V.A. Proposal Preparation Instructions for additional information about the institution letter.)

III. Award Information

A. Duration and Tenure:

Up to 24 full-time-equivalent months of support may be requested. Fellowship tenures must begin within 18 months of proposal submission deadline, and start on the first of the month.

Interruptions in tenure or extensions without additional cost to NSF are permitted only for circumstances beyond the control of the fellow and require NSF approval.

Within the fellowship period, one month per year of fellowship duration may be used for paid leave, including parental or family leave. The paid leave cannot be used to increase the level of NSF support beyond the duration of the fellowship. NSF enables career-life balance through a variety of mechanisms. For more information, please see https://www.nsf.gov/career-life-balance/.

Successful applicants will be notified on or about December 1st following the proposal submission deadline. Those applicants selected to receive fellowships will be contacted by NSF and asked to provide additional information, such as completing acceptance forms and starting certificates, before starting their fellowships. Successful applicants who have not completed their PhD at the time of application must provide certification of the receipt of the PhD before receiving their fellowship award. Normally fellowships will be held at institutions specified in the proposal, but under certain circumstances, and with suitable justification, Fellows may transfer during the tenure of the fellowship to a new institution upon approval by NSF.

Fellowships are not renewable

During the tenure of the fellowship, no additional appointment or fellowship may be held without permission of the cognizant NSF program officer.

B. Stipend and Allowances:

The total fellowship amount is $87,000 per year consisting of two components:

1. A stipend is $62,000 per year paid directly to the Fellow on a monthly schedule.
2. An annual fellowship allowance of $25,000 paid directly to the Fellow and intended to cover costs of the fellowship including:

• expenses directly related to the conduct of the proposed research and broadening participation activities, including but not limited to materials and supplies, equipment, computing resources, access to databases, travel, publication charges, and subscription fees
• expenses in support of the Fellow, such as office space, general purpose supplies and use of equipment, facilities and other institutional resources.
• expenses in support of fringe benefits, including but not limited to individual or family health insurance provided through a group or individual plan, dental and/or vision insurance, disability insurance, retirement savings, dependent care, and moving expenses.

An additional allowance may be available for applicants spending 9 months or longer at a foreign location(s) through joint funding with NSF's Office of International and Integrative Activities.

No additional appointment or fellowship may be held during the period of the fellowship. No other remuneration from any source may be accepted during the period of the fellowship without permission of the program officer.

IV. Eligibility Information

Organization Limit:

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

• Proposals must be submitted by individuals. NSF postdoctoral fellowships are awards to individuals not to institutions. However, the individuals must affiliate with an institution (e.g. colleges and universities, privately-sponsored nonprofit institutes and museums, government agencies and laboratories) anywhere in the world. For international affiliations, additional funding from NSF's Office of International and Integrative Activities (OIIA) may be available.

PI Limit:

An individual is eligible to submit a proposal to the NSF EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship program if all the following criteria are met:

• Be U.S. citizens (or nationals) or legally admitted permanent residents of the United States (i.e., have a “green card”) at the time of application;
• Either currently be a graduate student or, at the deadline date, have served in a position requiring the doctoral degree for no more than 18 full-time-equivalent months since earning the degree. If more than 18 months have elapsed between conferral of the doctoral degree and the deadline date, the candidate must include specific language in their Biographical Sketch (discussed below) affirming that they meet this eligibility requirement;
• Must present research plan that falls within the purview of the Division of Earth Sciences at NSF (https://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=EAR);
• Applicants choosing to carry out the fellowship at the institution where they received their PhD or current institution, at the time of submission, must have two scientific mentors, one at the hosting institution and another mentor at a different institution;
• Not have submitted concurrently the same project to another NSF program.

Individuals may submit only one fellowship proposal to EAR per fiscal year.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

Only individuals may submit proposals. There is no limit on the number of fellows that an institution may host.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 1

Individuals may submit only one fellowship proposal to EAR per fiscal year.

V. Proposal Preparation And Submission Instructions

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: Proposers may opt to submit proposals in response to this Program Solicitation via Grants.gov or via the NSF FastLane system.

• Full proposals submitted via FastLane: Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the general guidelines contained in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and the additional solicitation specific instructions provided below. 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.
• Full proposals submitted via Grants.gov: Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation via Grants.gov should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov and the additional solicitation specific instructions provided below. The complete text of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: (https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide).

Important Proposal Preparation Information: FastLane will check for required sections of the proposal, in accordance with Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) instructions described in Chapter II.C.2. The GPG requires submission of: Project Summary; Project Description; References Cited; Biographical Sketch(es); Budget; Budget Justification; Current and Pending Support; Facilities, Equipment & Other Resources; Data Management Plan; and Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan, if applicable. If a required section is missing, FastLane will not accept the proposal.

Please note that the proposal preparation instructions provided in this program solicitation deviate from and/or supplement the GPG instructions.

Registration for Fellowship Candidates

Before starting proposal preparation, the applicant must be registered as an individual. To register as a new individual in FastLane go to: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/N1CheckROB. To register as a new individual in Grants.gov go to: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/individual_registration.jsp. Fellowship proposals must be submitted by the Fellowship applicant, not by the applicant's current or proposed organizational Sponsored Projects Office (SPO). The applicant serves as his/her own SPO and Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) for the purposes of any research administration functions in FastLane or Grants.gov.

Proposals must include all of the following items. In cases where requirements given in this document differ from those given in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) or the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide, this solicitation takes precedence.

1. NSF Cover Page. FastLane Users: Select the EAR-PF program solicitation number shown at the beginning of this solicitation from the drop-down menu. Grants.gov Users: The program solicitation number will be pre-populated by Grants.gov on the NSF Grant Application Cover Page. The title must start with the acronym "EAR-PF", followed by the descriptive title of the research. If the project will involve international partners, check the "International Cooperative Activities" box and identify the country/countries involved.

2. Information about Principal Investigators/Project Directors.

3. Table of Contents. This section of the proposal will be automatically generated by FastLane or Grants.gov.

4. Project Summary, not more than one page in length, that includes an overview of the project and separate statements that clearly address the intellectual merit and broader impacts. In addition, the Project Summary must also identify (in the overview section):

• Proposed scientific mentor(s) and
• Proposed host organization(s).

5. Project Description, not to exceed ten (10) single-spaced pages (including figures, pictures, and tables), which must include the following information: (1) detailed plans for research and broadening participation activities; and (2) a detailed justification for the choice of the host institution(s) and scientific mentor(s), identifying collaborating scientist(s), and relating the proposed work to current research and broadening participation efforts at the host institution(s).

6. References Cited. See guidance contained in the Grant Proposal Guide.

7. Biographical Sketch, not to exceed two (2) pages. The Biographical Sketch must include identification of U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status, and the month and year when PhD was (or is expected to be) received. If more than 18 months have elapsed between the date that the doctoral degree was conferred and the EAR-PF proposal deadline, the Biographical sketch must include the following statement: "I affirm that I have not worked for more than 18 full-time-equivalent months in positions for which the doctoral degree was a requirement." Other components of biographical sketches described in the Grant Proposal Guide must be included as well. Only the applicant's Biographical Sketch should be uploaded in this section. Biographical Sketches for PhD advisor and scientific mentor(s) must be included in the Single Copy Document section.

8. NSF Budget and Budget Justification. The stipend and activities allowance should be entered in, Participant Support Costs (Section F on the FastLane budget and Field E on the Grants.gov budget). Enter the $62,000 stipend in F.1 (FastLane) or E.2 (Grants.gov) and the $25,000 activities allowance in F.4 (FastLane) or E.5 (Grants.gov). Enter (1) as the total number of participants. An annual budget page must be submitted for each of up to two years of the fellowship support. A budget justification of no more than two pages should document and justify the estimated costs as organized in the budget components described above.

FastLane users: Since no person months and no salary are being requested for senior personnel, the PI (fellow) should be removed from section A of the budget. This can be done by clicking "Add\Delete Senior Personnel", then "Check to remove" by the name, on the budget form. Additional information is available on the FastLane website at: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp;jsessionid=957fa123f59d4065f3de347559b2:Dqk3?t=0&idx=5.

9. Current and Pending Support. Include current support for research and training. Under pending support, include this proposal, as well as pending and planned applications to other fellowship or research programs.

10. Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources, as applicable. Insert text or upload a document that states "See Letter(s) of Commitment from the prospective host organization(s)."

The following must be submitted as Supplementary Documentation:

11. Data Management Plan, not to exceed two (2) pages. All proposals must include a supplementary document labeled "Data Management Plan" that describes plans for data management and sharing of the products of research, or asserts the absence of the need for such plans. See guidance contained in the Grant Proposal Guide.

12. Letter(s) of Commitment from the prospective host organization(s), signed by the department chair (or equivalent), certifying that adequate facilities and support will be provided for the fellow to accommodate the proposed activities. Should the candidate propose to hold the fellowship concurrently or sequentially at more than one organization during the two-year tenure, letters of commitment must be provided from all institutions.

13. A signed letter(s), not to exceed two pages, from the proposed sponsoring scientist(s) certifying that the fellowship proposal has been read and approved, and including discussion of:

• The role the proposed scientific mentor(s) will play in the professional development of the fellow; and
• The opportunities for training and research at the host organization that will be of particular benefit to the fellow.

Letters of recommendation will not be considered. Letters from the proposed host institution(s), sponsoring scientist(s) and, as needed, the candidate's current graduate advisor, should not reflect a letter of recommendation and should make no subjective statements regarding either the candidate or their proposed activities. Signed letters should be scanned into Portable Document Format (PDF) and uploaded as supplementary documentation.

Single Copy Documents:

• Biographical sketch of PhD advisor and proposed scientific mentor(s). Their biographical sketches should follow the same format as described earlier.
• List of suggested reviewers (optional)

• Some proposals may require other documentation before the final decision can be made, e.g., government permits and letters of collaboration. Their existence should be noted in the project description but they should not be included in the application. NSF may request them later.