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Ten things GEO program officers wish all principal investigators knew
- You can sign up for email alerts here to keep up to date with new solicitations and Dear Colleague Letters.
- You can direct questions on grant management issues (e.g., allowable costs) to the NSF grants official named on your award letter, not a program officer. Ask a program officer if you have questions about changes in an award's scope of work or direction. Some changes, like removing or adding a principal investigator (PI) or changing participant support costs, require official NSF approval through notifications on Research.gov.
- The Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) solicitation does not have a separate pot of funding; it flags the proposal as coming from a primarily undergraduate institution and allows an additional 5 pages of narrative to detail an institution's educational mission. RUI proposals are submitted to, reviewed by and funded by core NSF programs, following their potential deadlines.
- You can reach out to a program officer about specific funding opportunities, preferably through email. We will comment on whether your proposal idea is appropriate for a specific program, but generally, we will not comment on the intellectual merit of the idea. (Scroll to the bottom of this page for a sample email template for contacting a program officer.)
- Broader impacts include education and outreach but encompass many additional activities that you can include in your proposals.
- Outside of individuals who receive NSF fellowships, NSF awardees are institutions, not the submitting PI. So, if you relocate to another institution, your original institution can keep the award and name a substitute PI or agree to transfer the award to your new institution. The grant will likely stay at the original institution if there is an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research co-funding.
- Find out your institution's policies on using participant support costs before preparing your budget.
- Annual reports are due 90 days before the end of the current budget period. Overdue annual and final reports prevent program officers from making additional award actions. Please be aware of deadlines — late reports create big headaches for NSF program staff.
- You can request a grantee-approved no-cost extension to add one year to your award with no additional funding. You must submit your request through Research.gov at least 10 days before the current end date of the grant. This no-cost extension triggers the requirement to submit an additional annual report. Learn more about requesting a change to your award.
- You should read the Proposal and Awards Policy and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), which includes information on preparing a proposal and on award administration; it answers most of your questions.
Reaching out to a program officer
There is no one right way to reach out to NSF program officers (PO). Each project and researcher is unique, and different NSF divisions may have specific advice on how to work with a PO within their programs.
The email template below provides one (of many) ways to start thinking about contacting a PO after you have researched relevant guidelines and program information on the NSF website.
Email template
Dear [program officer/contact name],
My team will be seeking funding from the [program name and solicitation number] program for my project, [project title]. I feel that our proposed research meets the requirements listed in the program solicitation; however, I would like to confirm that my project is a good fit for your program.
Our proposed research will [short summary of hypothesis, objectives and how your proposal will fulfill the NSF review criteria — intellectual merit and broader impacts].
[Add 2-3 sentences providing your background and any co-PI's background and introducing your research program, research goals, etc.].
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on whether my proposed research aligns with your program's objectives. I look forward to your response.
Best,
[Your name]