ARCHIVED NEWS FOR JANUARY 2003

posted 1/28/03
NIH Increases Salary Cap

         The National Institutes of Health (NIH) salary cap has been increased to $171,900 that went into effect on January 1, 2003. Regina White at the Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration says that this is the case for all NIH awards ssued after Jan. 1 - that is, the NIH salary cap is now $171,900, and that amount may be used to calculate appropriate salary charges. See the official notice at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-027.html.

posted 1/28/03
NSF Revises Cost Sharing Policy

         A revised version of the National Science Foundation's cost sharing policy can be viewed at http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dga/policy/start.htm, Important Notice 128, Revision of NSF Cost Sharing Policy. The original National Science Board Policy Statement, and a set of Frequently Asked Questions on the revised policy is also there for your review.
         NOTE: The third paragraph of the "Budget Negotiations" section of the previous policy has been revised to state:

"In budget negotiations, any reduction of 10% or more from the amount proposed should be accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the scope of the project."

This is to address the concern that the previous language left too much discretion in the hands of the program officers to collaborate and/or pressure PIs and institutions to accept reductions without revising the scope of work.
         An additional revision announced in the Important Notice is that the statutory 1% cost sharing amount should not be reflected on Line M of the proposed budget, and that, unless a program solicitation specifically requires cost sharing, proposers should:

1. not include cost sharing amounts on Line M of the proposal budget; or
2. not exceed the cost sharing level or amount specified in the solicitation.   FastLane will be modified to ensure that Line M is masked from peer reviewers during the review process.
         This revised policy is effective for budget negotiations occurring on or after April 1, 2003.

posted 1/24/03
NSF Websites including FastLane will be unavailable Sunday, January 26

         NSF Websites including FastLane will be unavailable January 26 from 12:01 AM until 8:00 AM for system maintenance. For updates, please visit the FastLane website at http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/

posted 1/22/03
Research team's novel approach to cellular transplantation may be helpful in treatment of hemophilia

         A team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame’s W.M. Keck Center for Transgene Research and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has developed a novel cellular transplantation technique that may alleviate immune responses complicating treatments for hemophiliacs. The technique is described in a paper in this month’s inaugural issue of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. For all the details, see the ND Research Activity section of this website. Note: Best viewed in Internet Explorer as Netscape tends to be very slow.

posted 1/16/03
National Science Board Endorses Revision to NSF Cost-Sharing Policy

         The National Science Board (NSB), which is the oversight body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), recently issued a resolution approving a revision to the NSF's current cost-sharing policy. This revision responds to awardees' concerns about the amount of awards in relation to the proposal budgets. In many cases, NSF program officiers have pressured institutions to waive all or a portion of F&A (indirect) costs in order to arrive at a fundable budget. This waiver of F&A costs constitutes a cost-sharing commitment from the institution.
         In the resolution, the NSB approved a revision to the NSF cost-sharing policy by replacing current language in the "Budget Negotiation" section of the policy with the following:

"In budget negotiations, any reduction of 10% or more from the amount proposed should be accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the scope of the project."

The current language makes provisions for a reduction in scope, but it also allows the program officer, principal investigator, and institution to agree that the project could be conducted with less funding than requested. NSF is likely to formally issue this revised policy sometime in January.
         NSF management also is considering other ways to reduce cost sharing on its awards and to minimize the resultant audit issues. Among the federal agencies, the NSF Office of Inspector General has been one of the most strident in its interpretation of cost sharing. During audits, it often has included not only those amounts on the budget page but also amounts discussed in the proposal narrative. NSF stresses that institutions must be careful not to commit institutional resources in any area of the proposal, whether it is the narrative or the actual budget, because any commitment is seen as one that must be supported through auditable financial records.

posted 1/13/03
NSF Warns of Costly Mistakes in SBIR / STTR Proposals due Jan 22

         To avoid costly errors and ensure adherence to requirements, please review the SBIR/STTR links and common mistakes listed below:

COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY SBIR/STTR PROPOSERS
         The PI must login and begin the SBIR/STTR proposal with their personal login information and start the proposal using the appropriate SBIR/STTR button (do not use Create Blank Proposal). This will automatically apply the correct PI to the coversheet. It is common for those assisting PIs to login as themselves and start the proposal. The assistant's name is then listed as the PI. This cannot be changed. You are not able to change the PI on an SBIR/STTR proposal. To correct this, the PI must log in using his/her login information and create a new SBIR/STTR proposal. Unfortunately, the proposal information must be re-entered into the new proposal.
         Subtopic Letter Missing. To ensure efficient processing of your proposal, make sure that you provide the subtopic that your proposal is responding to. The subtopics are found within each topic description. For example, in the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Systems topic if subtopic E1 was selected it would ensure that your proposal would be sent to subtopic Process Design and Control -- Unit Manufacturing Processes for review.          Electronic Signature. All SBIR/STTR proposals must be electronically signed (see here). No paper copies of cover sheets or budgets are required to be sent to NSF.
         Company Commercialization History. All companies are required to answer all 8 questions in this section (information is in the Solicitation under section A.5.9. Supplementary Docs). If your company has never received an award provide the heading "Company Commercialization Hisory" followed by NONE.
         Budget Justification. SBIR/STTR requires complete budget line item justification. FastLane provides budget justification pages. Make sure to list and document all budget expenses.
         Single Copy Documents. No portion of the SBIR/STTR proposal should be uploaded under the Single Copy Documents section of the proposal. Documents uploaded in this section will not be available to reviewers. Please upload all additional documentation to the Supplementary Documents section of Proposal Preparation so that they will be available for review.