NSF Disclosure Guidance
Guidance from NSF regarding what/where/when to disclose
The following table identifies where disclosures must be provided in proposals and project reports. While this revised guidance does not go into effect until October 4, 2021, proposers and awardees may begin using this table immediately. (Click on the table to enlarge.)
FAQs on NSF Current and Pending Support
The following FAQs have been adapted for Penn. For additional guidance see the full NSF FAQs or PAPPG Chapter II.C.2.h.
What should be reported in current and pending support?
All resources made available to an individual in support of and/or related to all of their research efforts, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value or whether support is provided through Penn or directly to the individual. Current and pending support includes in-kind contributions such as office/laboratory space, equipment, supplies, employees, or students, even if not intended for use on the project being proposed. In-kind contributions not intended for use on the proposed project that have associated time commitments should be included in current and pending support. In-kind contributions that support the research project being proposed should be included in the Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources section.
If an individual designated as senior personnel on a project does not have budgeted effort in a given year, how does this relate to reporting “person months committed to the project” in current and pending support?
Person-month information included in current and pending support may differ from the person-months requested on the budget. For the Current and Pending Support submission, NSF is asking how much time the individual is planning to spend to complete the scope of work on the proposed project regardless of whether there is budgeted effort. If the individual will be spending time on the proposed project, then that time must be reported in Current and Pending Support. In instances when senior personnel are not actively working on a project, only years in which they are committing time should be listed.
The NSF-approved current and pending support formats require person-months per year committed to the project, however, Penn’s fiscal year spans two calendar years. Which year should we include when reporting person-months per year?
If you are reporting person-months that span two calendar years, you should enter the later year. For example, if your entry covers your Penn’s fiscal year of July 2022 through June 2023, you would enter “2023” for the year and the number of person-months.
Is mentoring a trainee an example of a time commitment that must be reported in current and pending support?
Mentoring activities that take place as part of your regular appointment at Penn do not need to be included in current and pending support. If an external source provides support for the mentoring activity, the external support and associated time commitment should be included in the current and pending support submission.
What is the scope of “research endeavors” that must be reported in current and pending support? For example, a trainee’s research that will result in their dissertation is not part of the PI’s individual research endeavors, correct? Should only the research endeavors of an individual be reported and not all the research in their lab?
“Research endeavors” refers to the endeavors of the individual. The current and pending support information that must be provided is all planned, pending, and current support that is either provided directly to the individual, or to the individual through Penn in support of that individual’s research endeavors. Therefore, a trainee’s research does not need to be reported.
I am a subawardee on a proposal that was submitted by a prime organization to NSF. For current and pending support, should Penn list the total amount requested for our subaward, or should we list the total award amount for the overall proposal? Should we include the objectives of the entire project or only those of Penn’s part of the project?
The total amount requested or received by the subawardee organization (Penn) must be provided in Current and Pending Support and only the objectives of the Penn/subaward portion of the project should be included.
When do honorarium services or payments need to be reported?
Services and/or payments related to research oversight, research supervision, and co-authoring research papers, are considered research funding, not honoraria, and need to be reported.
I have received funding classified as ‘confidential’ per the client/contract. Am I required to include information from a confidential project in current and pending support?
Yes, the information must be disclosed. NSF needs this information to assess PI capacity and potential overlap/duplication. To the extent allowed by law, NSF does not publicly disclose any information regarding pending proposals and typically does not disclose information regarding current and pending support for funded proposals.
I have an NSF award that I previously included in Current and Pending Support that has since received a no-cost extension. If there is no change in person months, how should this be reflected? What if there is a change in person months?
If you receive a no-cost extension, the Project/Proposal End Date should be updated with the new end date. If there is a change in person-months, Per Year Committed to the Project should be updated to reflect the amount of time necessary to complete the scope of work, including during the no-cost extension.
For more information, please see: