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NSF 11-078
Dear Colleague Letter: BIO Proposal Processing Changes

August 15, 2011

Dear Colleague:

As you are no doubt aware, the proposal workload across the Foundation has increased dramatically over the past decade. For example in IOS, the number of unsolicited proposals received into the core programs during this time period has increased 43% while the number of awards made has decreased by 11 percentage points, from 28% to 17%. Clearly, this is a burden on the Program Directors and administrative staff at NSF as well as on the community, who, in addition to submitting proposals are also called upon to serve as ad hoc and panel reviewers.

Effective immediately, the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has initiated new procedures for the submission and review of regular research proposals to the core programs within the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), and Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). One goal of these new procedures is to reduce the burdens on the PI and reviewer communities associated with intensifying competition for limited funds¹. A second is to better manage proposal processing in the face of growing proposal submission numbers while maintaining the high quality of the merit review process and resulting funding selections¹. In response to these challenges, three BIO Divisions are revising their procedures for submission and review of research proposals. The changes for MCB were previously announced in a new solicitation (NSF-11-545).

DEB and IOS will both implement an annual cycle of preliminary and full proposals beginning in January 2012. Preliminary proposals will be accepted in January. Following review by a panel of outside experts, each applicant will be notified of a binding decision to Invite or Not Invite submission of a full proposal. Please note that each investigator is limited to submitting two preliminary proposals a year to either Division, whether as a PI, co-PI or lead senior investigator of a sub award .

All proposals submitted to DEB or IOS in response to the core program solicitations, and to the Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) and Long-term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) solicitations, must pass the preliminary proposal stage. The only exceptions are LTREB Renewals.

RAPIDs, EAGERs, conferences/workshops and supplemental funding requests will continue to be accepted at any time by IOS and DEB programs. Proposals submitted in response to special solicitations (e.g. BREAD, CAREER, CNH, EEID) will remain unaffected by these new review procedures. However, OPUS and RCN proposals will only be accepted by the core programs in DEB and IOS once a year at the August deadline for full proposals.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joann Roskoski
Assistant Director (Acting)
Directorate for Biological Sciences

¹As noted in the 2007 IPAMM Report, both the number of proposals submitted to NSF per year and the number of research proposals submitted per PI to obtain an award have increased substantially. A significant number of NSF reviewers surveyed for the IPAMM Report indicated that overall reviewer workload had increased in the preceding three years. Impact of Proposal and Award Management Mechanisms (IPAMM) Final Report (August 1, 2007; http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf0745/nsf0745.pdf ); National Science Foundation

The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Biological Sciences Pathway, BiosciEdNet (BEN), invites undergraduate faculty in the biological sciences to apply to become BEN Scholars. The BEN Scholars Program is one of the grassroots outreach activities of the BEN Collaborative of more than 20 life sciences professional societies.

The goal of the BEN Scholars Program is to promote the use of digital library resources and student-centered teaching and learning methods in higher education, specifically in biological sciences lecture and laboratory courses, and in research training programs. The BEN Scholars program works both directly with faculty who are BEN Scholars and indirectly, through outreach activities led by BEN Scholars. Outreach activities are aimed at biological sciences faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and middle and high school teachers. Activities are carried out on campus with departments, locally throughout the region, and nationally through professional societies.

Using digital libraries, BEN Scholars learn how to transform lectures and laboratories to be more student-centered and to integrate career exploration and up-to-date science content across fields into existing curricula.  BEN Scholars receive professional development in:
1)      Using and submitting resources to digital libraries;
2)      Implementing best practices in teaching and learning;
3)      integrating digital resources into courses and measuring their impact on student learning;
4)      Leading digital library outreach activities with colleagues through presentations, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring;
5)      Networking with other BEN Scholars for a minimum 18 month period.

BEN Scholars will receive recognition from the participating organizations, travel support, and a small stipend for completion of all fellowship activities ($1,000 total).  Half of the stipend ($500) is paid for completion of all Institute and online professional development activities. The other half ($500) is paid for classroom testing, including developing a report and responding to comments for a month.

BEN Scholars must be available to participate in the NSDL BEN National Leadership Training Institute which is scheduled for January 25-28, 2012 in Washington, D.C.  The Institute will start at 1:00pm on Wednesday, January 25 and end by noon on Saturday, January 28.

Applications are due by Thursday, September 22, 2011, midnight EST.

Applications will only be accepted via submission through the American Physiological Society (APS) online application center.
http://www.the-aps.org/awardapps

APS is one of the BEN Collaborative partners.

For more details, please visit
http://www.biosciednet.org/portal/about/benScholars.php?nav=main

Questions about applications can be sent to Gerard Boulin (gboulin@aaas.org).

Best wishes,

Bill Dahl
Executive Director
Society for Economic Botany
4475 Castleman Ave   |  St. Louis, Missouri, 63110-3201   |  314-577-9566   |   Fx 314-577-9515

SEB - www.econbot.org  |   Economic Botany - www.springer.com
E-Botany Conference - www.econbot.org/_organization_/index.php?sm=07   |   PlantingScience - www.PlantingScience.org
Mission: To foster and encourage scientific research, education, and related activities on the past, present, and future uses of plants, and the relationship between plants and people, and to make the results of such research available to the scientific community and the general public through meetings and publications.