National Science Foundation Posts Solicitation Announcement

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently posted itsFY-2011 SBIR (Release 2) solicitation .  NSF will accept proposals for the following four broad topics from May 10, 2011 to June 10, 2011:

Biological and Chemical Technologies (BC) Education Applications (EA) Electronics, Information and Communication Technologies (EI) Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Manufacturing (NM)

The beginning of the solicitation includes a list of ‘Important Information and Revision Notes,’ including the following:

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 11-1 was issued on October 1, 2010 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 18, 2011. Please be advised that the guidelines contained in NSF 11-1 apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.

·         Cost Sharing: The PAPPG has been revised to implement the National Science Board's recommendations regarding cost sharing. Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.

·         Data Management Plan: The PAPPG contains a clarification of NSF's long standing data policy. All proposals must describe plans for data management and sharing of the products of research, or assert the absence of the need for such plans.

·         Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring Plan: As a reminder, each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include, as a supplementary document, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals.

See the solicitation for the complete text of the revision notes above; a list of the required components for submittal; detailed description of the four research topics; Cognizant Program Officer contact information; and more.