5X����

The National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a revised that went into effect for proposals with deadlines on or after Monday, May 20, 2024.

Below is a summary of the most significant changes that affect proposal submission. A summary of all changes can be found at . 

NSF hosted a webinar on March 12, explaining the changes. A recording of the webinar and a PDF of the presentation slides are at

Please contact Sponsored Programs with related questions.

Concept Outlines

Chapter I.D. has been updated to provide additional clarity and coverage on the use of concept outlines and the required use of the Program Suitability and Proposal Concept Tool (ProSPCT)

Concept outlines can be directly submitted to NSF without Sponsored Programs involvement. Ensuing proposal submissions will be handled by Sponsored Programs like any other NSF submission.

Involvement of Foreign Organizations

Chapter I.E.2(c) provides updated guidance for inclusion of a foreign organization (subaward) or foreign individual (consultant) in a proposal budget. The justification must be included in the project description section of the proposal and the box for “Funding of a Foreign Organization or Foreign Individual” must be checked on the Cover Sheet. Guidance for information to be included in the justification can be found at:

Biographical Sketch

The biosketch no longer has a page limitation and implements the , which also removes the Synergistic Activities section. The Biographical Sketch will still be created in SciENcv only, which will produce an NSF-compliant version.

Synergistic Activities

Synergistic activities that used to be included as part of the biosketch have been moved to a separate document. Each individual identified as senior/key personnel must include a one-page document with up to five distinct examples that demonstrate the broader impact of the individual’s professional and scholarly activities that focus on the creation, integration, and transfer of knowledge.

Download Synergistic Activities Template

Current and Pending Support

The updated guidance implements the . The Current and Pending Support form will continue to be created in SciENcv only, which will produce an NSF-compliant version.

Mentoring Plan

The mentoring plan has been expanded and requires a plan for both graduate students and postdoctoral researchers supported on a project. The page limit for a mentoring plan is still one page.

Projects Requiring Advanced Computing, Data, and Analysis Capabilities

This section has been updated with revised instructions for projects that require such resources.

Proposal Font, Spacing, and Margin Requirements

This section has been updated to allow for submission of proposal documents in landscape format.