National Science Foundation (NSF) Terms and Conditions Summary

As with all Federal awards, OMB’s Uniform Guidance applies, except as modified by the sponsor-specific terms.

Notifications and Requests submitted through Research.gov. See Research.Gov guidance for details.

  • Period of Performance extensions:
    • MIT may incur pre-award costs 90 days prior to award without prior approval; requests for pre-award costs in excess of 90 days require prior approval.
    • may extend award one time up to 12 months at no cost: notification of extension must be submitted 10 days prior to award expiration.
    • Subsequent extensions, or extensions requested after the 10 day deadline has passed, require NSF prior approval. Subsequent extensions must be submitted 45 days prior to revised expiration date.
  • Personnel Changes
    • Prior approval required to add or change/substitute/withdraw a PI/Co-PI or Senior Personnel
    • Prior approval required to reduce PI/Co-PI or Senior Personnel effort by 25% or more
    • Prior notification required to add in a postdoc that was not included in original proposal/budget 
  • Restrictions on Allowable costs
    • Conference travel is only allowable if required to achieve project objectives or disseminate research results
    • Costs allowable only with prior NSF approval:
      • Rearrangement/Reconversion costs over $25,000
      • Salaries of Administrative or Clerical Staff
      • Travel Costs for Dependents
      • Participant Support Costs other than stipend, travel allowance, or registration fees
  • Rebudgeting authority:
    • Prior approval is required for
      • reduction of PI effort by 25% or more
      • transfer of funds budgeted for Participant support out to other categories
      • Any adjustment to cost sharing commitments
    • All other rebudgeting between otherwise reasonable, allocable, and allowable costs is allowed, unless it represents a change in scope
  • Equipment/Property
    • General purpose equipment typically not eligible for support.
    • Title to property vests in MIT
  • Travel
    • Use of US Carriers required per the Fly America Act; exceptions may be made for certain airlines and routes under “Open Skies” agreements.
  • Subcontracting
    • Prior Approval required for all subcontracting; submit request through Research.gov.
  • Reporting
    • Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) due annually 90 days prior to award anniversary date. 
    • Final RPPR is due 120 days after award expiration, and replaces the final annual report. 
    • Project Outcomes Report for the general public also due 120 days after award expiration
    • All reports must be submitted via Research.gov by the PI.
  • Publications
    • Acknowledgment required:  in all publications "This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (NSF grant number)."
    • Disclaimer required: in all publications except scientific articles and papers: "Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."
    • Depositing NSF-funded research publications: NSF maintains a publicly available repository of peer-reviewed publications: the NSF Public Access Repository. NSF awardees must deposit all peer-reviewed publications and juried conference papers into the NSF Public Access Repository from awards resulting from proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 25, 2016 
  • Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Training
    • All NSF awards for research and fellowships are subject to the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) training requirement. For any new research or fellowship proposals submitted on or after July 31, 2023, all PIs, Co-PIs, Senior Personnel, undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs are required to complete RECR training.
  • Notification Requirements Regarding Findings of Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Harassment, or Sexual Assault
  • NSF Conference Awards
    • With the NSF PAPPG 19-1, Chapter II.E.7, Conferences, has been supplemented with new language that requires conference proposers to have a policy or code-of-conduct that addresses sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, or sexual assault, and that includes clear and accessible means of reporting violations of the policy or code-of-conduct. This policy or code-of-conduct must be disseminated to conference participants prior to attendance at the conference as well as made available at the conference itself.

DLCI Actions

  • The following statement should be incorporated into the materials that the conference host distributes to attendees, with either a link to the policies (if the materials are being distributed on line) or a copy of these policies provided to each attendee:

The Institute expects the conduct of attendees at conferences sponsored by MIT or held on the MIT campus to be consistent with the following policies:

Please report any concerns to the Title IX and Bias Response Office at titleix@mit.edu or 617-715-4080.

For any questions, please feel free to reach out to Courtney Bensey at cbensey@mit.edu or 617-324-7533