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National Science Foundation (NSF) Terms and Conditions Summary

_{Updated October 28, 2024}

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.

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.

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

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

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

Use of US Carriers required per the Fly America Act; exceptions may be made for certain airlines and routes under “Open Skies” agreements.

Prior Approval required for all subcontracting; submit request through Research.gov.

Late reporting could delay future funding.
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.

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

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.

All NSF awards of any type awarded or amended after October 22, 2018 are subject to a new term and condition entitled “Notification Requirements Regarding Findings of Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Harassment, or Sexual Assault” MIT is required to notify the NSF of either:
1. misconduct findings related to a PI or Co-PI of a NSF-funded award
2. any administrative actions taken by MIT that relate to an investigation or finding of such types of misconduct

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.