Effective January 28th 2018
Editorial changes have been made to either clarify or enhance the intended meaning of a sentence or
section. The document has been updated to ensure consistency with data contained in NSF systems or
guidance located in other NSF or Federal policy documents. Throughout the PAPPG, website, address
and document references and organizational names have been updated to reflect current information.
The full PAPPG can be found at the following link: NSF PAPPG
Significant Changes
• Chapter I.E, Who May Submit Proposals, incorporates new coverage on the eligibility of international branch campuses of US institutions of higher education. The definition of colleges and universities in Chapter I.E.1 has been updated to now refer to institutions of higher education,
for consistency with 2 CFR § 200. In addition, changes have been made to the eligibility requirements for foreign organizations.
• Chapter II.C.1.e, Collaborators & Other Affiliations Information, has been significantly revised to request information regarding collaborators and other affiliations (COA) be provided through use
of a standard NSF COA template. Footnotes also have been added to address frequently asked questions relating to the new COA template.
• Chapter II.C.2.d, Project Description, has been modified to reflect that the Project Description must now contain a separate section specifically identified as “Intellectual Merit”.
• Chapter II.C.2.g, Budget and Budget Justification, has been revised to increase the number of pages allowed for the budget justification to no more than five pages per proposal. This change applies to budget justifications for both proposers and subawardees.
• Chapter VII.A.2, Grantee Notifications to NSF, has been restructured to remove information on requests for NSF approval. In addition, Exhibit VII-1 has been deleted, as coverage on grantee requests for approval from NSF is contained in the Research Terms and Conditions Appendix A and Chapter X.A.3.
• Chapter X.A.3, Prior Written Approvals, has been updated to reference the Research Terms and Conditions Appendix A, which is the authoritative source of NSF prior approval requirements.
