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From the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Spring 1996 Vol. 27, No. 3
Life in the Fastlane
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has designed a project to provide an interactive electronic interface with the community: the NSF "FastLane." As a registered institution, WSU's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs can now assign individual Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) to faculty who are part of the NSF PI System. Faculty who have ever submitted a proposal to NSF "on paper," should be part of the PI System.
One of the functions available through FastLane is the "Proposal Status Inquiry" program. Available only to the PI or Co-PI on the proposal and accessible with a proposal number, last name and PIN (assigned by RSP), the system will display the most recent status information about the proposal. Proposal inquiries can be made from the time they are received to one year after the final status has been determined. However, NSF will delay posting notices on proposals that have been declined for ten days after the official notification has been sent to the PI.
RSP encourages faculty to visit the FastLane home page, available on the World Wide Web through the NSF home page (see: http://www.nsf.gov/). NSF PIs or Co-PIs may be assigned a PIN to access their proposal's status by contacting RSP at ext. 2425.
NIH wants to hear from you
If you have a "big ticket" application in mind for consideration by NIH, a new policy could impact your planning process.
Defined as $500,000 or more in annual direct costs, submission of a large grant application now requires that the PI speak with an NIH program officer before the writing begins. Proof of this contact, in the form of a cover letter identifying the program officer who preapproved the receipt of the application, must accompany the submission.
Please note that this does not apply to responses to RFAs. For further clarification, call RSP at ext. 2425.
New Conflict of Interest Statement
The Conflict of Interest Statement, which is a blue form that accompanies your "Authorization to Seek Off-Campus Funds" (or "Yellow Sheet") when routing your proposal for signatures, has been changed to be more in conformance with final federal regulations. It has also been reformatted for increased clarity.
When you receive the new form, you will see that the top part contains information on whether the proposal involves federal funds. RSP staff will check the appropriate box in this area.
The bottom part of the form now contains only two choices, and this is where you would indicate whether or not you have "a significant personal financial interest, or business relationship with an entity, that may be affected by the outcome of the proposed project." The definition of "significant financial interest" is found on the back of the form.
NIH Gets the JITters
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that, effective June 1, 1996, it will incorporate new, time-saving alternatives for submissions for unsolicited First Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) (R29) and career award (K) applications. Dubbed "just-in-time", or JIT, this method postpones the collection of certain information that currently must be included in all competing applications when submitted. Under JIT, this information will now only be required of those applicants with a likelihood of funding and will be required to be submitted "just-in-time" for awards to be made.
To learn more about "just-in-time" instructions for NIH Career and FIRST Awards, please call RSP at ext. 2425.
