[unav_all] Recovery Act at NSF

[Meghan Miller]

UNAVCO Community,

NSF has recently provided a summary of the agency's planning for the  
distribution of stimulus funds that follows this message and can be  
found at:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114483&govDel=USNSF_51

With FAQs:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) Frequently Asked  
Questions
Available Formats:
HTML: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.jsp?govDel=USNSF_25
PDF: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.pdf?govDel=USNSF_25
TXT: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09038/nsf09038.txt?govDel=USNSF_25

Document Number: nsf09038


The announcement anticipates addition of MRI and ARI proposal calls in  
the near future.  While the details of these calls won't be known  
until the program announcements are finalized, it might be a good time  
for you as community scientists to be anticipating this and  
establishing priority within your universities for participation.

We may also face proposal pressure for community initiatives for  
UNAVCO as well; more than the usual lead time may be required for us  
to prioritize projects and to negotiate any required matching funds.

When the proposal calls are posted, I will bring them to your attention.

Best,

Meghan
**********************
M. Meghan Miller
President, UNAVCO
6350 Nautilus Drive
Boulder, CO  80301

Voice:  303/381-7514
By cell:  720/320-0026
Fax:  303/381-7501
meghan at unavco.org



March 26, 2009

Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director of the National Science Foundation,  
delivered a speech recently to employees on how the agency intends to  
implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

In his remarks, Dr. Bement said that NSF's portion of the ARRA ($3  
billion) is "sorely needed to ensure that America remains a leader in  
science and engineering research and education. That investment of 3  
billion dollars will have an immediate impact on investigators, post- 
docs, graduate and undergraduate students, and teachers throughout the  
nation. NSF funding now helps to support nearly 200,000 individuals  
every year."

In his remarks, Dr. Bement described the rapid timeline and extensive  
planning under way at NSF to implement the ARRA:

   * NSF is working closely with both OSTP, OMB and Congress on the  
spending plan for ARRA. The agency anticipates a quick turnaround and  
will begin issuing ARRA research awards as soon as the plan is approved.
   * NSF will define its ARRA funding and accountability processes on  
NSF.gov and Recovery.gov, and will begin to implement tracking and  
monitoring procedures immediately.
   * NSF already has many highly rated research proposals in hand to  
consider for funding with ARRA funds. Some research proposals have  
already been reviewed and others are in the review process. NSF is  
planning to use the majority of the $2 billion available in Research  
and Related Activities for proposals that are already in house and  
will be reviewed and/or awarded prior to Sept. 30, 2009.
   * Grants funded under ARRA will be awarded quickly in order to  
contribute to new job creation and reinvestment.
   * All grants issued with Recovery Act funds will be standard grants  
with durations of up to 5 years. This approach will allow NSF to  
structure a sustainable portfolio.
   * Funding of new Principal Investigators and high-risk, high-return  
research will be a top priority.
   * NSF will use ARRA funds to increase the number of CAREER and  
IGERT awards. CAREER grants support the research and education  
activities of junior faculty and IGERT grants support  
interdisciplinary research and training of graduate students.
   * In addition to R&RA grants, the ARRA also allocated funding for  
NSF's Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program and an Academic  
Research Infrastructure (ARI) program. NSF plans to issue new  
solicitations for proposals for these programs soon.
   * NSF also will consider proposals declined on or after October 1,  
2008. Reversals of declined proposals will be based on both the high  
quality of the initial reviews, and the lack of available funding at  
the time of the original decision. NSF program officers will contact  
institutions when a reversal is being considered by NS
   * NSF is currently working on a solicitation for a Science Masters  
Program, a new activity created under ARRA.
   * NSF will use ARRA funds for awards under the Robert Noyce  
Scholarship program and the Math and Science Partnership program  
following merit review of proposals already submitted to those programs.
   * NSF does not intend to provide any supplements to existing grants  
under ARRA.

-NSF-