NSF Application Kit (Faculty Overview)
The National Science Foundation’s current proposal and award guidance is the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 24-1. This guidance applies to proposals submitted or due on or after May 20, 2024.
This document provides a high-level overview of the required components of a standard NSF proposal. It is not a substitute for the full requirements in the PAPPG or the applicable program solicitation. Faculty should always consult the specific solicitation and the PAPPG when preparing a proposal.
Formatting Instructions
Proposals must follow NSF formatting requirements. Use one of the following typefaces: Arial, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at 10 points or larger; Times New Roman at 11 points or larger; or Computer Modern at 11 points or larger. Fonts smaller than 10 points may be used only for mathematical formulas, figures, tables, diagram captions, or symbol fonts.
Margins must be at least one inch on all sides. Line spacing must not exceed six lines of text per vertical inch. Each section of the proposal must be individually paginated. Proposals that do not meet formatting requirements may be returned without review.
Proposal Components
A standard NSF proposal typically includes the following sections:
Project Summary
Project Description
References Cited
Biographical Sketches
Budget and Budget Justification
Current and Pending Support
Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources
Supplementary Documents as applicable, such as the Data Management Plan, Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan, and documentation of collaborative arrangements
Single Copy Documents, including Collaborators and Other Affiliations
Project Summary
The Project Summary is required and limited to one page. It should be informative to reviewers in related fields and understandable to a broad scientific audience. It should not serve as an abstract of the proposal.
The Project Summary must include three distinct sections, each entered separately in Research.gov:
Overview. Describe the proposed activity, including objectives and methods.
Intellectual Merit. Describe the potential of the project to advance knowledge and the qualifications of the project team.
Broader Impacts. Describe how the project will benefit society or contribute to desired societal outcomes.
The Project Summary may only be uploaded as a supplementary document when special characters are required. In those cases, the document must include the three required headings exactly as listed above.
Project Description
The Project Description is required and is limited to 15 pages unless otherwise specified in the program solicitation.
This section should clearly describe the work to be undertaken, including the project objectives, significance, relationship to current knowledge in the field, and relationship to other ongoing or prior work by the principal investigator or co principal investigators.
Faculty should address what they propose to do, why the work is important, how it will be conducted, how success will be assessed, and what benefits may result. Both established and innovative approaches are acceptable but must be well justified.
The Project Description must include a clearly labeled Broader Impacts section. If any principal investigator or co principal investigator has received NSF support within the past five years or has current NSF funding, a Results from Prior NSF Support section is also required.
URLs are not permitted in the Project Description. For collaborative projects, the roles of all partner organizations and the management structure must be clearly described. Proposals involving foreign organizations or international branch campuses must include justification for why the work cannot be conducted at a US campus.
Broader Impacts
The Broader Impacts section describes how the proposed activities will benefit society or contribute to societal outcomes. Broader impacts may occur through the research itself, through activities directly related to the research, or through complementary activities supported by the project.
Examples include broadening participation in STEM, improving STEM education, increasing public engagement with science, developing a diverse workforce, strengthening partnerships, informing public policy, or enhancing research and education infrastructure. These examples are illustrative rather than exhaustive.
Results from Prior NSF Support
This section is required if applicable and is limited to five pages. It applies to each principal investigator or co principal investigator who has received NSF funding within the past five years or has current NSF support.
For each individual, include the NSF award number, project title, amount and period of support, a summary of results organized under Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, publications resulting from the award or a statement that no publications resulted, evidence of research products and their availability, and a description of how prior work relates to the proposed project when applicable.
If the award is recent and no results are available, describe the project goals and anticipated broader impacts.
References Cited
This section is required and has no page limit. It must contain only bibliographic citations and no narrative text. Each reference must list all authors, title, publication venue, volume and page numbers, year of publication, and a URL when available.
Biographical Sketches
Biographical sketches are required for all senior personnel and are limited to three pages per individual. Faculty must use an NSF approved biosketch format and template, found here.
Chapter II.D.2.h(i), Biographical Sketch(es), the updated guidance serves as NSF’s implementation of the biographical sketch common form developed by the National Science and Technology Council’s Research Security Subcommittee.
This section has been revised to remove the 3-page limitation for the biographical sketch. There is no page limitation for this section of the proposal.
The Synergistic Activities section has been removed from the biographical sketch. This information must now be submitted by individuals designated as senior/key persons as part of the senior/key personnel documents in Research.gov.
Budget and Budget Justification
Budgets are required for all proposals. The budget justification is limited to five pages. All proposed costs must comply with NSF policy and federal cost principles under Uniform Guidance. Costs must be allowable, reasonable, and directly related to the project.
Current and Pending Support
Current and pending support information is required for all senior personnel and has no page limit. Faculty must use the NSF approved format (found here) and disclose all active and pending support, regardless of sponsor.
Chapter II.D.2.h(ii), Current and Pending (Other) Support, the updated guidance serves as NSF’s implementation of the current and pending (other) support common form developed by the National Science and Technology Council’s Research Security Subcommittee.
Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources
This section is required and has no page limit. It should describe the physical and personnel resources that will be available to the project if funded. Financial information should not be included.
Substantial collaborations with individuals not included in the budget must be described here and documented through letters of collaboration.
Supplementary Documents
Data Management Plan. Required and limited to two pages. The plan describes how research data and products will be managed, shared, and preserved. A brief statement that no detailed plan is needed is allowed only with clear justification. Collaborative proposals and proposals with subawards should submit a single combined plan.
Mentoring Plan. Required if postdoctoral researchers are supported and limited to one page. The plan must describe mentoring activities for all supported postdoctoral researchers.
Chapter II.D.2.i(i), Mentoring Plan, has been expanded to address the revision to Section 7008(a) of the America COMPETES Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. § 1862o(a)) requiring a mentoring plan for postdoctoral researchers or graduate students supported on the project. This page limitation for the Mentoring Plan remains one page.
Documentation of Collaborative Arrangements. Letters of collaboration may be included when appropriate and must follow NSF’s recommended language stating intent to collaborate – you may find the TCNJ letterhead example here. Letters of support are not permitted unless explicitly required by the program solicitation.
Other Documents
Additional documents may be required by specific program solicitations. Appendices are not permitted unless explicitly authorized.
Single Copy Documents
Collaborators and Other Affiliations information is required for all senior personnel and has no page limit. Faculty must complete the NSF provided template and upload it as an Excel file in Research.gov. The template format must not be altered.