supplemental funding available on active NSF Division of Earth sciences (EAR) awards WHEN work Is delayed by covid-19

On March 16, 2021, NSF issued the following letter to Earth Sciences PI's regarding supplemental funding requests.

EAR will prioritize funds for supplements for salary, fringe, and indirect costs to support three categories of personnel:  1) students at all levels; 2) technicians; and 3) postdoctoral researchers. The goal of the supplemental support is to provide bridge funding to directly address existing personnel appointments that have been interrupted, delayed, or otherwise disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial email requests should be sent by March 31 for consideration in FY21. NSF intends to make recommendations within a few weeks. 

Letter to PIs on COVID Supplemental Funding Requests

 

This letter is to remind PIs with current EAR awards of our efforts for COVID relief, and review instructions for applying for it. The relevant information is in two Letters to the EAR community, on December 4, 2020<https://nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=301758&org=EAR> and February 25, 2021<https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=302177&org=EAR>, (the latter released with the EAR Winter Newsletter<https://nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=302182&org=EAR>).

 

The main points are summarized here:

 

1. EAR will consider supplemental funding for Active awards to support students, technicians, and postdocs whose work has been delayed by COVID-19.

 

2. PIs are expected to explore other options before contacting their award’s Program Director to inquire about a supplement. PIs should address and document personnel support through other available means (e.g. no-cost extensions and re-budgeting of funds), and supplemental requests are intended to meet unmet demands after these options have been exhausted.

 

3. PIs can contact Program Directors by email to request supplemental support and provide the information requested in the 12/4 and 2/25 Letters. The target date is March 31. This file should not be more than a couple of pages and should be provided before submitting an official supplement request.

 

4. Program Director will invite those requests that can be funded this year to officially submit the supplement request through Fastlane.nsf.gov, Research.gov, or Grants.gov.

 

The information requested in the 12/4 and 2/25 letters is summarized below. Individual Program Directors may ask for more information.

 

  1.  The award number

  2.  Names of students, postdocs, and/or lab techs and the nature of their current employment

  3.  The amount originally awarded to their salaries, fringe and related indirect costs, as well as the total award amount for all personnel

  4.  A summary of the current award budget remaining (i.e., unspent funds) and how they will be reallocated for the remainder of the award, including the distribution of funds to increase personnel support

  5.  A statement of how the pandemic has impacted the progress of research being conducted by the students, postdocs, or technicians, and how an extension of the appointment would support the research objectives of the award, as well as any diversity and inclusion impacts of the award

 

Questions? Please feel free to contact Program Directors or me.

 

Sincerely,

 

Steven L Goldstein<mailto:stegolds@nsf.gov>

Director, Division of Earth Sciences