As of October 19, 2009, the Grants.gov Contact Center will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Contact Center provides customer service to the applicant community. The new extended hours will provide applicants support around the clock, ensuring the best possible customer service is received any time it’s needed. You can reach the Grants.gov Support Center at 1-800-518-4726 or by email at support [at] grants [dot] gov.

The purpose of this Notice is to describe the NIH expectations for implementing Population Tracking requirements for clinical research protocols supported or conducted with "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" (ARRA) funds.

See the full article on the NIH website.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently released a revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) [NSF 10-1].   The new PAPP Guide will be effective for proposals submitted on or after January 4, 2010 and is available on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf101 . Significant changes are:

Chapter II.E.3, Project Outcomes Report for the General Public, is an entirely new section which describes the project outcomes report PIs will need to produce and which is to be written for and will be accessible by the general public. Within 90 days following expiration of the grant, a project outcomes report must be submitted electronically via Research.gov. This report serves as a brief summary, prepared specifically for the public, of the nature and outcomes of the project. Information about the content of the report and what is to be included are contained in this section.

Chapter IV.B, Responsible Conduct of Research, is another new section that provides NSF’s implementation of Section 7009 of the America COMPETES Act regarding responsible conduct of research (RCR). Institutions must have a plan in place to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by NSF to conduct research. Institutions must designate one or more persons to oversee compliance with the RCR training requirement and must verify that appropriate training was provided.

The following message from Beth Israel was sent to all Principal Investigators on 9/30/09:

Dear Principal Investigators,

In light of some recent misunderstandings, I want to clarify the procedures for institutional commitment for proposals.  The “Blue Sheet” (ORSPA form 300), the Proposal Routing and Approval Form) is a required component of all complete proposal packages. The completed ORSPA 300 form, along with the completed Cost Sharing Requirements Approval form (ORSPA form 305) where appropriate, documents the University’s institutional commitment to the proposed effort.  We need your help to ensure this form is filed before or together with your proposal.

Effective November 1, 2009, a fully completed (with all signatures) 300 form (Blue Sheet) must be received in ORSPA prior to your proposal being submitted to the sponsor.  This also applies to ORSPA form 305 (Cost Share or Green Sheet) where applicable.

 As the Blue Sheets actually provide the official commitment by ASU for this proposal, we will not be able to submit your proposal without these fully completed forms.

I present, below, a guide to assist in completion of both forms; you will note that virtually all required information can be completed by administrative staff (Research Advancement professionals) as your proposal is prepared.

To ease the process of approvals, electronic routing and approvals can be accomplished using the Proposal Routing Sharepoint site. This process allows you to review and approve the final proposal online; all required signatories can also access the site remotely to approve as needed. The “system fix” to enable IMAP email users (mostly Apple and Linux users) to also get the email notifications is expected to be in-place within the next month. The process also allows you to authorize a delegate to approve on your behalf.  This can be very handy in meeting deadlines or if you are not available to approve on your own behalf.  To request training and/or find out more about using the online proposal routing process please contact Frank Johnson at Frank [dot] Johnson [at] asu [dot] edu.

If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent the submission of timely routing forms in your unit, please contact Debbie Shaver, Director of ORSPA (480-965-4841) or Heather Anderson of OVPREA (480-727-0898). 

Thank you for your assistance. 

Beth H. Israel

-----

Beth H. Israel
Assoc. Vice President Research Administration
Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Affairs

***GUIDE TO COMPLETION OF FORMS:

Summary Sheet on ORSPA 300E (Blue Sheet)

Page 1 –
A: based on PI information (Mandatory)
B – H:  Derived from RFP/opportunity information (Mandatory - can be filled out at beginning of proposal writing)

Page 2 –
I: Budget summary data (Mandatory)
J: Special reviews (As required) ** IP questions must be answered, existing case or license number can be listed as “Unknown” for proposal submission; if conflict exists then proposal may have to be withdrawn.  If you are unsure which categories apply please contact your RA or SPO for assistance.
L – N: Signatures (Mandatory)

Page 3 –
B: Investigators and Allocations (Mandatory)

Page 4 -
C-D: Signatures (All Mandatory)

Page 5 -
B: Financial Disclosure (Mandatory Lead PI and Co-Is)

Page 6 -
B: External Collaborators (Mandatory) All Collaborators listed in the proposal must be listed in this section

Page 7 -
B-I: As Required from Page 2 – Note in “E -Laboratory Registration” Registration number and date can be listed as unknown but anticipated Building and Room are required at time of proposal.

Summary Sheet on ORSPA 305 (Green Sheet)

Page 1 –
Title/PI:  Mandatory
Cost Share Type:  Mandatory (known at beginning of Proposal)
PI Signature: Mandatory
Block #1 – Funding Agency/Org number can be listed as “Unknown” at time of proposal but the signatories are agreeing to the commitment by signing. All other fields are required for proposal submission.
Block # 2: As required - Same as Block #1

Page 2 –
Block #3: As required – Same as Block #1
Block #4: As required – Same as Block#1
Sponsored approved use of F&A for Cost Share: Mandatory if any portion of requested cost share comes from reduced F&A.
Total: Mandatory
Non-ASU resources/3rd Party Cost share: Mandatory if any portion of requested cost share comes from Non-ASU resources.

On August 28, 2009, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued the revised PHS 2590 (DHHS Public Health Service Noncompeting Continuation Progress Report). The purpose of this Notice is to clarify the information that is to be reported on the All Personnel Report.

See the full article on the NIH website for more information.

NIH recently sent out a reminder that recipients of funding from NIH should be aware of a new reporting requirement that is effective as of April 7, 2008. Principal investigators must ensure that electronic versions of any peer-reviewed manuscripts arising from NIH funding and accepted for publication after that date are deposited in PubMed Central (PMC), NIH's digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.

See the full announcement (PDF) from the NIH website.

This notice announces that new, restructured versions of the paper PHS 398 and electronic SF 424 (R&R) application packages and instructions will be available by December 2009.

See the full article on the NIH website for more information.

The following message from Rick Shangraw was sent to all ASU Deans, Chairs, the ASU Research Council, and Principal Investigators on 9/15/09:

RE: Export Control Regulations

I like to update you, annually, on important regulations affecting research.  Export control regulations are federal laws that restrict export of information, goods, and technology to persons and entities outside of the U.S. and to foreign nationals inside the U.S. These laws are implemented through the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). In general, these regulations prevent the flow of materials or information that would compromise our national security.  In recent years, export control issues have become more prevalent in the research community resulting in an increase of university compliance oversight. It is important that faculty and other researchers in ASU departments, laboratories and research centers understand their obligations under these regulations and adhere to them.

Export control regulations apply to:

• transfer of all physical items or controlled information to people or entities outside the U.S.;
• disclosure of controlled information to certain foreign nationals inside the U.S.;
• training or offering of services involving controlled equipment or information to foreign nationals;
• transactions with or providing services to certain foreign countries or individuals who are on embargo lists (this includes research travel to embargoed countries);
• any transactions with individuals or entities on government restricted parties lists.

The regulations apply to virtually all fields of science and engineering; however they do provide several exclusions or exemptions:

• the “fundamental research” exclusion can be applied for basic and applied research in science and engineering performed by universities  as long as the research is carried out openly and without restriction on publication or dissemination of the research results; 
• the “public domain” exclusion can be used if the information is already in the public domain (if it is published and generally accessible to the public through unrestricted distribution); and
• the exclusion from “normal teaching activities” allows the disclosure of educational information released by instruction in catalogue courses of general scientific, mathematical, or engineering principles commonly taught in universities and teaching labs.

Clearly most of the research activities performed by investigators at ASU are excluded from export controls because we can exercise one of the available exclusions listed above. However, when a research or educational activity involves an export, ASU must document its analysis of export control issues, including the availability of any exclusion or exemption.  When an exemption cannot be used (e.g. when exporting a tangible item abroad, such as a prototype or software), it is critically important to begin the license process as early as possible since it can take up to six months to receive a license.

Even though these laws may appear to conflict with the University’s tradition of academic freedom, noncompliance carries severe criminal and civil penalties for the individual and the institution. These include individual fines of up to $1 million, imprisonment, forfeiture of materials or data, and loss of research privileges. Therefore, it is imperative that all researchers familiarize themselves with these regulations and understand their responsibility to determine when these laws apply to their research activities.  The regulations are lengthy, complex and difficult to interpret and they apply to more than sponsored research from grants, agreements and contracts.  The technology controls and the countries that are restricted change frequently.  I encourage you to invite the Office of Research Integrity & Assurance (ORIA) staff to schedule awareness training for your faculty and staff. ORIA has, additionally, developed a number of valuable forms and other materials to guide you in this area that they are eager to share.

Please review the Research Integrity and Assurance website for more detailed information and resources related to export controls, including an ITAR/EAR briefing of the regulations at http://researchintegrity.asu.edu/security.   Also, please distribute this memorandum widely to all faculty and researchers on your staff. While the investigator is responsible for complying with the regulations, in the event of noncompliance, we all share in the responsibility.

The Office of Research Integrity and Assurance is available for consultation and training events and will provide updated information on the regulations when changes occur.  If you believe your research or scholarly activities may be affected by export control regulations or have general questions about export control regulations, please contact Sheryl Trexler, Assistant Director at 727-0870 or sheryl [dot] trexler [at] asu [dot] edu. 

Rick Shangraw
Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs

This RA/BOM session occurred on 9/14/09 and covered the latest policies and procedures affecting sponsored projects.  Access the PowerPoint presentation.

The revised PHS 2590 (DHHS Public Health Service Noncompeting Continuation Progress Report) is now available.  Policy changes have also been implemented.

See the full article on the NIH website for more information.