**SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTERS (STC):**

**INTEGRATIVE PARTNERSHIPS**

**\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_**

***Program Solicitation***

**Deadlines:**

**Notice of Intent Deadline: January 6, 1998**

**Preproposal Deadline: February 12, 1998**

**Full Proposal Deadline: September 3, 1998**

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  ![](media/image1.emf){width="0.7076388888888889in"   **NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION**
  height="0.6555555555555556in"}                       

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**THE STC INTEGRATIVE PARTNERSHIP CONCEPT**

The Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnership Program
(STC) supports innovation in the integrative conduct of research,
education and knowledge transfer.

Science and Technology Centers build intellectual and physical
infrastructure within and between disciplines, weaving together
knowledge creation, knowledge integration, and knowledge transfer. STCs
conduct world-class research through partnerships of universities,
national laboratories, industrial organizations, and/or other
public/private entities. New knowledge thus created is meaningfully
linked to society.

STCs enable and foster excellent education, integrate research and
education, and create bonds between learning and inquiry so that
discovery and creativity more fully support the learning process.

STCs capitalize on diversity through participation in center activities
and demonstrate leadership in the involvement of groups underrepresented
in science and engineering.

**Program Objectives:**

-   To support research and education of the highest quality;

-   To exploit opportunities in science, engineering and technology
    where the complexity of the research agenda requires the advantages
    of scope, scale, change, duration, equipment and facilities, that a
    Center can provide;

-   To support frontier investigations at the interfaces of disciplines,
    and/or fresh approaches within disciplines;

-   To engage the NationÕs intellectual talent, robustly drawn from its
    full human diversity, in the conduct of research and education
    activities;

-   To promote organizational connections and linkages within and
    between campuses, schools and/or the world beyond (state, local,
    federal agencies, national labs, industry, international);

-   To focus on integrative learning and discovery and the preparation
    of U.S. students for a broad set of career paths; and

-   To foster science and engineering in service to society especially
    with respect to new research areas, promising new instrumentation
    and potential new technologies.

**CENTER FEATURES**

STCs should have a unifying research focus involving any area(s) of
research supported by the Foundation. STCs can vary in size and exhibit
diverse forms of organization, participation, and operation. No single
type of Center fits the needs of every field. Rather, the size,
structure, and operation of an STC are determined by the proposed
research, education, and knowledge transfer activities. While each
Center is unique in some respects, each must:

-   Be based in an academic institution;

-   Be directed by a science or engineering faculty member and
    integrated into academic programs;

-   Reflect a commitment to achieving strategic goals shared by the host
    and partnering institutions as demonstrated by cost-sharing or other
    institutional commitments;

-   Provide a variety of education and research opportunities for
    U.S**.** students and faculty (e.g., undergraduate and graduate
    students, postdoctoral researchers, industrial fellows, students
    from groups underrepresented in science and engineering, K-12
    teachers, and visiting participants);

-   Have significant intellectual exchange and resource linkages among
    various types of institutions (e.g., academic, minority-serving
    institutions, nonprofit organizations, national laboratories,
    industry, federal, state, and local governments) to facilitate
    knowledge transfer;

-   Include industrial, national or international laboratory
    internships, or other career broadening experiences as appropriate
    to the research area; and

-   Have annual budgets ranging from \$1.5M to \$4.0M of NSF support.

**CENTER LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT**

The STC Director must have the capacity to develop and lead a team to
fulfill a shared vision. The Director should be supported in this role
by a management team comprised of, for example, a deputy or co-Director
(who will share some of the leadership responsibilities), leaders of
research teams, an education coordinator, a knowledge transfer
(industrial liaison) coordinator, and an administrative and financial
manager. In addition, the Center will maintain and convene annually an
external advisory group. The advisors must include representation from
those served by the Center (e.g., academic institutions, industry, state
and local agencies, national laboratories) and display the diversity of
the U.S. citizenry in its membership. The function of the advisory group
is to provide guidance and advice to the Center as well as to ensure
that the CenterÕs activities are consistent with its vision, goals, and
objectives.

The Center Director is responsible for the management, staffing, and
resource allocation of the STC; for administering the award in
accordance with NSF policies and the terms of the cooperative agreement,
and for serving as the liaison between the Center and the National
Network of STC Directors.

**National Network of STC Directors**

STC Directors will serve as members of a national liaison team for the
STC Program. The Directors are responsible for developing, implementing,
and maintaining a liaison structure with active participation of each
Center. This network is charged with addressing common goals, problems
and opportunities, and facilitating personnel and resource exchanges as
well as integrated partnerships and cooperation among Centers.

Annually a chair of this liaison team will be elected by participating
members and will serve a one-year term.

Typical functions of the National Network of STC Directors include:
fostering complementarity and balance among research, education and
knowledge transfer activities, and avoidance of duplication of effort;
facilitating interactions to address research, education, and management
issues and opportunities which transcend individual Center capabilities;
liaison with private sector, state, local and national laboratories to
identify needs/opportunities and to plan joint implementation
strategies, workshops, and other fora; cooperation and liaison with NSF
staff in the development and maintenance of databases and other
effective metrics in response to the requirements of the Government
Performance and Results Act; and preparing documents to enhance public
understanding about the importance of science, engineering, technology
and education advances in service to society.

**Two-Stage STC Competition**

Applicants compete for support from the STC program in a two-stage
process: in the first stage applicants submit a preproposal that
outlines the planned Center activity; in the second, invited applicants
submit a full proposal. Invitations to submit a full proposal will be
extended on the basis of merit review of the preproposals; only invited
full proposals will be accepted. Site visits will be held for a small
number of proposers who enter the final consideration process.

**WHO MAY SUBMIT**

U.S. academic institutions with significant research and education
programs in any area of science and engineering normally supported by
NSF may submit preproposals. A single institution may be involved in
more than one preproposal, and may submit more than one preproposal.
However, the STC Program will not normally provide simultaneous support
for more than one STC based at any one institution. Proposals involving
integrated partnerships (i.e., multi-institutional arrangements
including other universities/colleges, national laboratories, private
sector research laboratories, state and local government laboratories,
and international collaborations) are encouraged. However, one
institution must accept overall management responsibility for the
proposed Center.

Existing STCs or group members from such STCs who propose to focus on
radically different research topics or themes may participate in this
open competition. If successful, the new awards will not commence until
the end of the CenterÕs current term of support.

The STC Program complements the NSF Engineering Research Centers (ERC),
the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC), and
other programs that support group research activities. Simultaneous
consideration of duplicate center proposals by other NSF programs is not
permitted. However, participation in a Center does not preclude
individuals from receiving NSF support for their individual research in
complementary areas.

**Notice of Intent**

Research teams intending to submit a preproposal should submit a notice
of intent addressed to the STC Program via e-mail to ***stc@nsf.gov***
by January 6, 1998. The subject of the e-mail message should be "Notice
of Intent" followed by the university name. The notice should not exceed
500 words, and should give a brief summary of the vision for the Center
and the structure of its research, education, and knowledge transfer.
The purpose of this notice is to enable NSF to determine the composition
of its review panels.

**PROPOSAL FORMAT AND ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION**

Formal communications for this program competition will be electronic.
Therefore, preproposals and full proposals must be submitted
electronically using the NSF FastLane system for electronic proposal
submission and review, available through the World Wide Web on the
FastLane home page (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov). Instructions for
electronic submission can be found by accessing
(http://www.nsf.gov/od/osti/centers/nsf9813/instruct.htm).

In order to use NSF FastLane to prepare and submit a proposal, you must
use a browser that supports multiple buttons and file upload (e.g.,
Netscape 3.0 and above for Windows, UNIX, or Macintosh). In addition,
Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view and print forms. Adobe Acrobat
Exchange 2.0 or above, AdobeDistiller 2.0 or above, or Adobe Acrobat 3.X
(which includes Adobe Exchange and Adobe Distiller) is needed for
creating PDF files. To access the FastLane Proposal Preparation
application, your institution needs to be a registered FastLane
institution. A list of registered institutions and the FastLane
registration form are located on the FastLane home page.

For questions or problems concerning submitting a STC proposal via
FastLane, please contact a FastLane User Support person at electronic
mail: ***stcflane@nsf.gov*** or phone (703) 306-1142 {If you reach the
automated attendant, please dial extension 4686}. For non-FastLane
questions related to the STC competition, please contact the STC program
at ***stc@nsf.gov*** or at (703) 306-1040.

Both preproposals and full proposals must be prepared following margin
and other quality requirements described in the NSFÕs [Grant Proposal
Guide]{.underline} (NSF 98-2). Each must contain only the materials
requested by this solicitation.

**PREPROPOSAL CONTENT**

The preproposal should be submitted with the proposed Center Director as
the Principal Investigator and must include only the following:

1\) Cover Page (Form 1207).

2\) Information about the Principal Investigator (Form 1225) is
automatically generated by FastLane.

3\) Project Summary: Provide a one-page table of contents for the entire
preproposal, and a one page description of the vision and key components
of the STC. The names of the principal participating institutions
involved in establishing the proposed STC should be included in the one
page description.

> **The Project Description must contain the following sections,
> incorporating items four through nine:**

4\) Narrative description of the Focus, Research Plans, and Relevance:
Develop a research focus that is sufficiently long-term to justify a
Center form of organization and broad enough to permit change as the
research proceeds. Describe the CenterÕs rationale, goals and proposed
research activities in sufficient detail to allow assessment of their
merit and the necessity for the Center mode of operation. Indicate the
potential impact the CenterÕs research will have on the nationÕs
scientific and/or technological base.

5\) A description of proposed activities in: science or engineering
education; human resource development, with special emphasis on issues
regarding the inclusion of U.S. students and underrepresented groups in
the proposed centers activities; collaborations with industry,
minority-serving institutions, science museums, K-12 education systems,
and/or other sectors; shared experimental facilities, international
collaborations.

6\) An outline of the proposed arrangements for administration and
management of the Center.

**Note: Items 4, 5, and 6 above are limited to nine pages including
tables and illustrations regardless of the number of research groups or
themes.**

7\) List of Academic Participants, Industrial, and Other Partners
(two-page limit): Provide two lists: (a) a list of Academic Participants
and (b) a list of Industrial and Other Partners. Begin the List of
Academic Participants, with the name of the institution which will lead
the STC. List the faculty committed to involvement in the STC, with
their school, departmental and institutional affiliations. Any
affiliation with government laboratories should be included on this
list. On the List of Industrial and Other Partners, provide the names of
corporate, agency, or other industrial affiliation and personnel who
contributed to the development of the preproposal and are interested in
joining and supporting the Center through financial and/or other
supporting mechanisms.

8\) Provide a synopsis (one-page limit) of institutional and other
resource commitments and potential funding to the proposed Center.

9\) Provide a five-year budget summary (Form 1030) and submit a budget
explanation (not to exceed one page);

10\) References Cited. Section not to exceed two pages.

11\) Biographical sketches. For the Principal Investigator, Co-Principal
Investigator(s), and non-Co-PI Senior Personnel, provide a brief
biographical sketch or curriculum vitae, including a list of the five
most recent or significant publications. This section must not exceed
two pages per person.

12\) Letters are required from the universities, signed by authorized
university officials committing support to the STC during its ten-year
life span. **These letters are not to be submitted over Fastlane but
mailed directly to the address below.**

**No other items are to be included.** **Preproposals containing items
other than those required above will not be reviewed.**

**Preproposal Deadline**

Preproposals for the Science and Technology Centers Program must be
submitted electronically to NSF no later than 5:00 PM EST, on February
12, 1998. A paper copy of the Proposal Cover Sheet, signed Certification
Page, and letters of commitment must be mailed to the address below to
arrive by February 19, 1998.

STC Program

National Science Foundation

Room 1270

4201 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22230

Principal Investigators will be notified of the results of the
preproposal competition on or before May 1, 1998.

**FULL PROPOSAL CONTENT**

The full proposals must include only the following information:

1\) Cover Page (Form 1207).

2\) Information about the Principal Investigator (Form 1225) is
automatically generated by FastLane.

3\) Project Summary (three-page limit): Provide a one-page table of
contents for the entire full proposal. At the top of the second page
include the title of the STC and the name of the Director. Identify the
institution leading the STC as well as the other participating
institutions. This summary should provide a clear description of the
Center, its distinguishing features, multidisciplinary focus, proposed
research and educational activities, integrative components, diversity
plan, knowledge transfer strategy, and rationale and vision for the
Center.

> **The Project Description must contain the following sections,
> incorporating items four through thirteen:**

4\) Narrative description of the Focus, Research Plans, and Relevance
(ten-page limit): Develop a research focus that is sufficiently long
term to justify a Center form of organization and agile enough to permit
change as the research proceeds. Describe the CenterÕs goals and
proposed research activities in sufficient detail to allow assessment of
their scientific merit and the necessity for the Center mode of
operation. Indicate what impact the CenterÕs research will have on the
nationÕs scientific and/or technological base.

5\) Education (five-page limit): Provide a summary chart of M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees completed during the past three years under the
directorship of the proposed Center senior personnel. Also indicate
average time to complete degree requirements. Indicate gender, ethnic
origin, and nationality of students. Clearly outline plans for:
attracting and retaining high quality U.S. students (undergraduates,
graduates, postdoctoral) in Center activities and for increasing
participation of women and members of underrepresented minorities (i.e.,
Alaskan Native, American Indian, African American, Hispanic, Native
Pacific Islander, or persons with disabilities) in Center research and
education endeavors. Initiating effective long-term partnerships with
minority-serving institutions is strongly encouraged as well as
initiating summer internship programs for U.S. students, Research
Experiences for Undergraduates (Sites), effective K-12 teacher
preparation programs and workshops. The development of hands-on exhibits
for science museums and development of courseware that is portable over
the Internet are also encouraged. These items are considered effective
practices in the area of implementing diversity plans. The education
activities undertaken by the STC should be broad and appropriate to the
research in question. Also address plans for making time from the
baccalaureate to the Ph.D. degree approach 4 to 5 years. Information on
the CenterÕs potential impact on educational activities (e.g., new
courses, new degree programs, changed curriculum, new partnerships for
delivery) should be included here.

6\) Knowledge Transfer (three-page limit): Describe plans for linking
appropriate communities and institutions beyond the sponsoring
institution\--other colleges, universities, disciplinary subfields,
other disciplines, nonprofit research organizations, government
laboratories, industry, state, local, and/or international entities\--to
enhance involvement and knowledge transfer. These linkages should
involve significant intellectual exchange, internships, and resource
commitments (e.g., funds, facilities, and/or people). Partnerships and
linkages beyond the university boundaries are to be emphasized here.

If a proposal is selected for a site visit, Center staff will be
expected to be aware of related state and national research capabilities
as well as international programs in their fields of research.

7\) Rationale for the Center concept (one-page limit): Justify the
center mode. Clearly indicate current activities, why a Center is
necessary, and what unique opportunities will be provided by the
proposed Center. If the proposed Center research is closely related to
ongoing research at an existing Center (e.g., STC, ERC, MRSEC, national
laboratory), explain how the research activities of this Center
complement those of the existing center(s).

8\) Management Plan (three-page limit): Provide a clear description of
the organizational structure of the Center. Clearly outline mechanisms
for focusing Center activities, selecting and integrating related
research projects, allocating funds and equipment across all Center
activities, and managing the involvement of other groups, scientific and
educational. A description of a diverse external advisory body that will
provide guidance and advice on all Center activities is required.

If a proposal is selected for a site visit, NSF will require additional
information on the overall management of the Center.

9\) List of Academic Participants, Industrial, and Other Partners
(two-page limit): Provide two lists: (a) a list of Academic Participants
and (b) a list of Industrial and Other Partners. Begin the List of
Academic Participants, with the name of the institution which will lead
the STC. Provide a list of faculty committed to involvement in the STC,
with their school, departmental and institutional affiliations. Any
affiliation with government laboratories should be included on this
list. On the List of Industrial and Other Partners, provide the names of
corporate, agency, or other industrial affiliations and personnel who
are committed to participating in and supporting the Center.

10\) Intellectual Property Rights (one-page limit): Provide a concise
statement on the proposed CenterÕs policies on Intellectual Property
Rights. If a proposal is selected for a site-visit, a more detailed copy
of the home institutionÕs official policy will be required.

11\) Projected Funding by Source (one-page limit): Reproduce Table 1
indicating the expected annual level of total support for five years
from each source (i.e., NSF, the university, industry, state and local
governments, other federal agencies, and other sources). On this table,
split each column, as needed, to indicate whether the support is in
cash, or in-kind (space, faculty and staff positions, time of industrial
personnel spent in the STC, capital equipment, and other in-kind
pledges). It should be clear from the table how much of the support is
already committed and how much is projected. A financial plan may be
included, which addresses projections or goals for creating a
self-sustaining STC in ten years. To this end, NSF expects STCs to
develop and implement plans to continue the effective and productive
collaborations with other stakeholders in the integrated partnerships
when NSF funding ceases.

**[Table 1]{.underline}**

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

<table style="width:100%;">
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><em><strong>Projected Funding</strong></em></td>
<td>Actual $</td>
<td><p>In-Kind</p>
<p>$</p></td>
<td>Actual $</td>
<td><p>In-Kind</p>
<p>$</p></td>
<td>Actual $</td>
<td><p>In-Kind</p>
<p>$</p></td>
<td>Actual $</td>
<td><p>In-Kind</p>
<p>$</p></td>
<td>Actual $</td>
<td><p>In-Kind</p>
<p>$</p></td>
<td>Actual $</td>
<td><p>In-Kind</p>
<p>$</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><em><strong>NSF</strong></em></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><em><strong>Industry</strong></em></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><em><strong>University</strong></em></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><em><strong>Other Govt.</strong></em></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><em><strong>Other</strong></em></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><em><strong>Total</strong></em></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

12\) Institutional and other Sector Support (one-page limit): Outline
the home institutionÕs commitment: dollars, space, faculty and staff
positions, capital equipment, and access to facilities and
instrumentation. Indicate dollar value where possible; otherwise,
describe how the commitment contributes to realizing the strategic goals
of the Center and associated institutions. Describe possible
other-sector support, including space, funds, facilities, and personnel
for the center. Major commitments of other closely associated
institutions may also be provided here.

13\) Shared Experimental Facilities (four-page limit): Where
appropriate, describe the shared facilities to be established, including
specific major research instrumentation, and plans for the development
of instrumentation. Describe plans for maintaining and operating the
facilities, including staffing, provisions for user fees, and plans for
ensuring access to outside users. Distinguish between existing
facilities and those still to be developed.

14\) Facilities and Equipment (Form 1363). This form should support the
description of the infrastructure of the STC in the body of the proposal
by describing the equipment and facilities available to the proposed
STC.

15\) Budget: Provide a five-year summary budget (Form 1030) and one
(first year) annual budget for the Center as a whole. Submit a separate
budget for each participating institution in cases where a subcontract
exceeds \$100,000 per year. Identify items of equipment costing more
than \$10,000. Full justification for the latter is required and
substantial institutional cost-sharing is expected. Undergraduate and
graduate stipends must be consistent with NSF policy and postdoctoral
fellowships may be determined by the institution. Individual students
may not be supported for a period in excess of five years. A budget
justification (two-page limit) should be provided. Funds allocated for
research, education, and knowledge transfer issues should be
discernible.

16\) References Cited. Section not to exceed five pages.

17\) Biographical Sketches: For the Principal Investigator, Co-Principal
Investigator(s), and non Co-PI Senior Personnel, provide a brief
biographical sketch or curriculum vitae, including a list of the five
most recent or significant publications. This section must not exceed
two pages per person.

18\) Current and Pending Support (Form 1239): Provide a complete listing
of current and pending support for the Principal Investigator,
Co-Principal Investigator(s), and non Co-PI Senior Personnel only.

19\) Letters of Interest and Support from the Partners of the STC.
Letters are required from the university, signed by the authorized
university official committing support to the STC during its 10-year
life span. Letters committing industrial and/or other partners to
involvement and financial or collaborative support are required.
(**Commitment letters are not included in the page count. They are not
to be submitted electronically but mailed directly to the Office of
Science and Technology Infrastructure**.)

**Full proposals containing items other than those required above will
not be reviewed.**

**Full Proposal Deadline**

Full proposals must be submitted electronically to NSF no later than
5:00 PM EST, by September 3, 1998**.** A paper copy of the Proposal
Cover Sheet, signed Certification Page, and letters of commitment must
be submitted to the same address given above for preproposals to arrive
by September 10, 1998.

NSF expects to announce the results of the competition no later than
August 1999.

**EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS**

**Review and Award Selection Process**

Proposals will be evaluated by a multi-phase merit review process. In
order to reduce the cost of proposal preparation and the workload on the
scientific community, NSF will utilize a preproposal phase which will
include evaluation by a panel of individuals intellectually
distinguished in their fields and experienced in integrative science and
education, engineering and technology partnerships. The panelists will
be asked to base their comments on the merit review criteria below.

Entities whose preproposals are judged most promising and are
recommended by the panel will be encouraged to submit full proposals
that will be evaluated by both *ad hoc* mail and panel review using the
selection criteria below. This panel will identify a small number of
full proposals deemed worthy of site-visit reviews; the other proposals
will be declined. Although the site visit will cover all aspects of the
proposal, Foundation staff will indicate what additional information may
be needed in advance of the review.

Finally, a comprehensive review will be conducted by an *ad hoc* STC
Advisory Committee that will develop a prioritized recommended funding
list. In developing its recommendations for awards, this committee will
consider: the relative merit of the STC proposals using the criteria
listed below, the balance of awards among scientific fields, and the
combined ability of the proposed Centers to meet the objectives of the
STC Program. In developing funding recommendations to the Director and
the National Science Board, the STC Advisory CommitteeÕs recommendations
will be considered.

**Merit Review Criteria**

Proposals will be evaluated using standard NSF merit review criteria as
well as criteria specific to the STC Program objectives. Preproposals
will be evaluated in terms of their potential to meet the criteria for
full proposals.

**Standard Merit Review Criteria:**

1.  **What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?**

How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and
understanding within its own field or across different fields? How well
qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project?
(If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the quality of prior
work.) To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore
creative and original concepts? How well conceived and organized is the
proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to resources?

2.  **What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?**

How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while
promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well does the proposed
activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g.,
gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it
enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as
facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the
results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological
understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to
society?

**Additional Merit Review Criteria specific to the STC Program:**

1\. Value added by Center:

-   Ability to stimulate interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary
    interaction and/or collaboration across a novel research area.

-   Relationship to existing and planned institutional programs and
    capabilities in research and education.

-   Potential for institutional, national and international impact.

2\. Integrating research and education:

-   Ability to develop effective educational programs that will broaden
    the career paths of involved students.

-   Plans for fostering a climate of interaction and effective knowledge
    transfer both among diverse university departments and between the
    university and its partners in industry and/or other sectors.

3\. Developing human resources:

-   Ability to increase participation by U.S. citizens, particularly
    women and underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities
    in research and education.

-   Plans for forming substantive and long-term partnerships and
    collaborations with, minority-serving institutions, and/or women's
    colleges.

4\. Partnerships and knowledge transfer:

-   Ability to develop trusted partnerships and maintain active
    collaboration with industry, public, and/or international sectors.

-   Plans to stimulate and facilitate knowledge transfer and to
    strengthen the linkages between university-based research and its
    application and implementation.

5\. Shared experimental facilities (when appropriate):

-   Ability to develop, establish, operate, and maintain new
    instrumentation or shared experimental facilities (including
    databases.)

-   Plans to provide appropriate access to users from the home
    institution, other academic institutions, and other sectors.

6\. Leadership, Management Plan, Institutional Support, and Budget:

-   Vision, experience, and capacity of the center director and the
    center leadership team to manage a complex, multi-faceted, and
    innovative research, education, and knowledge transfer enterprise.

-   Likely effectiveness of the proposed management plan, including the
    mechanisms for topic selection, resource allocation, progress
    evaluation, and project termination.

-   Documentation of institutional and other commitments to the proposed
    Center.

-   Appropriateness of the requested budget.

**STC AWARDS**

The amount of funds available for this competition is approximately \$25
million in FY 2000 and NSF expects to make about eight to ten awards.
The awards will be made as cooperative agreements with an initial
commitment of five years and a potential duration of ten years. The
amount of the NSFÕs investment in each center will depend upon the
needs, plans, and opportunities offered by the Center, as well as the
availability of NSF funds. Proposed STC annual budgets may range from
\$1.5M to \$4.0M per year of NSF support. Proposals outside this range
will be ineligible and will be returned without review.

The appropriate NSF research directorates will have primary
responsibility in the oversight of individual STCs. The progress and
plans of each funded STC will be monitored annually, prior to receiving
continued NSF support. Towards the end of the fourth year of operation
the STC must submit a renewal proposal for continued support which will
undergo merit review. The STCÕs achievements and future plans will be
evaluated comprehensively. The review will determine if the STC is
meeting the goals and objectives as originally proposed. The STC
performance assessment will be guided by the goals and objectives of the
STC Program and the individual goals of the particular STC.

Centers successful in passing the fourth-year review will be renewed for
another five years, commencing at the beginning of the sixth year, and
including a two-year phase-out period. Centers that pass the fourth-year
review will continue to be monitored at least every 18 months. Centers
that do not pass the fourth year review will be phased-out over a
one-year period at a reduced level of support. The NSF will support an
STC for a maximum of ten years unless it competes successfully in an
open competition with new research ideas, new concepts, and fresh
approaches to major scientific, engineering and education problems.

**Reporting Requirements**

Centers selected will be required to submit annual reports on progress
and plans, which will be used as a basis for performance review and
determining the level of continued funding. To support this review and
the management of a Center, STCs will be required to develop a set of
management and performance indicators for submission annually to NSF via
an evaluation technical assistance contractor. These indicators are both
quantitative and descriptive and may include, for example, the
characteristics of center personnel and students; sources of financial
support and in-kind support; expenditures by operational component;
characteristics of industrial and/or other sector participation;
research activities; education activities; knowledge transfer
activities; patents, licenses; publications; degrees granted to students
involved in Center activities; descriptions of significant advances and
other outcomes of the STC effort. Part of this reporting will take the
form of a database which will be owned by the institution and eventually
made available to an evaluation contractor. This database will capture
specific information to demonstrate progress towards achieving the goals
of the program. Such reporting requirements will be included in the
cooperative agreement which is binding between the university and the
NSF.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Foundation provides awards for research and education in the      |
| sciences and engineering. The awardee is wholly responsible for the   |
| conduct of such research and preparation of the results for           |
| publication. The Foundation, therefore, does not assume               |
| responsibility for the research findings or their interpretation.     |
|                                                                       |
| The Foundation welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists and   |
| engineers and strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with |
| disabilities to compete fully in any of the research and education    |
| related programs described here. In accordance with federal statutes, |
| regulations, and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color,   |
| age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from       |
| participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to         |
| discrimination under any program or activity receiving financial      |
| assistance from the National Science Foundation.                      |
|                                                                       |
| Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities    |
| (FASED) provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable |
| persons with disabilities (investigators and other staff, including   |
| student research assistants) to work on NSF projects. See the program |
| announcement or contact the program coordinator at (703) 306-1636.    |
|                                                                       |
| Privacy Act. The information requested on proposal forms is solicited |
| under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950,   |
| as amended. It will be used in connection with the selection of       |
| qualified proposals and may be disclosed to qualified reviewers and   |
| staff assistants as part of the review process; to applicant          |
| institutions/grantees; to provide or obtain data regarding the        |
| application review process, award decisions, or the administration of |
| awards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers, and           |
| researchers as necessary to complete assigned work; and to other      |
| government agencies in order to coordinate programs. See Systems of   |
| Records, NSF 50, Principal Investigators/Proposal File and Associated |
| Records, and NSF-51, 60 Federal Register 4449 (January 23, 1995).     |
| Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records, 59 Federal Register    |
| 8031 (February 17, 1994).                                             |
|                                                                       |
| Public Burden. Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to |
| provide full and complete information, however, may reduce the        |
| possibility of your receiving an award.                               |
|                                                                       |
| The public reporting burden for this collection of information is     |
| estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time for   |
| reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding this burden estimate  |
| or any other aspect of this collection of information, including      |
| suggestions for reducing this burden, to Gail A. McHenry, Reports     |
| Clearance Officer, Information Dissemination Branch, National Science |
| Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 245, Arlington, VA 22230.    |
|                                                                       |
| The National Science Foundation has TDD (Telephonic Device for the    |
| Deaf) capability, which enables individuals with hearing impairment   |
| to communicate with the Foundation about NSF programs, employment, or |
| general information. To access NSF TDD, dial (703) 306-0090; for      |
| FIRS, 1-800-877-8339.                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number                         |
|                                                                       |
| 47.073 Office of Science and Technology Infrastructure                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

OMB 3145-0058

PT 18

NSF 98-13

Instructions for Preparing and Submitting an

Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships

Preproposal via FastLane

**NOTE: Because FastLane is fairly new to users, it is advised that
proposal preparation be done early.**

**INDEX**

  -------------------------------------- --------------------------------
  1\. Using FastLane                     2\. Accessing STC Forms

  3\. Completing Forms                   4\. Submitting Preproposals

  5\. Saving a Copy of Prepoposal        6\. Detailed FastLane
                                         Instructions
  -------------------------------------- --------------------------------

**INTRODUCTION**

The required content of an STC preproposal is described in the STC
program announcement (NSF 98-13). The preproposal must be prepared and
submitted via FastLane, NSF's system for electronic proposal submission,
tracking and review. The FastLane system uses the World Wide Web to
exchange information between NSF and its external community, including
proposers and reviewers. The instructions provided in the first three
pages of this document generally assume knowledge of the use of FastLane
to prepare an NSF proposal. Following these, a set of more detailed
instructions are provided. The detailed instructions include information
about registering to use FastLane for proposal preparation and about
acquiring the software necessary for this use of FastLane.

**USING FASTLANE AND GETTING HELP**

To use FastLane to prepare a preproposal, you must be registered with
NSF as a Principal Investigator (PI), your institution must be a
registered FastLane Institution, and you must have a FastLane personal
identification number (PIN) which you obtain from your institution's
Sponsored Research Office (SRO), or equivalent. If you are not familiar
with FastLane, including its software and user registration
requirements, you may want to access the FastLane homepage or to go
directly to the detailed instructions below (Detailed Instructions for
Use of FastLane). You may send technical questions and comments to the
FastLane staff using the \'Send Comments to NSF\' feature on each
FastLane screen. **If you have any questions about this procedure,
please contact a FastLane User Support person at stcflane@nsf.gov, or
phone (703) 306-1142 (If you reach the automated attendant, please dial
extension 4686). Questions concerning content of the preproposal should
be addressed to the Office of Science and Technology Infrastructure at
stc@nsf.gov or (703) 306-1040, not to FastLane staff.**

**ACCESSING STC FORMS**

1.  Access the NSF FastLane Home Page (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov) and
    select Proposal Preparation. Enter your required login information
    (last name, SSN and the PIN provided by your SRO), and then select
    the Proposal Preparation button. This will take you to the "PI
    Information" section. Please verify that the information is correct.
    If not, click on the Edit Information button, change the information
    and click OK. Then scroll down to the "Proposal Actions" section,
    select the Standard Proposal option and click on the OK button.

2.  If you have never started a standard proposal on FastLane, you will
    get a screen entitled "New Proposal Information." Click on the
    Create New Proposal button and the "Proposal Actions" screen will
    appear. If you have previously used FastLane for proposal
    preparation, you will go directly to the "Proposal Actions" screen.

3.  Scroll down to "New Proposals" and select the STC: Integrative
    Partnerships Program button, and then scroll up to the list of
    "Proposals in Progress" where you will now see a proposal entitled
    "STC:".

4.  Select "STC:" and click on the Edit button. This moves you to the
    "Form Selector" screen, which lists and provides access to the forms
    needed to prepare the preproposal.

    **COMPLETING THE FORMS**

5.  Entering Information.

    Select the form and click on Go to Form. To save a partially or
    fully completed form, click on OK. This saves the form and returns
    you to the "Form Selector" screen. To edit a partially completed
    form that you have previously saved, follow the same steps used to
    access a blank form. Once a Co-PI has been added to the Cover Sheet,
    the Co-PI can access the proposal by entering his/her last name,
    SSN, and FastLane PI PIN. You can allow other authorized FastLane
    users to enter and edit information by creating a specific PIN for
    the preproposal (see providing access to an "In Progress" Proposal).

6.  Completing the Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207).

    The "Program Announcement/Solicitation No." field has been filled;
    this field cannot be altered. The awardee and performing institution
    fields are already filled using the institution and institution code
    from the PI's record in the NSF PI database. Verify that the awardee
    and performing institutions are correctly shown. Changes may be made
    by selecting the Awardee Institution Search or Performing
    Institution Search button. Please enter requested information in the
    other fields as appropriate.

7.  "PI /Co-PI Information" Form (NSF Form 1225).

    This form is automatically completed by FastLane using information
    from the PI's and Co-PI's records in the NSF PI database. Please
    verify that the information in the fields is correct. The
    information can be corrected, but only by the named individual. If
    correction is needed, follow the steps to edit information as
    described in Instruction #1 above.

    **NOTE: The following three ways can be used to prepare the Project
    Summary, References Cited and Biographical Sketches:**

-   The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document.
    However, doing so will only transfer text. Special formatting such
    as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining will be lost in the
    cut-and-paste process.

-   The user can type text directly into the form using the interface
    provided. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and
    underlining cannot be included in a web text block. When the Project
    Summary is complete, choose OK to save the data.

-   The user can upload the Project Summary as a Portable Data Format
    (PDF) file which the user creates by saving a file to disk using PDF
    Writer as the printer driver. Doing so will preserve the exact
    formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload
    capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks, you must use
    a browser which supports these capabilities (Netscape 3.0 or later).
    See below for more details about "Converting Files to PDF and
    Uploading PDF Files." PDF Writer is a commercial product provided
    with Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, and Adobe Acrobat 3.X (see
    Adobe's Website for information (http://www.adobe.com).

1.  Project Summary.

2.  Preparing the Project Description.

    **This section of the preproposal must be prepared and uploaded as a
    single PDF file.**

    The Project Description must contain the following six sections of
    the preproposal: a) Narrative description of the Focus, Research
    Plans, and Relevance; b) Description of proposed actives in science
    or engineering; c) An outline of proposed administration and
    management arrangements; d) List of academic and industrial
    partners; and e) Summary of institutional and other resource
    commitments.

3.  References Cited.

4.  Completing Biographical Sketches.

    In order to prepare and save a sketch for anyone not listed on the
    cover page as PI or Co-PI, you must access the "Form Selector"
    screen, select Add/Modify Non Co-PI Senior Personnel and click on
    the Go To Form button. When all names have been entered, select
    Return to Kit Index. This returns you to the "Form Selector" screen.

    As with the project summary and references cited, any of the three
    methods may be used to enter information. If the PDF upload method
    is followed, a separate PDF file will have to be created and
    uploaded for each individual. After you save an individual form, you
    may complete another sketch, or else you may return to the "Form
    Selector" screen by clicking on Return to Kit Index.

5.  Preparing the Summary preproposal Budget (NSF Form 1030).

    The Cover Sheet must be accessed and saved at least once before the
    budget form can be accessed. The budget form has been modified for
    STC preproposals so that only the five-year total budget is
    prepared, and a budget justification can be provided. The Calculate
    button calculates all figures on the form. If you change the awardee
    institution on the Cover Sheet after doing your budget, verify that
    the awardee institution named on the Cover Sheet matches the
    institution named on the budget. You may change the awardee
    institution by clicking on the Change Inst. ID button while working
    on the budget form.

    **SUBMITTING THE STC PREPROPOSAL**

Your SRO (or equivalent) submits the STC preproposal to NSF
electronically and also prints a copy of the submitted Proposal Cover
Sheet and Certification Page. The printed copy and letters of support
must be signed and mailed to NSF. To allow your SRO access to the
preproposal, you access the Proposal Forms Preparation function, select
the desired proposal and then click on the Allow SRO Access button. This
informs your SRO that it can now access the preproposal.

After you select the Allow SRO Access button, but before the preproposal
is submitted, you can still edit the preproposal. For further
information on submission by the SRO, see the detailed instructions
(Submitting the STC preproposal).

The Preproposal must be submitted electronically no later than 5 PM,
EST, on February 12, 1998. A signed paper copy of the Proposal Cover
Sheet and Certification Page, and letters of support must be mailed to
the address below in time to arrive by February 19, 1998, a week after
the electronic submission of the preproposal.

Office of Science and Technology Infrastructure

STC Program

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1270

Arlington, VA 22230

**USING A COPY OF YOUR SUBMITTED PREPROPOSAL TO PREPARE A FULL STC
PROPOSAL**

You can save a copy of your submitted preproposal which will allow you
to use your preproposal to prepare a full STC application. In order to
save a copy of your submitted preproposal, access the FastLane Homepage.
Select proposal preparation and enter the required login information.
After clicking the proposal preparation button the next screen to appear
will be the "PI Information" screen. Scroll down to the "Proposal Action
Box" and under View, click on Submitted and then OK. Under submitted
proposals, select the desired proposal and click on the Copy button.
This will add a copy of the submitted proposal to the "Proposals in
Progress" list on the "Proposal Action" screen. You can then select it
and click on the Edit button to start your full proposal.

**Detailed Instructions for Use of FastLane**

**to Prepare and Submit an STC Preproposal**

**INDEX**

  ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------
  1\. Overview of FastLane             2\. Registering as a FastLane
                                       Institution

  3\. Getting Help With FastLane       4\. Requirements for Accessing
                                       FastLane Proposal Preparation

  5\. Software Requirements            6\. Accessing FastLane to Prepare
                                       an STC Preproposal

  7\. Providing Access to an "In       8\. Working on an "In Progress"
  Progress" Proposal                   Proposal

  9\. Converting Files to PDF and      10\. Printing the Preproposal
  Uploading PDF Files                  

  11\. Submitting the Preproposal      12\. Saving a Copy of Prepoposal
  ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------

**OVERVIEW OF FASTLANE**

Both STC preproposals and full proposals must be submitted via FastLane,
NSF's system for electronic proposal submission and review, available
through the World Wide Web at (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov). Your
preproposal must be submitted via FastLane by 5:00 pm EST February 12,
1998. Please note that your signed cover sheet, certification page, and
letters of commitment must arrive at NSF by February 19, 1998. No
additional information is permitted; preproposals containing items other
than those required will not be reviewed. For questions concerning
FastLane, please send an e-mail to stcflane@nsf.gov.

The FastLane project, in existence since February 1995, uses the
Internet and World Wide Web to exchange information between NSF and its
external community. FastLane consists of eleven applications located on
the FastLane Home Page (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov).

Principal Investigators (PIs) at Registered FastLane institutions can
use the NSF FastLane Proposal Preparation application located at
(http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov) to prepare their proposal and allow their
Sponsored Research Office (SRO) access to the proposal. Once the SRO is
granted access to a proposal, the SRO can submit the proposal to NSF
using the "Submit Proposal" module found within the Institutional
Management of FastLane application. After a proposal is submitted, the
cover sheet and certification page must be printed, signed, and mailed
to NSF.

**REGISTERING AS A FASTLANE INSTITUTION**

To have access to the various FastLane applications, your institution
must register with NSF as a FastLane institution. Registration is
required for several reasons including: NSF's assurance that the proper
individual from each institution is identified as the primary
institutional user, the ability to notify PIs whether or not their
institution is a FastLane institution, and to assure that the necessary
instructions and documents are received by the primary institutional
user. The primary institutional user should be someone from the
sponsored research office who will be the NSF's primary contact person
and who will be responsible for initializing FastLane access. In many
institutions, the primary institutional user is the Authorized
Organizational Representative or a designee. To register, access the
FastLane Homepage (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov), and click on FastLane
Registration Information. Scroll down to the section entitled: "FastLane
Registration Form - Conditions of Registration". The designated primary
user will be notified by NSF once registration is completed.

**GETTING HELP WITH FASTLANE**

Users may send technical questions and comments to the FastLane staff
using the \'Send Comments to NSF\' feature on each FastLane screen. **If
you have any questions about this procedure, please contact a FastLane
User Support person at stcflane@nsf.gov or at (703) 306-1142 (If you
reach the automated attendant, please dial extension 4686).**

**REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCESSING FASTLANE PROPOSAL PREPARATION**

The following are required in order to access the FastLane Proposal
Preparation application.

1.  To access the FastLane proposal preparation application as a
    Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI, you have to be known to NSF as
    a PI.

    PIs/Co-PIs who have never submitted a proposal to NSF cannot use the
    FastLane Proposal Preparation application until their information is
    provided to NSF. To provide information on first-time PIs or Co-PIs,
    send an e-mail message to stc@nsf.gov with the following information
    about each individual:

    Name

    Highest Degree and Year Conferred

    Present Institution

    Department

    Street Address

    City, State, Zip

    Social Security Number

    E-mail Address

    Business Phone

    Fax Number

    An e-mail message confirming that the data have been entered will be
    sent to the individual who initiated the request. The PI will be
    able to prepare the proposal on the following business day after the
    request has been submitted.

2.  To access the FastLane proposal preparation application, you have to
    be at a Registered FastLane Institution.

3.  To access the FastLane proposal preparation application, you have to
    have a FastLane PI PIN.

    Your institution's Sponsored Research Office (SRO), or equivalent,
    is responsible for creating a Personal Identification Number (PIN)
    for each individual FastLane user. This PIN will be required each
    time that an individual wishes to make FastLane transactions. SRO
    officials should read the instructions on adding FastLane users and
    initializing and changing user PINs which is located in the
    **[Institutional Management]{.underline}**
    (https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/instructions/insappin.htm) of
    FastLane Instructions section of the **[Information About
    FastLane]{.underline}**
    (https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/instructions/welcome.htm) document.

Note: After being entered on the cover sheet, the Co-PI can access the
FastLane proposal by entering his/her last name, SSN, and PIN.

**SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS**

To work with the FastLane Proposal Preparation application, you will
need:

-   Netscape Navigator 3.0 or above

-   Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.1 or above

-   Either of these following three products include the PDF Writer
    which is needed to create PDF Files.

-   Adobe Acrobat 3.X ( which includes Adobe Exchange and Adobe
    Distiller) **or**

-   Adobe Acrobat Exchange 2.0 or above **or**

-   Adobe Acrobat Distiller 2.0 or above

**Note: You will need Netscape 3.0 or above because it is the only
browser which supports file upload at this time. If you have Netscape
3.0 or above, do not click on a word wrap button {Netscape 3.0 and above
include automatic word wrap capability which FastLane employs.}**

**Downloading Netscape Navigator 3.01 Standard from the Web**

1.  Go to the FastLane home page (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov).

2.  Click on the How to Use FastLane button. This will take you to a
    page labeled Using NSF's World Wide Web Applications.

3.  Scroll down, if necessary, to find the heading Recommended Client
    Capabilities, and click on the bulleted Netscape link.

**Downloading Acrobat Reader 3.0 from the Web**

**This program is needed for viewing and printing forms exactly like NSF
will view and print them.**

1.  Go to the FastLane home page (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov).

2.  Click on the How to Use FastLane button. This will take you to a
    page labeled Using NSF's World Wide Web Applications.

3.  Click on the Free Software from Adobe link in the first paragraph of
    text.

**PDF Writer**

This product is needed for converting files prepared on your word
processor (e.g., Project Summary, Project Description) to PDF files for
uploading to NSF. To submit a project description via FastLane, PDF
Writer is required. **PDF Writer is a commercial product provided with
Adobe Acrobat 3.0, Adobe Exchange, and Adobe Distiller.** The Project
Description can only be submitted as a PDF file, and conversion to PDF
is the only way to preserve formatting such as bold, underline, and
italics. See below for more details about Converting Files to PDF and
Uploading PDF Files.

Instructions on "Launching Adobe Reader from within FastLane to
View/Print forms" are available on
(http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/instructions/fladobe.htm.)

**Obtaining PDF Writer**

-   PDF Writer is a commercial product provided with Adobe Exchange,
    Adobe Distiller, and Adobe Acrobat 3.X (but not with the free
    Acrobat Reader).

-   Adobe Exchange and Adobe Distiller have been incorporated into Adobe
    Acrobat 3.0, and are no longer being sold individually.

-   Adobe Acrobat 3.0 is not available for download on the web, but can
    be purchased at nearly all larger computer stores or by mail-order.
    Information about the product can be obtained from Adobe's website
    at (http://www.adobe.com) (click on Products, then on Adobe
    Acrobat).

-   Another option is to contact the sponsored projects office at your
    institution or your department's administrative staff. They may have
    PDF Writer.

**ACCESSING FASTLANE TO PREPARE AN STC PRE-PROPOSAL**

To prepare an STC pre-proposal, the PI accesses the NSF FastLane Home
Page and selects Proposal Preparation. After entering his or her login
information (last name, SSN and the PIN provided by his or her Sponsored
Research Office), the PI selects the Proposal Preparation button.

At this point the PI should check the accuracy of his or her PI
information. An individual may modify only his or her own PI
information. If any of the information is incorrect, select the Edit
Information button and make the necessary changes. {If the proposal has
a Co-PI, at some point in the proposal preparation process, the Co-PI
should follow this same procedure to check his or her information and
make any necessary corrections. The Co-PI can only do this if they have
a FastLane PIN and are on the NSF mainframe as a PI or Co-PI.}

After the PI information has been verified, the PI should scroll down to
the "Proposal Actions" section and select the Standard Proposal option
and click on the OK button. NOTE: Throughout FastLane the OK button
means save and/or continue and the Cancel button means do not save any
changes. If the PI has never started a standard proposal on FastLane,
the PI will get a screen entitled "New Proposal Information". The PI
clicks on the Create New Proposal button and then the "Proposal Actions"
screen will appear.

On the Proposal Actions screen you then select the "STC: Integrative
Partnerships Program" button to create an STC Pre-Proposal. In the list
of work in progress proposals, you will now see a proposal entitled
"STC:" Select that proposal and click on the Edit button. Note: There is
an index at the top of the "Proposal Actions" screen (and subsequent
screens) that allows the user to move quickly within a page without
scrolling.

**PROVIDING ACCESS TO AN "IN PROGRESS" PROPOSAL**

The forms of an "in progress" proposal may be accessed and modified by
the PI or Co-PI of the proposal or by any other authorized FastLane user
to whom the PI has given authority to access the proposal. The PI
provides the Co-PI access to the proposal by adding the Co-PI to the
cover sheet. The PI or Co-PI can provide access authority to another
individual by creating a proposal PIN {this PIN is different than the PI
PIN} for an "in progress" proposal. Creating a proposal PIN is an option
available to the PI or Co-PI on the "Proposal Actions" screen. The
PI/Co-PI can assign his/her proposal a PIN by clicking on the Proposal
PIN button and then typing a proposal PIN of his/her choice, retyping
it, and then clicking on the OK button.

An authorized FastLane user other than the PI or Co-PI can then access
an "in progress" application by entering his/her login information and
the Proposal ID {this is the number assigned by FastLane to the work in
progress proposal} and PIN associated with that proposal. Unlike when
the PI or Co-PI accesses his or her "in progress" proposal, another
authorized user would bypass the "Proposal Actions" screen and would
proceed directly to the "Form Selector" screen.

**WORKING ON AN "IN PROGRESS" PROPOSAL**

The following information must be provided in the preproposal including
these NSF Proposals forms: found in NSF's Grant Proposal Guide (GPG; NSF
Publications 98-2) and can be prepared using FastLane:

Information About Principal Investigators/Project Directors (NSF Form
1225)

Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207)

Project Summary

Project Description

References Cited

Biographical Sketches

Summary Proposal Budget (NSF Form 1030)

In subsequent FastLane sessions, the PI can modify an STC pre-proposal
that is "in progress" by selecting the proposal and clicking on Edit.
This selection will take the user to the "Form Selector" screen that
allows the user to work on any of the proposal forms. To work on a form,
select the form to be filled out and click on Go to Form. The user can
save a partially completed form by clicking on OK and editing it at a
later time. The steps used to access and edit a partially completed form
are the same steps used to begin filling out a blank form.

**(Note: "Information About Principal Investigators and Project
Directors" (NSF Form 1225) can only be edited by clicking on the "Edit
Information" button immediately after logging into the FastLane system.
The Table of Contents form cannot be edited by the user. It is
automatically completed by FastLane.)**

1.  Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207).

-   Awardee and Performing Institution. The institution and institution
    code from the PI's record in the NSF PI database will be used to
    fill in the awardee and performing institution fields on the cover
    sheet. Verify the awardee and performing institutions. Changes may
    be made by selecting the Awardee Institution Search or Performing
    Institution Search button.

-   Co-PIs. A Co-PI is added to a proposal by typing in that
    individual's Social Security Number on the cover sheet. If the Co-PI
    has not previously been a PI or Co-PI on an NSF proposal, then he or
    she must be entered in the NSF PI database before being assigned to
    the proposal (see instructions for first-time NSF PIs and Co-PIs,
    above). If the Co-PI has been on an NSF proposal, the Co-PI will
    appear on the cover sheet the next time the cover sheet is accessed
    or printed. Also, once the Co-PI has been added to the cover sheet
    and the Co-PI has been assigned a FastLane PIN by his/her Sponsored
    Research Office, he or she will be able to access and modify the
    proposal by entering his/her log-on information and clicking the
    Proposal Preparation button.

    **NOTE: The Co-PI must be added to the cover sheet before being
    added to the Budget.**

    Certification for Authorized Organization Representative or
    Individual Applicant. This information is filled out by the
    Sponsored Projects Office within the "Submit Proposal" module;
    before submitting the proposal. When the Cover Sheet is complete,
    choose OK to save the data entries and return to the "Form Selector"
    screen.

    **NOTE: The following three ways can be used to prepare the Project
    Summary, References Cited and Biographical Sketches:**

-   The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document.
    However, doing so will only transfer text. Special formatting such
    as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining will be lost in the
    cut-and-paste process.

-   The user can type text directly into the form using the interface
    provided. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and
    underlining cannot be included in a web text block. When the Project
    Summary is complete, choose OK to save the data.

-   The user can upload the Project Summary as a Portable Data Format
    (PDF) file which the user creates by saving a file to disk using PDF
    Writer as the printer driver. Doing so will preserve the exact
    formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload
    capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks, you must use
    a browser which supports these capabilities (Netscape 3.0 or later).
    See below for more details about "Converting Files to PDF and
    Uploading PDF Files." PDF Writer is a commercial product provided
    with Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, and Adobe Acrobat 3.X (see
    Adobe's Website for information (http://www.adobe.com).

2.  Project Summary

3.  Project Description

    The Project Description must contain the following six sections of
    the preproposal: a) Narrative description of the Focus, Research
    Plans, and Relevance; b) Description of proposed actives in science
    or engineering; c) An outline of proposed administration and
    management arrangements; d) List of academic and industrial
    partners; and e) Summary of institutional and other resource
    commitments.

    The only way a Project Description can be submitted via FastLane is
    as a PDF file. The user can submit a Portable Data Format (PDF) file
    which the user creates by saving a file to disk using PDF Writer as
    the printer driver. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting
    created by the user. To use the PDF file upload capability you must
    use a browser which supports this capability (Netscape 3.0 or
    later). See below for more details about "Converting Files to PDF
    and Uploading PDF Files." PDF Writer is a commercial product
    provided with Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, and Adobe Acrobat 3.X
    (see Adobe Website for information (http://www.adobe.com).

4.  Add/Modify Non Co-PI Senior Personnel.

    In order to save biographical sketches for Non Co-PI senior
    personnel and to add Non Co-PI senior personnel to the budget, you
    first need to access the "Add/Modify Non Co-PI Senior Personnel"
    function found on the "Form Selector" screen. Select Add/Modify Non
    Co-PI Senior Personnel and click on the Go To Form button. You can
    add a non Co-PI senior person to the proposal by entering his/her
    first name, middle initial, and last name and clicking on the "Add
    non Co-PI Senior Person to Proposal" button. You must ensure that
    the name is spelled correctly. You can delete a non Co-PI senior
    person by selecting the Delete button. Once non Co-PI senior
    personnel are added to the proposal, you can prepare biographical
    sketches for non Co-PI senior personnel, and add non Co-PI senior
    personnel to the budget.

5.  References Cited

6.  Biographical Sketches

7.  Summary Proposal Budget (NSF Form 1030).

To begin preparing the estimated five year total budget summary, the
user selects Budgets on the "Form Selector" screen and then clicks on
the Go To Form button. This will take the user to the budget form. If a
budget has already been saved, that budget will come up. The user can
print out the estimated five year total budget summary by selecting the
Print button on the "Form Selector" screen. Use the Budget Justification
Box to prepare the budget justification.

The budget form can be saved as a work in progress by selecting the OK
button. The Calculate button calculates all figures on the form. To add
a Note, click on the appropriate Note button. When you hit a button, you
will be taken to the top of the form. All "notes" for a budget year will
be printed on a Budget Comments page.

**Note: The cover sheet must be accessed and saved at least once before
the FastLane budget form can be accessed.**

**Note: If you change the awardee institution on the Cover Sheet after
doing your budgets, make sure that the awardee institution on the cover
sheet matches the institution on the proposal's budget. If they do not
match, go to the budget and change the previous awardee institution to
the new awardee institution by clicking on the Change Inst. ID button.
Once you change the institution name of the budget to the name that
appears on the cover sheet, the correct total requested amount will
print on the cover sheet.**

**CONVERTING FILES TO PDF and UPLOADING PDF FILES**

You can convert your files to PDF using Adobe Exchange, Distiller, or
Adobe Acrobat 3.X. At this time most of our users have Adobe Acrobat 3.X
or Adobe Exchange. The first step is to install the software. After that
you can open your document in your word processor, spreadsheet etc. and
select File/Print, and then select the Adobe PDF Printer Driver. Instead
of printing the document to a printer, this procedure converts the file
to PDF format.

Now that the file is on your hard drive, you can upload the file to
FastLane. For the forms that can be uploaded as a PDF file, you will see
a Transfer PDF button. To upload your file, type in the location and
name of the file {if you do not know this, use the Browse button}, and
select the Transfer PDF button. This will upload your file to the
FastLane server. You must have Netscape 3.0 or above to upload a file to
the FastLane server. You can then view and print your file by clicking
on the Display PDF file button which now appears.

PDF files cannot be altered. Thus, if you want to change your file, you
will need to change your source file, convert it to PDF, and then upload
it. The second file that is uploaded replaces the first.

**NOTE: The PDF file you upload will be printed out at NSF as is.** The
PDF file is NOT imported into the NSF form. Thus, for example, if you
plan to upload a Project Summary as a PDF file within your word
processor, you should type "Project Summary" at the top of your project
summary and then convert it to PDF and upload it to FastLane.

**Note: Upon start-up, users of Adobe Acrobat 3.0's Adobe Distiller are
given the option of creating Adobe 2.1 compatible files and Adobe 3.0
compatible files. If you choose Adobe 3.0 compatible files, reviewers
using Adobe 2.1 are unlikely to be able to view your proposal on
FastLane. Thus, you should choose to create Adobe 2.1 compatible files
(reviewers using Adobe 3.0 will be able to view your Adobe 2.1 files)**

**PRINTING THE PROPOSAL**

To print a proposal from the "Proposal Actions" screen, select the
proposal, and click on the Print button. Then select the form that you
want and click on the OK button. Adobe Reader will be launched with the
form including your data. Then print out the form by selecting
File/Print from Adobe's menu. To print out the entire proposal, select
the Print Entire Proposal option and click on the OK button. To print
the proposal from the "Forms Selector" screen, click on the Print button
and follow the same procedure.

**SUBMITTING THE STC PREPROPOSAL**

The Sponsored Research Office or equivalent submits the STC pre-proposal
to NSF electronically, prints a copy of the submitted Proposal Cover
Sheet and Certification Page. The cover sheet and certification page
must be mailed to NSF. NSF will make the appropriate number of copies of
the STC pre-proposal. If you have any questions about this procedure,
please contact stcflane@nsf.gov.

1.  In order to submit a proposal via FastLane, a PI/Co-PI must allow
    his/her SRO access to the proposal. This is done in the Proposal
    Forms Preparation function by selecting the desired proposal and
    then clicking on the Allow SRO Access button. Clicking on the Allow
    SRO Access button sends an e-mail to the SRO(s), who have been given
    the FastLane permission to submit proposals, saying that the SRO can
    now access the proposal using the Submit Proposals to NSF function.
    After the PI/Co-PI selects the Allow SRO Access button, the PI/Co-PI
    can still edit the proposal.

2.  To submit the proposal to NSF, the SRO must access the Submit
    Proposals to NSF function of the "Institutional Management of
    FastLane" application found on the FastLane Home Page. In order for
    an SRO official to access the Proposal Submission function, he/she
    must have been granted the permission to "Submit Proposals". To
    initiate a submission, the SRO selects the Submit Proposals to NSF
    function and clicks on the OK button. The proposals that have been
    "Allowed SRO" access will be displayed in the "Proposals in
    Progress" list.

    The SRO official can check the proposal to be sure all required
    forms are completed, by clicking on the Check button. The SRO can
    view the individual proposal forms by clicking on the View button.

    To submit the proposal, the SRO selects the proposal and clicks on
    the Submit button. When the SRO official clicks on the Submit
    button, the Certification for Authorized Institutional
    Representative will be displayed. The SRO official must complete
    this information as a part of the submission process. After typing
    in the information, the SRO will be prompted with the question:
    "Submit Proposal \# to NSF? "question. The SRO clicks on Yes to
    submit the proposal to NSF and an official NSF proposal number is
    generated.

3.  After clicking on the OK button from the submission verification
    screen, the system will return to the list of proposals screen. The
    newly submitted proposal will now be in the lower portion of the
    screen in the list labeled "Submitted Proposals". The Proposal Cover
    Sheet and Certification Page then need to be printed, signed, and
    mailed to NSF.

To print the Proposal Cover Sheet, the SRO selects the proposal in the
Submitted Proposals list and clicks on the View button. The system will
display the various proposal forms that can be printed for this
proposal. The Proposal Cover Sheet and Certification have to be printed.
The SRO may optionally print the other proposal forms. To print both the
Proposal Cover Sheet and Certification Page, the SRO selects the
Proposal Cover Sheet form and clicks on the OK button.

The Proposal Cover Sheet, signed Certification Page, and letters of
commitment have to be mailed to the following address:

Office of Science and Technology Infrastructure

STC Program

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1270

Arlington, VA 22230

**USING A COPY OF YOUR SUBMITTED PREPROPOSAL TO PREPARE A FULL STC
PROPOSAL**

You can save a copy of your submitted preproposal which will allow you
to use your preproposal to prepare a full STC application. In order to
save a copy of your submitted preproposal, access the FastLane Homepage.
Select proposal preparation and enter the required login information.
After clicking the proposal preparation button the next screen to appear
will be the "PI Information" screen. Scroll down to the "Proposal Action
Box" and under View, click on Submitted and then OK. Under Submitted
proposals, select the desired proposal and click on the Copy button.
This will add a copy of the submitted proposal to the "Proposals in
Progress" list on the "Proposal Action" screen. You can then select it
and click on the Edit button to start your full proposal.