Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 28, 2009 / Notices 19203 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

[Docket Number: 090401620–9621–01] 

Professional Research Experience 

Program (PREP); Availability of Funds 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) 

announces that the Professional 

Research Experience Program (PREP) is 

soliciting applications for financial 

assistance from accredited colleges and 

universities to enable those institutions 

to provide laboratory experiences and 

financial assistance to undergraduate 

and graduate students and post-doctoral 

associates at the NIST, Boulder 

Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. 

DATES: All applications, paper and 

electronic, must be received no later 

than 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time 

(MDT) on May 28, 2009. Applications 

received after this deadline will not be 

reviewed or considered. 

Important: All applicants, both electronic 

and paper, should be aware that adequate 

time must be factored into applicants’ 

schedules for delivery of the proposal. 

Electronic applicants are advised that volume 

on Grants.gov is currently extremely heavy, 

and if Grants.gov is unable to accept 

proposals electronically in a timely fashion, 

applicants are encouraged to exercise their 

option to submit proposals in paper format. 

Paper applicants should allow adequate time 

to ensure a paper proposal will be received 

on time, taking into account that guaranteed 

overnight carriers are not always able to 

fulfill their guarantees. 

ADDRESSES: Proposals may be submitted 

to PREP as follows: 

For electronic submission—Electronic 

proposals may be uploaded to http:// 

www.grants.gov. 

For paper submission—Send to Ms. 

Rosemary O’Connor, Administrative 

Coordinator for PREP, National Institute 

of Standards and Technology, Division 

104.01, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 

80305–3328. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

complete information about this 

program and instructions for applying 

by paper or electronically, read the 

Federal Funding Opportunity Notice 

(FFO) at http://www.grants.gov. A paper 

copy of the FFO may be obtained by 

calling (301) 975–5718. Program 

questions should be addressed to Ms. 

Rosemary O’Connor, Administrative 

Coordinator for PREP, National Institute 

of Standards and Technology, Division 

104.01, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 

80305–3328, Tel: (303) 497–5238, Email: 

rosemary.oconnor@boulder.nist.gov. 

The PREP Web site is: http:// 

www.boulder.nist.gov/bdprepo.htm. All 

grants related administration questions 

concerning this program should be 

directed to Hope Snowden, NIST Grants 

and Agreements Management Division 

at (301) 975–6002 or hope 

snowden@nist.gov, or for assistance 

with using Grants.gov, contact 

support@grants.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance Name and Number: 

Measurement and Engineering Research 

and Standards—11.609. 

Program Description: The National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) announces that the Professional 

Research Experience Program (PREP) is 

soliciting applications for financial 

assistance from accredited colleges and 

universities to enable those institutions 

to provide laboratory experiences and 

financial assistance to undergraduate 

and graduate students and post-doctoral 

associates at the NIST, Boulder 

Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. In 

Boulder, NIST carries out programs in 

five laboratories—Electronics and 

Electrical Laboratory (EEEL), Chemical 

Science and Technology Laboratory 

(CSTL), Physics Laboratory (PL), 

Materials Science and Engineering 

Laboratory (MSEL), and the Office of the 

Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Please 

see the Federal Funding Opportunity for 

further details. 

The objectives of the PREP are to 

encourage the growth and progress of 

science and engineering in the United 

States by providing research 

opportunities for students and postdoctoral associates, enabling them to 

collaborate with internationally known 

NIST scientists, exposing them to 

cutting-edge research. The PREP will 

promote students’ pursuit of degrees in 

science and engineering, and postdoctoral associates’ professional 

development in science and 

engineering. The NIST PREP 

Coordinator and NIST scientists will 

coordinate with appropriate department 

chairs, outreach coordinators, and 

directors of multi-disciplinary academic 

organizations to identify students and 

programs that would benefit from the 

PREP experience. Applicants must be 

able to ensure the availability of 

students for on site collaborative 

research experiences at the NIST 

Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, 

concurrent with their university studies. 

Any participating student must also be 

enrolled in an academic program 

acceptable to both the sponsoring 

institution and NIST. 

Funding Availability: NIST 

anticipates awarding one or more 

cooperative agreements to eligible 

institution(s). In FY 2004, seven 

cooperative agreements were awarded to 

four institutions. Since their inception 

on August 1, 2004, these awards have 

provided approximately $12.884 million 

in PREP fellowship support to 170 

individuals. For the most recent year of 

the PREP, FY 2008, NIST supported 114 

PREP fellowships (some students 

received more than one fellowship) 

totaling approximately $2.805 million. 

Funding for the PREP will be 

provided as fellows are identified by the 

successful applicant and approved by 

NIST. Fellowship support from NIST 

under the PREP is contingent upon the 

availability of NIST program funds, 

NIST program objectives, and the 

discretion of NIST advisors. 

Statutory Authority: The authority for the 

PREP is 15 U.S.C. 278g–1, which authorizes 

NIST to fund ‘‘awards of research fellowships 

and other forms of financial assistance to 

students at institutions of higher learning 

within the United States who show promise 

as present or future contributors to the 

mission of the Institute, and to United States 

citizens for research and technical activities 

on Institute programs.’’ 

Eligibility: Eligible applicants are 

accredited institutions of higher 

education in the United States and its 

territories that offer undergraduate and 

graduate degrees in physics, chemistry, 

mathematics, computer science, or 

engineering. Undergraduate and 

graduate students who receive 

fellowships under the PREP must show 

evidence of a 3.0 or higher grade point 

average in a curriculum acceptable to 

the sponsoring educational institution 

and NIST and must be enrolled full-time 

at a sponsoring institution. Post-doctoral 

associates must be affiliated with a 

sponsoring institution of higher 

education. 

Review and Selection Process: 

Screening of Applications: All PREP 

proposals must be submitted to the 

NIST PREP Administrative Coordinator. 

Each proposal is examined for 

completeness and responsiveness to the 

scope of the stated objectives of the 

PREP as described above. Substantially 

incomplete or non-responsive proposals 

will not be reviewed for technical merit 

nor considered for funding, and the 

applicant will be notified. The NIST 

PREP Administrative Coordinator will 

retain one copy of each non-responsive 

application for three years for recordkeeping purposes. The remaining copies 

will be destroyed. 


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19204 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 28, 2009 / Notices 

Each complete and responsive PREP 

application packet will be reviewed by 

at least three independent, objective 

NIST scientists, all of whom are Federal 

employees, who are knowledgeable in 

the subject matter of this announcement 

and its objectives and who are able to 

conduct a review based on the 

Evaluation Criteria for the PREP as 

described in this notice. 

The merit review ratings shall provide 

a rank order to a Selecting Official for 

final funding recommendations. The 

Selecting Official will be the Director of 

the NIST Laboratories in Boulder, 

Colorado. A Federal Program Officer 

may first make recommendations to the 

Selecting Official, applying the selection 

factors below. The Selecting Official 

shall award in the rank order unless the 

proposal is justified to be selected out 

of rank order. Justification for award 

order different from the rank order shall 

be based upon one or more of the 

following factors: 

1. Availability of funds. 

2. Ability to ensure that 

undergraduate and graduate students 

are available for on-site collaborative 

research experiences at the NIST 

Boulder, CO, laboratories concurrent 

with their full-time University studies. 

3. Ability to ensure post-doctoral 

associates are available for full time onsite collaborative research experiences 

at the NIST Boulder, CO, laboratories. 

4. Applicant’s prior award 

performance. 

The final selection of institutions and 

award of cooperative agreements will be 

made by the NIST Grants Officer in 

Gaithersburg, Maryland, based on 

compliance with application 

requirements as published in this 

notice, compliance with applicable legal 

and regulatory requirements, and 

whether the recommended applicants 

appear to be responsible. Unsatisfactory 

performance on any previous Federal 

award may result in an application not 

being considered for funding. 

Applicants may be asked to modify 

objectives, work plans, or budgets, and 

provide supplemental information 

required by the agency prior to award. 

The decision of the Grants Officer is 

final. Applicants should allow up to 90 

days processing time. 

Evaluation Criteria: The applications 

will be evaluated and scored on the 

basis of the following evaluation 

criteria: 

(A) Soundness of the applicant’s 

academic program, proposed project 

objectives, and appropriateness of 

proposed student work assignments in 

light of ongoing research at NIST/ 

Boulder and the students’ academic 

programs. (30 points) 

(B) Experience in providing students 

pursuing degrees in physics, chemistry, 

mathematics, computer science, or 

engineering with work experiences in 

laboratories or other settings consistent 

with furthering the students’ education. 

(30 points) 

(C) Adequacy and reasonableness of 

plans for administering the project and 

coordinating with the NIST PREP 

Administrative Coordinator in Boulder. 

(20 points) 

(D) Costs of the proposed project 

budget (proposed fellowships and other 

proposed costs) in light of the activities 

proposed and the objectives of the 

sponsoring institution and NIST. 

Voluntary cost sharing may include, but 

is not limited to, cash contributions for 

direct costs, contributions of indirect 

costs, or in-kind contributions. While 

cost sharing is not required, any cost 

share contribution will be taken into 

consideration in reviewing the 

competitiveness of the proposed project 

budget. (20 points). 

The Department of Commerce PreAward Notification Requirements for 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements: 

The Department of Commerce PreAward Notification Requirements for 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements 

contained in 73 FR 7696 (February 11, 

2008) apply to this notice. On the form 

SF–424, the applicant’s 9-digit Dun and 

Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number must be entered 

in item 8.c. Organizational DUNS. The 

DUNS number provided MUST be the 

DUNS number for the entity within the 

applying institution that will be 

responsible for drawing down funds 

from the Automated Standard 

Application for Payment System 

(ASAP). Institutions that provide 

incorrect DUNS numbers may 

experience significant delays in 

receiving funds. 

Collaborations with NIST Employees: 

Collaboration with NIST is presumed in 

PREP. If any applicant proposes any 

activities involving specific NIST 

employees, the statement of work 

should include a statement of this 

intention, a description of the 

collaboration, and prominently identify 

the NIST employee(s) involved. Any 

collaboration by a NIST employee must 

be approved by appropriate NIST 

management and is at the sole 

discretion of NIST. Prior to beginning 

the merit review process, NIST will 

verify the approval of the proposed 

collaboration. Any unapproved 

collaboration will be stricken from the 

proposal prior to the merit review. 

Use of NIST Intellectual Property: If 

the applicant anticipates using any 

NIST-owned intellectual property to 

carry out the work proposed, the 

applicant should identify such 

intellectual property. This information 

will be used to ensure that no NIST 

employee involved in the development 

of the intellectual property will 

participate in the review process for that 

competition. In addition, if the 

applicant intends to use NIST-owned 

intellectual property, the applicant must 

comply with all statutes and regulations 

governing the licensing of Federal 

government patents and inventions, 

described at 35 U.S.C. 200–212, 37 CFR 

part 401, 15 CFR 14.36, and in Section 

B.21 of the Department of Commerce 

Pre-Award Notification Requirements, 

73 FR 7696 (February 11, 2008). 

Questions about these requirements may 

be directed to the Chief Counsel for 

NIST, 301–975–2803. 

Any use of NIST-owned intellectual 

property by a proposer is at the sole 

discretion of NIST and will be 

negotiated on a case-by-case basis if a 

project is deemed meritorious. The 

applicant should indicate within the 

statement of work whether it already 

has a license to use such intellectual 

property or whether it intends to seek 

one. 

If any inventions made in whole or in 

part by a NIST employee arise in the 

course of an award made pursuant to 

this notice, the United States 

government may retain its ownership 

rights in any such invention. 

Disposition of NIST’s retained rights in 

such inventions will be determined 

solely by NIST, and may include, but is 

not limited to, the grant of a license(s) 

to parties other than the applicant to 

practice such invention, or placing 

NIST’s retained rights into the public 

domain. 

Research Projects Involving Human 

Subjects, Human Tissue, Data or 

Recordings Involving Human Subjects: 

Any proposal that includes research 

involving human subjects, human 

tissue, data or recordings involving 

human subjects must meet the 

requirements of the Common Rule for 

the Protection of Human Subjects, 

codified for the Department of 

Commerce at 15 CFR part 27. In 

addition, any proposal that includes 

research on these topics must be in 

compliance with any statutory 

requirements imposed upon the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (DHHS) and other federal 

agencies regarding these topics, all 

regulatory policies and guidance 

adopted by DHHS, the Food and Drug 

Administration, and other Federal 

agencies on these topics, and all 

Presidential statements of policy on 

these topics. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 28, 2009 / Notices 19205 

NIST will accept the submission of 

proposals containing research activities 

involving human subjects. The human 

subjects research activities in a proposal 

will require approval by Institutional 

Review Boards (IRBs) possessing a 

current registration filed with DHHS 

and to be performed by institutions 

possessing a current, valid Federal-wide 

Assurance (FWA) from DHHS that is 

linked to the cognizant IRB. In addition, 

NIST as an institution requires that IRB 

approval documentation go through a 

NIST administrative review; therefore, 

research activities involving human 

subjects are not authorized to start 

within an award until approval for the 

activity is issued in writing from the 

NIST Grants Officer. NIST will not issue 

a single project assurance (SPA) for any 

IRB reviewing any human subjects 

protocol proposed to NIST. 

President Obama has issued Exec. 

Order No. 13,505, 74 FR 10667 (March 

9, 2009), revoking previous executive 

orders and Presidential statements 

regarding the use of human embryonic 

stem cells in research. NIST will follow 

any guidance issued by the National 

Institutes of Health (NIH) pursuant to 

the executive order and will develop its 

own procedures based on the NIH 

guidance before funding research using 

human embryonic stem cells. NIST will 

follow any additional polices or 

guidance issued by the current 

Administration on this topic. 

Research Projects Involving Vertebrate 

Animals: Any proposal that includes 

research involving vertebrate animals 

must be in compliance with the 

National Research Council’s ‘‘Guide for 

the Care and Use of Laboratory 

Animals’’ which can be obtained from 

National Academy Press, 2101 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20055. In addition, such proposals 

must meet the requirements of the 

Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et 

seq.), 9 CFR parts 1, 2, and 3, and if 

appropriate, 21 CFR part 58. These 

regulations do not apply to proposed 

research using pre-existing images of 

animals or to research plans that do not 

include live animals that are being cared 

for, euthanized, or used by the project 

participants to accomplish research 

goals, teaching, or testing. These 

regulations also do not apply to 

obtaining animal materials from 

commercial processors of animal 

products or to animal cell lines or 

tissues from tissue banks. 

Reporting Requirements: Reporting 

requirements are described in the 

Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and 

Conditions dated March, 2008, found on 

the Internet at: http:// 

oamweb.osec.doc.gov/docs/GRANTS/ 

DOC%20STCsMAR08Rev.pdf. 

The references in Sections A.01 and 

B.01 of the Department of Commerce 

Financial Assistance Standard Terms 

and Conditions, dated March, 2008, to 

‘‘Federal Financial Report (SF–269)’’ 

and ‘‘SF–269’’ are hereby replaced with 

‘‘Federal Financial Report (SF–425)’’ 

and ‘‘SF–425,’’ respectively, as required 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) (73 FR 61175, October 

15, 2008). As authorized under 15 CFR 

14.52 and 24.41, the OMB approved SF– 

425 shall be used in the place of the SF– 

269 and SF–272 under the uniform 

administrative requirements and 

elsewhere under awards in this program 

where such forms are referenced. 

Limitation of Liability: NIST 

anticipates making awards for the 

program listed in this notice. In no 

event will NIST or the Department of 

Commerce be responsible for proposal 

preparation cost if these programs(s) fail 

to receive funding or are cancelled 

because of other agency priorities. 

Publication of this announcement does 

not obligate NIST or the Department of 

Commerce to award any specific project 

or to obligate any available funds. 

Executive Order 12866: This funding 

notice was determined to be not 

significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism): 

It has been determined that this notice 

does not contain policies with 

federalism implications as that term is 

defined in Executive Order 13132. 

Executive Order 12372: Applications 

under this program are not subject to 

Executive Order 12372, 

‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs.’’ 

Paperwork Reduction Act: The 

standard forms in the application kit 

involve a collection of information 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. 

The use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 

424B, SF–LLL, and CD–346 has been 

approved by OMB under the respective 

Control Numbers 0348–0043, 0348– 

0044, 0348–0040, 0348–0046, and 0605– 

0001. 

Administrative Procedure Act/ 

Regulatory Flexibility Act: Notice and 

comment are not required under the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553) or any other law, for rules relating 

to public property, loans, grants, 

benefits or contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)). 

Because notice and comment are not 

required under 5 U.S.C. 553, or any 

other law, for rules relating to public 

property, loans, grants, benefits or 

contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)), a Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis is not required and 

has not been prepared for this notice, 5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq. 

Dated: April 21, 2009. 

Patrick Gallagher, 

Deputy Director, NIST. 

[FR Doc. E9–9650 Filed 4–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XO87 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to Training 

Operations Conducted within the Gulf 

of Mexico Range Complex 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of an 

application for regulations and a letter 

of authorization; request for comments 

and information. 

SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request 

from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for 

authorizations for the take of marine 

mammals incidental to training and 

operational activities conducted by the 

Navy Atlantic Fleet within Gulf of 

Mexico (GOMEX) Range Complex for 

the period beginning December 3, 2009 

and ending December 2, 2014. Pursuant 

to the implementing regulations of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA), NMFS is announcing our 

receipt of the Navy request for the 

development and implementation of 

regulations governing the incidental 

taking of marine mammals and inviting 

information, suggestions, and comments 

on the Navy application and request. 

DATES: Comments and information must 

be received no later than May 28, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the 

applications should be addressed to P. 

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, 

Conservation and Education Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3225. The mailbox address for 

providing email comments is PR1.0648– 

XO87@noaa.gov. NMFS is not 

responsible for e-mail comments sent to 

addresses other than the one provided 

here. Comments sent via e-mail, 

including all attachments, must not 

exceed a 10–megabyte file size. Copies 

of the Navy application may be obtained 

by writing to the address specified 

above (See ADDRESSES), telephoning the 


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