Notices regarding the solicitation “Graduate Research Fellowship in 

the Social and Behavioral Sciences”

March 14, 2019: On February 27, 2019, NIJ hosted a webinar that provided an overview and 

discussion of the program. The slides and transcript from this webinar have been added to the 

end of this document.

February 25, 2019: The link to the DOJ Grants Financial Management Online Training under 

“Financial Management and System of Internal Controls” was updated.

February 19, 2019: Information regarding submission of information pertaining to disclosure and 

justification for DOJ High Risk Grantees was redacted.

The original solicitation document begins on the next page.
U.S. Department of Justice OMB No. 1121-0329 

Office of Justice Programs Approval Expires 11/30/2020

National Institute of Justice 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of 

Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for funding of innovative doctoral dissertation research in 

the social and behavioral sciences that is relevant to reducing and preventing violent crime, 

combating the opioid epidemic, promoting law enforcement officer safety, health, and wellness, 

rescuing and restoring crime victims, securing our Nation’s borders, and enhancing law 

enforcement investigations and prosecutions. This program furthers the Department’s mission 

by sponsoring research to provide objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools 

to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state, local and tribal levels.

Graduate Research Fellowship in the 

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Applications Due: April 8, 2019 

Eligibility 

Eligible applicants are limited to degree-granting academic institutions in the United States and 

its territories. To be eligible, the institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional 

institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Under this 

solicitation, the applicant institution must apply as the sponsoring institution for the doctoral 

candidate conducting criminal justice-related research in a discipline relevant to NIJ’s mission 

In general, NIJ is authorized to make grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative 

agreements with, States (including territories), units of local government, federally recognized 

Indian tribal governments that perform law enforcement functions (as determined by the 

Secretary of the Interior), nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit and 

for-profit organizations), institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher 

education), and certain qualified individuals. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and 

foreign colleges and universities are not eligible to apply. 

All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or 

management fee. 

NIJ welcomes applications under which two or more entities would carry out the federal award; 

however, only one entity may be the applicant. Any others must be proposed as subrecipients 

(subgrantees).1 The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for 

carrying out the award, including administering funding, managing the entire research, as 

applicable, and monitoring and appropriately managing any subawards (“subgrants”). 

1

 For additional information on subawards, see "Budget and Associated Documentation" under Section D. Application 

and Submission Information. 
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NIJ-2019-15466

Under this solicitation, any particular applicant entity may submit more than one application, as 

long as each application proposes a different project in response to the solicitation. Also, an 

entity may be proposed as a subrecipient (subgrantee) in more than one application.

Deadline

Applicants must register with Grants.gov at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html

prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on

April 8, 2019.

To be considered timely, an application must be submitted by the application deadline using 

Grants.gov, and the applicant must have received a validation message from Grants.gov that 

indicates successful and timely submission. OJP urges applicants to submit applications at least 

72 hours prior to the application due date, to allow time for the applicant to receive validation 

messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion any 

problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

OJP encourages all applicants to read this Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov.

For additional information, see How to Apply in Section D. Application and Submission 

Information.

Contact Information

For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer 

Support Hotline at 800-518-4726, 606-545-5035, at 

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, or via email to support@grants.gov. The

Grants.gov Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal holidays.

An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond its control that 

prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline may email the NIJ contact identified 

below within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its

application. Additional information on reporting technical issues appears under Experiencing 

Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues in the How to Apply section.

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact the National Criminal 

Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Response Center: toll-free at 1-800-851-3420; via TTY at 

301-240-6310 (hearing impaired only); email grants@ncjrs.gov; fax to 301-240-5830; or web 

chat at https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. The NCJRS Response Center hours of 

operation are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 

8:00 p.m. eastern time on the solicitation close date. General information on applying for NIJ 

awards can be found at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx. Answers to frequently asked 

questions that may assist applicants are posted at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx.

Grants.gov number assigned to this solicitation: NIJ-2019-15466

Release date: February 5, 2019
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NIJ-2019-15466

Contents

A. Program Description.............................................................................................................. 4

Overview ................................................................................................................................ 4

Program-Specific Information ................................................................................................. 4

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products ........................................ 8

B. Federal Award Information....................................................................................................10

Type of Award .......................................................................................................................12

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls........................................................12

Budget Information ................................................................................................................13

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement.................................................................................13

Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs) .......................................................13

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver...............................13

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs ...................14

Costs Associated with Language Assistance (if applicable)...................................................14

C. Eligibility Information.............................................................................................................15

D. Application and Submission Information ...............................................................................15

What an Application Should Include ......................................................................................15

How to Apply .........................................................................................................................30

E. Application Review Information.............................................................................................34

Review Criteria ......................................................................................................................34

Review Process.....................................................................................................................36

F. Federal Award Administration Information ............................................................................37

Federal Award Notices ..........................................................................................................37

Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements ............................................38

General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements..............................39

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) ...................................................................................39

H. Other Information..................................................................................................................39

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a) ....................39

Provide Feedback to OJP......................................................................................................40

Application Checklist .............................................................................................................41
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NIJ-2019-15466

Graduate Research Fellowship in the

Social and Behavioral Sciences

(CFDA No. 16.560)

A. Program Description

Overview

The NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) Program in the Social and Behavioral Sciences 

is open to doctoral students in all social and behavioral science disciplines. This program 

provides awards to accredited academic institutions to support graduate research leading to 

doctoral degrees in areas that are relevant to ensuring public safety, preventing and controlling 

crime, and ensuring the effective administration of criminal justice in the United States.

NIJ invests in doctoral education by supporting universities that sponsor students who 

demonstrate the potential to successfully complete doctoral degree programs in disciplines 

relevant to the mission of NIJ. Applicants sponsoring doctoral students are eligible to apply only if:

1. The doctoral student’s degree program is in a social and behavioral science discipline; 

and

2. The student’s proposed dissertation research has demonstrable implications for 

addressing the challenges of public safety, crime, and/or the fair and impartial 

administration of criminal justice in the United States.

To learn more about NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) Program in Social and 

Behavioral Sciences, see www.nij.gov/GRF-SBS. 

Statutory Authority: As of the writing of this solicitation, the Department of Justice is operating 

under a short-term “Continuing Resolution”; no full-year appropriation for the Department has 

been enacted for FY 2019.

Program-Specific Information

Degree-granting educational institutions are encouraged to sponsor outstanding and promising 

doctoral students whose dissertation research has direct implications for ensuring public safety, 

preventing and controlling crime, and/or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal 

justice in the United States.

NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program in the Social and Behavioral Sciences is open to 

doctoral students in all social and behavioral science disciplines. To learn more about the 

program, see www.nij.gov/GRF-SBS. Academic institutions sponsoring doctoral students whose 

disciplines are in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) should 

consider submitting their applications under the “NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship Program in 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” (GRF-STEM) solicitation. Answers to 

frequently asked questions about the GRF-STEM program are posted at 

https://www.nij.gov/GRF-STEM.
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NIJ-2019-15466

Awards are anticipated to be made to successful applicant institutions in the form of a grant 

fellowship for the sponsored doctoral student. Each fellowship provides up to three (3) years of 

support usable within a five-year period. For each year of support, NIJ provides the degreegranting institution a stipend of $35,000 usable towards the student’s salary and related costs, 

and up to $15,000 to cover the student’s tuition and fees, administrative expenses, research 

expenses, and related costs (see Section B. Federal Award Information). The award will be 

made for the entire cumulative fellowship amount (up to three [3] years of funding). Although the 

award is made for the full amount, after the first year each annual funding increment is withheld 

pending annual demonstration of continued enrollment and adequate progress toward the 

degree. Final award decisions will be made by the Director of the National Institute of Justice.

Successful applicants must demonstrate clearly how the proposed dissertation research will 

advance criminal justice practice and/or policy in the United States and addresses issues 

deemed critical by the U.S. Department of Justice. Proposals addressing one or more of the 

following six areas are particularly encouraged:

 Reducing and preventing violent crime.

 Combating the opioid epidemic.

 Promoting law enforcement officer safety, health, and wellness.

 Rescuing and restoring crime victims.

 Securing our Nation’s borders.

 Enhancing law enforcement investigations and prosecutions.

Quantitative, qualitative, primary, and secondary data analysis and mixed-method approach 

research studies are encouraged. Special consideration will be given to applications that 

demonstrate that the most rigorous research methods applicable to the proposed research topic 

will be used to maximize the validity and reliability of the findings.

NIJ encourages the resubmission of proposals that have addressed previous peer review 

comments.

While the above priorities are provided as possible focus areas for proposed research, they 

should not be considered as limiting the range of eligible research. All eligible applicants 

proposing research in SBS fields of study with demonstrated relevance to criminal justice 

practice and/or policy in the United States are invited to apply.

Applicant Information

The applicant under this solicitation will be a degree-granting academic institution in the United 

States or its territories. To be eligible, the academic institution of record must be fully accredited 

by one of the regional institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of 

Education. An applicant institution sponsoring a doctoral student is eligible to apply only if the 

doctoral student satisfies the Doctoral Student Eligibility Requirements. Applications from 

students who apply as individuals will not be considered.
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NIJ-2019-15466

The academic institution’s institution-wide research office (e.g., office of sponsored research) 

must complete and submit an application electronically using Grants.gov (see What an 

Application Should Include). If allowed by the applicant institution, the sponsored doctoral 

student should be identified as the project’s principal investigator.

The applicant must demonstrate that the sponsored graduate student is enrolled in a qualifying 

doctoral degree program at the time of application. This should take the form of a document 

from the Office of the Registrar, or an equivalent university- or college-wide office with the 

authority to verify status. A transcript may be accepted if it clearly indicates the student’s current 

full-time enrollment in the qualifying doctoral degree program.

Doctoral Student Eligibility Requirements

The graduate student must:

1. Be enrolled full-time in a doctoral degree program in a social and behavioral sciences 

discipline at the eligible academic institution; and

2. Propose a dissertation research topic that is relevant to addressing the challenges of 

public safety, crime, and/or the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the 

United States (see What an Application Should Include).

The doctoral student need not have a dissertation committee at the time the application is 

submitted, nor is it necessary for the student’s dissertation topic to have been accepted by the 

committee. However, if the application is selected for award, grant funds will be withheld until 

the applicant academic institution submits proof that the student’s dissertation topic has been 

accepted by the committee, and that it is substantively the same as that proposed in the 

application. 

If the doctoral student has an approved topic at the time of application, then it should be noted 

in a statement of support from the doctoral student’s dissertation committee chair (see 

Dissertation Committee Chair Requirements Appendices).

If the doctoral student does not yet have a dissertation committee, or the dissertation topic has 

not yet been approved at the time of application, then the expected dates by which the doctoral 

student will meet these requirement should be indicated in the project timeline (see “Proposed 

project timeline and expected milestones” under Appendices). In addition, the doctoral student’s 

faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or an individual 

with similar responsibilities must submit a statement of support at the time of application. That 

statement of support should generally follow the outline provided below for the statement of 

support from the dissertation committee chair, including all relevant elements.

Even though an award may be made, access to award funds will be withheld until the required 

documentation is received and approved by the NIJ Program Office. NIJ anticipates that award 

notifications will be made on or before September 30, 2019. The applicant and the doctoral 

student are cautioned not to anticipate the availability of fellowship funds for meeting any 

necessary or required expenses until the requirements stipulated above have been met in full. 

Awarded applicants may receive fellowship funding to support only a doctoral student who is 

actively enrolled in the doctoral degree program and actively carrying out the research for the 

dissertation identified in the funding application. 
7 

NIJ-2019-15466 

Human subjects protection paperwork including Institutional Review Board (IRB) documentation 

and a completed privacy certificate are not required at the time of application. If awarded, 

and if applicable, funds will be withheld until submission and NIJ approval of any required 

Human Subjects Protection documentation and/or a completed Privacy Certificate. The Privacy 

Certificate must be signed by the academic institution’s IRB chair. For information on NIJ’s 

Human Subjects and Privacy Protection requirements, see 

www.nij.gov/nij/funding/humansubjects/welcome.htm. 

Dissertation Committee Chair Requirements

Although a fellowship may be awarded based on consideration of a letter of support from the 

faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or individual with 

similar responsibilities, the NIJ Program Office must receive a statement of support from the 

sponsored doctoral student’s dissertation committee chair prior to authorizing the disbursement 

of award funds (applicants can expect to see conditions to that effect attached to any such 

award). If the dissertation committee has accepted the student’s topic at the time of application, 

that statement of support must be submitted as part of the application. If the topic has not been 

accepted by the time of application, it must be submitted as soon as is reasonable after the 

topic has been approved. The approved dissertation topic must remain substantively similar to 

that initially proposed. 

The statement of support should: 

 Evaluate the doctoral student’s proposed project;

 Describe the current status of the proposed work;

 Outline any pending work, academic or otherwise, toward completion of the degree;

 Comment on the student’s potential to complete the dissertation;

 Indicate whether the student has his/her full support; and

 Present evidence of both the department’s and the dissertation committee chair’s

abilities to mentor doctoral candidates through to completion of their degrees.

 Describe the committee chair’s role in monitoring the project and verify that the

committee chair will review and approve all progress reports prior to submission to NIJ.

An application that does not include the statement of support from (1) the dissertation 

committee chair; or (2) the doctoral student’s faculty advisor, department chair, 

departmental director of graduate studies, or individual with similar responsibilities will 

be removed from consideration. 

For information on application elements designated as required by NIJ under this solicitation, 

see page 15.

Encouraging Program Investments in Economically-Distressed Communities (Qualified 

Opportunity Zones) 
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NIJ-2019-15466

Under this program, OJP will, as appropriate, give priority consideration in award decisions to 

applications that propose projects that directly benefit federally designated Qualified Opportunity 

Zones (QOZ).2In order to assist NIJ in considering this factor, applicants should include 

information in the application that specifies how the project will generate information about 

enhancing public safety in the specified QOZs. For resources on QOZs, and for a current list of 

designated QOZs, see the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s resource webpage, accessible at 

https://www.cdfifund.gov/pages/opportunity-zones.aspx.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The ultimate goal of this solicitation is to increase the pool of researchers in the social and 

behavioral sciences that are involved in research relevant to problems that affect criminal justice 

policy and practice in the United States, particularly addressing issues deemed critical by the 

U.S. Department of Justice (see above). Through the GRF program in the Social and Behavioral 

Sciences, NIJ supports graduate education by investing in academic institutions that support 

outstanding and promising doctoral students.

Deliverables

Recipients of awards made under this solicitation will be required to deliver bi-annual and final 

progress reports, and quarterly financial reports to NIJ by specified deadlines.

The final deliverables for awards under this solicitation are: 

 An official signed copy of the doctoral student’s dissertation.

 A list of scholarly products and products developed for broad dissemination to informal 

audiences resulting from the dissertation research.

Such scholarly products may take the form of one or more published, peer-reviewed scientific 

journal articles or indexed conference abstracts, law review journal articles (if appropriate), book 

chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, technological prototypes, patented inventions, or 

similar scientific products. Products developed for broad dissemination to informal audiences 

may take the form of websites, informational documents, online tools, or other similar products. 

Upon submission, the dissertation may be archived at the National Criminal Justice Reference 

Service (NCJRS). Doctoral students who participate in the GRF program are encouraged but 

are not required to archive their dissertation data with the National Archive of Criminal Justice 

Data (NACJD).

In addition to these deliverables (and the required reports and data on performance measures 

described in Section F. Federal Award Administration Information), NIJ expects scholarly 

products to result from each award under this solicitation, taking the form of one or more 

published, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, and/or (if appropriate) law review journal 

articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, technological prototypes, patented 

inventions, or similar scientific products.

The Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products are directly related to the 

performance measures that demonstrate the results of the work completed.

 

2 See Public Law 115-97, Title I, Subtitle C, Part IX, Subpart B, Sec. 13823.
9 

NIJ-2019-15466 

Performance Measures 

OJP will require each successful applicant to submit regular performance data that demonstrate 

the results of the work carried out under the award (see “General Information about PostFederal Award Reporting Requirements” in Section F. Federal Award Administration 

Information).

Applicants should visit OJP’s performance measurement page at www.ojp.gov/performance for 

an overview of performance measurement activities at OJP. 

The application should demonstrate the applicant’s understanding of the performance data 

reporting requirements for this grant program and detail how the applicant will gather the 

required data should it receive funding. 

Please note that applicants are not required to submit performance data with the application. 

Performance measures information is included as an alert that successful applicants will be 

required to submit performance data as part of the reporting requirements under an award. 

Objective Performance Measure(s) Data Recipient Provides

Conduct research in 

social and behavioral 

sciences having clear 

implications for 

criminal justice policy 

and practice in the 

United States. 

1.Relevance to the needs of the field as 

measured by whether the project’s 

substantive scope did not deviate from the 

funded project or any subsequent agencyapproved modifications to the scope.

2.Quality of the research as demonstrated by 

the scholarly products that result in whole or 

in part from work funded under the NIJ 

award, such as published, peer-reviewed, 

scientific journal articles, and/or (as 

appropriate for the funded project) law 

review journal articles, book chapter(s) or 

book(s) in the academic press, 

technological prototypes, patented 

inventions, or similar scientific products.

3.Quality of management as measured by 

such factors as whether significant project 

milestones were achieved, reporting and 

other deadlines were met, and costs 

remained within approved limits.

1. Quarterly financial 

reports, semi-annual and 

final progress reports, 

and products of the work 

performed under the NIJ 

award (including, at 

minimum, a final 

research report).

If applicable, an annual 

audit report

2. List of citation(s) to all 

scholarly products that 

resulted in whole or in 

part from work funded 

under the NIJ award.

3. If applicable, each data 

set that resulted in whole 

or in part from work 

funded under the NIJ 

award.

Evaluation Research 

If an application includes an evaluation research component (or consists entirely of evaluation 

research), the application is expected to propose the most rigorous evaluation design 

appropriate for the research questions to be addressed. If the primary purpose of the evaluation 

is to determine the effectiveness or impact of an intervention (e.g., program, practice, or policy), 

the most rigorous evaluation designs may include random selection and assignment of 

participants (or other appropriate units of analysis) to experimental and control conditions. In 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

cases where randomization is not feasible, applicants should propose a strong quasiexperimental design that can address the risk of selection bias. 

Applications that include evaluation research should consider the feasibility of including 

cost/benefit analysis. In cases where evaluations find that interventions have produced the 

intended benefit, cost/benefit analysis provides valuable and practical information for 

practitioners and policymakers that aids decisionmaking. 

Evaluation research projects may also address a wide range of research questions beyond 

those focused on the effectiveness or impact of an intervention. Different research designs may 

be more appropriate for different research questions and at different stages of program 

development. The intervention strategies, setting, other contextual factors, and resources 

should be taken into account when selecting an evaluation design. In all cases, applications are 

expected to propose the most rigorous evaluation design appropriate for the research questions 

to be addressed. 

Applicants are encouraged to review evidence rating criteria at

https://www.crimesolutions.gov/about_starttofinish.aspx for further information on high-quality 

evaluation design elements. 

B. Federal Award Information 

NIJ expects to make up to seven awards with an estimated total amount awarded of up to 

$150,000 each. Up to $1,000,000 in funding may be made available for this solicitation. Awards 

with be made for periods of performance of up to five years, while providing up to three years of 

funding within that timespan. 

Each fellowship award made under this 2019 solicitation will be for the entire fellowship term, as 

requested — up to a 60-month (five-year) project period. The amount requested may not 

exceed three years of funding ($150,000 maximum). Although the full amount is awarded 

upfront, after the first year each annual funding increment is withheld pending receipt and 

approval by NIJ of: 

1. Continued active enrollment in the doctoral degree program. 

2. Verification (in the form of a signed letter from the dissertation committee chair) that the 

doctoral student is actively carrying out research and making satisfactory progress 

toward the dissertation topic originally proposed (or substantively similar to that originally 

proposed). 

Each year of support includes a $35,000 allowance usable toward a salary/stipend for the 

student and related costs, and up to $15,000 to cover the student’s tuition and fees, 

administrative costs, research expenses, and related costs. The $35,000 allowance for 

salary/stipend and related costs may include fringe benefits (if applicable) and health insurance, 

at the applicant institution’s discretion. Under this solicitation, research expenses and related 

costs may include any combination of the doctoral student’s tuition, student fees, university 

administrative or indirect costs, project costs, professional society membership fees, or 

conference travel, among other allowed expenses during the award period of performance (see 

complete Budget Information, including “What will not be funded”).
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NIJ-2019-15466 

The total period of performance of an award will not exceed five (5) years. The applicant’s 

budget narrative and budget detail worksheet should reflect the entire proposed project timeline 

of up to three years of funding, in discrete 12-month increments. The Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF-424) should reflect the cumulative funding request. 

Award funding may be received only while the fellow is actively enrolled in the initially identified 

doctoral degree program and actively carrying out research toward his/her dissertation. Should 

certain unforeseen and/or temporary circumstances arise that preclude the fellow from actively 

pursuing the dissertation research, the fellow is expected to notify NIJ via his/her academic 

institution representative. The fellow’s award funding may be temporarily suspended at the 

discretion of NIJ. 

Fellowship funds may be used to support only the student who was the subject of the initially 

reviewed and awarded application, and are not transferable to any other student. 

Students do not directly receive awards. The academic institution, as the grant recipient, will be 

responsible for, among other things, the administration of grant funds and for distributing 

payments to the fellowship recipient. When an award has been activated, it is expected that the 

academic institution will draw down funds based on immediate disbursement/reimbursement 

requirements. Funds should not be paid to the doctoral student in a lump sum but rather should 

be disbursed over time as project costs are incurred or anticipated. Recipients should time their 

drawdown requests to ensure that federal cash-on-hand is the minimum needed for 

disbursements/reimbursements to be made immediately or within 10 days.

To allow time for (among other things) any necessary post-award review and financial clearance 

by OJP of the proposed budget and for any associated responses or other action(s) that may be 

required of the recipient, applicants should propose an award start date of January 1, 2020. 

Although NIJ anticipates that funds awarded under this GRF-SBS solicitation will be made 

available on January 1, 2020, the applicant academic institution and doctoral student are 

cautioned not to anticipate the availability of funds for meeting any necessary or required 

expenses for the 2020 Winter Quarter or Spring Semester until the requirements stipulated 

under Doctoral Student Eligibility have been met in full. 

If the applicant is proposing a project that reasonably could be conducted in discrete phases, 

with each phase resulting in completion of one or more significant, defined milestones, then NIJ 

strongly recommends that the applicant structure the application—specifically including the 

narrative, expected scholarly products, timelines/milestones, and budget detail worksheet and 

budget narrative—to clearly define each phase. (This is particularly the case if the applicant 

proposes a project that will exceed—in cost or the length of the period of performance—the 

amount or length of time anticipated for an individual award (or awards) under this solicitation.) 

Given limitations on the availability to NIJ of funds for awards for research, development, and 

evaluation, this information will assist NIJ in considering whether partial funding of applications 

would be productive. (If, if 2019 NIJ elects to fund only certain phases of a proposed project, the 

expected scholarly products from the partial-funding award may, in some cases, vary from those 

described above.) 

All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and to any modifications or 

additional requirements that may be imposed by law. 
12

NIJ-2019-15466 

Type of Award 

NIJ expects to make any award under this solicitation in the form of a grant. See Administrative, 

National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements, under Section F. Federal Award Administration 

Information, for a brief discussion of important statutes, regulations, and award conditions that 

apply to many (or in some cases, all) OJP grants. 

Please note: Any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to comply with 

DOJ regulations on confidentiality and protection of human subjects. See “Requirements related 

to Research” under “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and 

Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center at 

https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls 

Award recipients and subrecipients (including recipients or subrecipients that are pass-through 

entities3

) must, as described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements4 as set out at 2 C.F.R. 

200.303:

(a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that 

provides reasonable assurance that [the recipient (and any subrecipient)] is 

managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, 

and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls 

should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the 

Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and 

the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of 

Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). 

(b) Comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the 

Federal awards. 

(c) Evaluate and monitor [the recipient’s (and any subrecipient’s)] compliance with 

statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of Federal awards. 

(d) Take prompt action when instances of noncompliance are identified including 

noncompliance identified in audit findings. 

(e) Take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally identifiable 

information and other information the Federal awarding agency or pass-through 

entity designates as sensitive or [the recipient (or any subrecipient)] considers 

sensitive consistent with applicable Federal, state, local, and tribal laws regarding 

privacy and obligations of confidentiality. 

To help ensure that applicants understand applicable administrative requirements and cost 

principles, OJP encourages prospective applicants to enroll, at no charge, in the DOJ Grants 

 

3 For purposes of this solicitation, the phrase “pass-through entity” includes any recipient or subrecipient that provides 

a subaward (“subgrant”) to carry out part of the funded award or program. 

4 The "Part 200 Uniform Requirements” means the DOJ regulation at 2 C.F.R Part 2800, which adopts (with certain 

modifications) the provisions of 2 C.F.R. Part 200. 
13

NIJ-2019-15466 

Financial Management Online Training, available at https://onlinegfmt.training.ojp.gov/. (This 

training is required for all OJP recipients.) 

Also, applicants should be aware that OJP collects information from applicants on their financial 

management and systems of internal controls (among other information) which is used to make 

award decisions. Under Section D. Application and Submission Information, applicants may 

access and review the OJP Financial Management and System of Internal Controls 

Questionnaire (https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf) that OJP 

requires all applicants (other than an individual applying in his/her personal capacity) to 

download, complete, and submit as part of the application. 

Budget Information 

What will not be funded: 

 Applications primarily to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies. (A budget may

include these items if they are necessary to conduct research, development,

demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.)

 Applications for dissertation research by doctoral students who are not pursuing

research related to public safety, crime, and/or the fair and impartial administration of

criminal justice in the United States.

 Applications that are not responsive to this specific solicitation.

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 

See “Cofunding” paragraph under item 4 (“Budget and Associated Documentation”) under What 

an Application Should Include in Section D. Application and Submission Information. 

Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs) 

Pre-agreement costs are costs incurred by the applicant prior to the start date of the period of 

performance of the federal award. 

OJP does not typically approve pre-agreement costs; an applicant must request and obtain the 

prior written approval of OJP for all such costs. All such costs incurred prior to award and prior to 

approval of the costs are incurred at the sole risk of the applicant. (Generally, no applicant should 

incur project costs before submitting an application requesting federal funding for those costs.) 

Should there be extenuating circumstances that make it appropriate for OJP to consider 

approving pre-agreement costs, the applicant may contact the point of contact listed on the title 

page of this solicitation for the requirements concerning written requests for approval. If approved 

in advance by OJP, award funds may be used for pre-agreement costs, consistent with the 

recipient’s approved budget and applicable cost principles. See the section on “Costs Requiring 

Prior Approval” in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm

for more information. 

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver 

With respect to any award of more than $250,000 made under this solicitation, a recipient may 

not use federal funds to pay total cash compensation (salary plus cash bonuses) to any 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

employee of the recipient at a rate that exceeds 110 percent of the maximum annual salary 

payable to a member of the Federal Government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) at an 

agency with a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System for that year.5 The 2019 salary 

table for SES employees is available at the Office of Personnel Management website at 

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salarytables/19Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx. Note: A recipient may compensate an employee at a 

greater rate, provided the amount in excess of this compensation limitation is paid with nonfederal funds. (Non-federal funds used for any such additional compensation will not be 

considered matching funds, where match requirements apply.) If only a portion of an 

employee’s time is charged to an OJP award, the maximum allowable compensation is equal to 

the percentage of time worked times the maximum salary limitation. 

The Director of the National Institute of Justice may exercise discretion to waive, on an 

individual basis, this limitation on compensation rates allowable under an award. An applicant 

that requests a waiver should include a detailed justification in the budget narrative of its 

application. An applicant that does not submit a waiver request and justification with its 

application should anticipate that OJP will require the applicant to adjust and resubmit the 

budget. 

The justification should address, in the context of the work the individual would do under the 

award, the particular qualifications and expertise of the individual, the uniqueness of a service 

the individual will provide, the individual’s specific knowledge of the proposed program or 

project, and a statement that explains whether and how the individual’s salary under the award 

would be commensurate with the regular and customary rate for an individual with his/her 

qualifications and expertise, and for the work he/she would do under the award. 

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs 

OJP strongly encourages every applicant that proposes to use award funds for any conference-, 

meeting-, or training-related activity (or similar event) to review carefully—before submitting an 

application—the OJP policy and guidance on approval, planning, and reporting of such events, 

available at www.ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.htm. OJP 

policy and guidance (1) encourage minimization of conference, meeting, and training costs; (2) 

require prior written approval (which may affect project timelines) of most conference, meeting, 

and training costs for cooperative agreement recipients and of some conference, meeting, and 

training costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, which include a general prohibition of 

all food and beverage costs. 

Costs Associated with Language Assistance (if applicable) 

If an applicant proposes a program or activity that would deliver services or benefits to 

individuals, the costs of taking reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to those services 

or benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency may be allowable. Reasonable steps 

to provide meaningful access to services or benefits may include interpretation or translation 

services, where appropriate. 

 

5

 OJP does not apply this limitation on the use of award funds to the nonprofit organizations listed in Appendix VIII to 

2 C.F.R. Part 200. 
15

NIJ-2019-15466 

For additional information, see the "Civil Rights Compliance" section under “Overview of Legal 

Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 

Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

C. Eligibility Information 

For eligibility information, see title page. 

For information on cost sharing or match requirements, see “What an Application Should 

Include” in Section D. Application and Submission Information. 

D. Application and Submission Information 

What an Application Should Include 

This section describes in detail what an application should include. An applicant should 

anticipate that if it fails to submit an application that contains all of the specified elements, it may 

negatively affect the review of its application; and, should a decision be made to make an 

award, it may result in the inclusion of award conditions that preclude the recipient from 

accessing or using award funds until the recipient satisfies the conditions and OJP makes the 

funds available. 

Moreover, an applicant should anticipate that an application that OJP determines is

nonresponsive to the scope of the solicitation, or that OJP determines does not include the 

application elements that NIJ has designated to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review 

nor receive further consideration. For this solicitation, NIJ has designated the following 

application elements as critical: Program Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet, Budget Narrative, 

resumes/curriculum vitae of key personnel (student and dissertation chair or, as appropriate, the 

doctoral student’s faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, 

or an individual with similar responsibilities), references, project timeline, and a statement of 

support from the dissertation committee chair or, as appropriate, the doctoral student’s faculty 

advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or an individual with 

similar responsibilities. 

NOTE: OJP has combined the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative in a single 

document collectively referred to as the Budget Detail Worksheet. See “Budget Information and 

Associated Documentation” below for more information about the Budget Detail Worksheet and 

where it can be accessed. 

OJP strongly recommends that applicants use appropriately descriptive file names (e.g., 

“Program Narrative,” “Budget Detail Worksheet,” “Timelines,” “Memoranda of Understanding,” 

“Resumes”) for all attachments. Also, OJP recommends that applicants include resumes in a 

single file. 

Please review the “Note on File Names and File Types” under How to Apply to be sure 

applications are submitted in permitted formats. 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

1. Information to Complete the Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) 

The SF-424 is a required standard form used as a cover sheet for submission of preapplications, applications, and related information. Grants.gov and OJP’s Grants 

Management System (GMS) take information from the applicant’s profile to populate the 

fields on this form. When selecting "type of applicant," if the applicant is a for-profit entity, 

select "For-Profit Organization" or "Small Business" (as applicable). 

To avoid processing delays, an applicant must include an accurate legal name on its SF424. On the SF-424, current OJP award recipients, when completing the field for “Legal 

Name” (box 8a), should use the same legal name that appears on the prior year award 

document (which is also the legal name stored in OJP’s financial system.) Also, current 

recipients should enter the Employer Identification Number (EIN) in box 8b exactly as it 

appears on the prior year award document. An applicant with a current, active award(s) 

must ensure that its GMS profile is current. If the profile is not current, the applicant should 

submit a Grant Adjustment Notice updating the information on its GMS profile prior to 

applying under this solicitation. 

A new applicant entity should enter its official legal name in box 8a, its address in box 8d, its 

EIN in box 8b, and its Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in box 8c of the 

SF-424. A new applicant entity should attach official legal documents to the application (e.g., 

articles of incorporation, 501(c)(3) status documentation, organizational letterhead) to 

confirm the legal name, address, and EIN entered into the SF-424. OJP will use the System 

for Award Management (SAM) to confirm the legal name and DUNS number entered in the 

SF-424; therefore, an applicant should ensure that the information entered in the SF-424 

matches its current registration in SAM. See the How to Apply section for more information 

on SAM and DUNS numbers. 

Intergovernmental Review: This solicitation ("funding opportunity") is not subject to 

Executive Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, an applicant is to answer question 19 by 

selecting the response that the “Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.”)

2. Project Abstract 

The project abstract is a very important part of the application, and serves as an introduction 

to the proposed project. NIJ uses the project abstract for a number of purposes, including 

assignment of the application to an appropriate review panel. If the application is funded, the 

project abstract typically will become public information and be used to describe the project. 

Applications should include a high-quality project abstract that summarizes the proposed 

project in 250-400 words. Project abstracts not submitted in the template below should be—

 Written for a general public audience. 

 Submitted as a separate attachment with “Project Abstract” as part of its file name. 

 Single-spaced, using the form’s standard 12-point font (with 1-inch margins). 

As a separate attachment, the project abstract will not count against the page limit for the 

program narrative. 
17

NIJ-2019-15466 

Project abstracts should follow the detailed template (including the detailed instructions as to 

content) available at www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-abstract-template.pdf.

3. Program Narrative 

The program narrative section of the application should not exceed 15 double-spaced pages 

in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. If included in the main body of the program narrative, 

tables, charts, figures, and other illustrations count toward the 15-page limit for the narrative 

section. The project abstract, table of contents, appendices, and government forms do not 

count toward the 15-page limit. 

If the program narrative fails to comply with these length-related restrictions, NIJ may 

consider such noncompliance in peer review and in final award decisions. 

The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative.6

Program Narrative Guidelines: 

a. Title Page (not counted against the 15-page program narrative limit).

The title page should include the title of the project, submission date, funding 

opportunity number, and the name and complete contact information (that is, 

address, telephone number, and e-mail address) for both the applicant and the 

principal investigator. 

b. Resubmit Response (if applicable) (not counted against the 15-page program 

narrative limit). 

If an applicant is resubmitting an application presented previously to NIJ, but not 

funded, the applicant should indicate this. A statement should be provided, no more 

than two pages, addressing: (1) the title, submission date, and NIJ assigned 

application number of the previous application, and (2) a brief summary of revisions 

to the application, including responses to previous feedback received from NIJ 

c. Table of Contents and Figures (not counted against the 15-page program narrative 

limit). 

d. Main Body.

The main body of the program narrative should describe the proposed project in 

depth. The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative: 

 Statement of the Problem and Research Questions. The statement of the 

problem should address the need for research in this area. Applicants should 

 

6

 As noted earlier, if the proposed program or project reasonably could be conducted in discrete phases, with each 

phase resulting in completion of one or more significant, defined milestones, then NIJ strongly recommends that the 

applicant structure the application – specifically including the narrative, expected scholarly products, 

timelines/milestones, and budget detail worksheet and budget narrative – to set out each phase clearly. (In 

appropriate cases, the expected scholarly product(s) from a particular phase may vary from those described above.) 

See generally “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific 

Information,” above.
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NIJ-2019-15466 

discuss current gaps in data, research, and knowledge, including those for 

particular justice sectors, for certain populations, and to answer questions 

relevant to current policy and practice needs and public interests. As part of this 

discussion, applicants should present a review of previous literature and discuss 

previous research related to these problems. 

This section should also identify the proposed research questions and discuss 

the purpose, goals, and objectives of the proposed project. 

 Project Design and Implementation. Applicants should provide a detailed 

description of the strategies to implement this research project and address the 

research questions. Design elements should follow directly from the research 

project’s goals and objectives and address the program-specific information 

noted on page 4. Applicants should describe the research methodology in detail 

and demonstrate the validity and usefulness of the data they will collect. 

Applicants should consider the rigor and soundness of the methodology and 

analytical and technical approaches for the proposed research and address the 

feasibility of the proposed project and potential challenges or problems in 

carrying out the activities. 

 Potential Impact. Applicants should describe the potential impact of the research 

and how it may inform or improve criminal or juvenile justice-related policy, 

practice, or theory in the United States. 

The discussion of impact should include a discussion of the deliverables, 

including planned scholarly products indicated in the Program-specific 

information on page 4, and a plan for dissemination to appropriate audiences. 

Applicants should identify plans to produce or make available to broader 

interested practitioners and policy makers in a form that is designed to be readily 

accessible and useful to them. 

 Capabilities/Competencies. This section should describe the experience and 

capability of the applicant organization, key staff, and any proposed subgrantees 

(including consultants) that the applicant will use to implement and manage this 

effort and the federal funds under this award, highlighting any previous 

experience implementing projects of similar scope, design, and magnitude. 

Applicants should address: 

o Experience and capacity to work with the proposed data sources in the 

conduct of similar research efforts. 

o Experience and capacity to design and implement rigorous research and data 

analysis projects. 

o Experience producing and disseminating meaningful deliverables. 

Applicants should also outline the management plan and organization that connects 

to the goals and objectives of the project. 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

e. Appendices not counted against the 15-page program narrative limit) include:

 Bibliography/references. 

 Any tools/instruments, questionnaires, tables/charts/graphs, or maps pertaining 

to the proposed project that are supplemental to such items included in the main 

body of the narrative. 

 Curriculum vitae or resumes of the doctoral student and the dissertation 

committee chair. If the applicant does not have a dissertation committee chair, a 

curriculum vitae or resume from the faculty advisor, department chair, 

departmental director of graduate studies, or individual with similar 

responsibilities that submitted a letter of support. 

 Personal statement from the student discussing his or her academic background, 

research experience, career goals, and the anticipated role of the fellowship in 

his or her professional trajectory, not to exceed two (2) double-spaced pages in 

12-point font with 1-inch margins. 

 To assist OJP in assessing actual or apparent conflicts of interest (including such 

conflicts on the part of prospective reviewers of the application), a complete list of 

the individuals named or otherwise identified anywhere in the application 

(including in the budget or in any other attachment) who will or may work (or 

advise or consult) on the proposed research, development, or evaluation project. 

This applies to all such individuals, including, for example, individuals who are or 

would be employees of the applicant or employees of any proposed subrecipient 

entity, any individuals who themselves may be a subrecipient, and individuals 

who may (or will) work without compensation (such as advisory board members). 

This appendix to the program narrative is to include, for each listed individual: 

name, title, employer, any other potentially-pertinent organizational affiliation(s), 

and the individual's proposed roles and responsibilities in carrying out the 

proposed project. If the application identifies any specific entities or organizations 

(other than the applicant) that will or may work (or advise or consult) on the 

proposed project, without also naming any associated individuals, the name of 

each such organization also should be included on this list. Applicants should 

use the “Proposed Project Staff, Affiliation, and Roles” form available at

https://www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-staff-template.xlsx to provide 

this list. 

If the application (including the budget) identifies any proposed non-competitive 

agreements that are or may be considered procurement "contracts" (rather than 

subawards) for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements the 

applicant also must list the entities with which the applicant proposes to 

contract. Applicants should provide this list as a separate sheet entitled 

"Proposed non-competitive procurement contracts." 

For information on distinctions — for purposes of federal grants administrative 

requirements — between subawards and procurement contracts under awards, 

see “Budget and Associated Documentation,” below. 
20

NIJ-2019-15466 

 Proposed project timeline and expected milestones. 

 Human Subjects Protection paperwork (documentation and forms related to 

Institutional Review Board (IRB) review). (See

nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/Pages/welcome.aspx) Note: Final IRB approval is 

not required at the time an application is submitted. 

 Privacy Certificate (for further guidance go to 

nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/pages/confidentiality.aspx). 

 List of any previous and current NIJ awards to the applicant and investigator(s), 

including the NIJ assigned award numbers and a brief description of any 

scholarly products that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the 

NIJ] award(s). (See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly 

Products” under “Program-Specific Information,” above, for definition of “scholarly 

products.”) 

 List of other agencies, organizations, or funding sources to which this application 

has been submitted including, but not limited to, other fellowships which the 

doctoral student has received, and the dates during which those fellowships will 

be active (if applicable). 

 Applicants proposing to use incentives or stipends payments as part of their 

research project design, must submit an incentive or stipend approval request, as 

a separate document, according to the requirements set forth at 

https://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/research-participant-costs-andincentives.aspx. 

 Letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements from organizations 

collaborating in the project, such as law enforcement and correctional agencies 

(if applicable). 

4. Budget and Associated Documentation 

The Budget Detail Worksheet and the Budget Narrative are now combined in a single 

document collectively referred to as the Budget Detail Worksheet. The Budget Detail 

Worksheet is a user-friendly, fillable, Microsoft Excel-based document designed to calculate 

totals. Additionally, the Excel workbook contains worksheets for multiple budget years that 

can be completed as necessary. All applicants should use the Excel version when 

completing the proposed budget in an application, except in cases where the 

applicant does not have access to Microsoft Excel or experiences technical 

difficulties. If an applicant does not have access to Microsoft Excel or experiences 

technical difficulties with the Excel version, then the applicant should use the 508-compliant 

accessible Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) version. 

Both versions of the Budget Detail Worksheet can be accessed at 

https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Forms/BudgetDetailWorksheet.htm. 
21

NIJ-2019-15466 

a. Budget Detail Worksheet

The Budget Detail Worksheet should provide the detailed computation for each budget 

line item, listing the total cost of each and showing how it was calculated by the 

applicant. For example, costs for personnel should show the annual salary rate and the 

percentage of time devoted to the project for each employee paid with grant funds. The 

Budget Detail Worksheet should present a complete itemization of all proposed costs. 

For questions pertaining to budget and examples of allowable and unallowable costs, 

see the DOJ Grants Financial Guide at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm. 

b. Budget Narrative

The Budget Narrative and Budget Detail Worksheet should reflect the entire proposed 

project timeline of up to five years, in discrete 12-month increments. The SF-424 should 

reflect the total cumulative funding request. 

The budget narrative should thoroughly and clearly describe every category of expense 

listed in the Budget Detail Worksheet. OJP expects proposed budgets to be complete, 

cost effective, and allowable (e.g., reasonable, allocable, and necessary for project 

activities). 

An applicant should demonstrate in its budget narrative how it will maximize cost 

effectiveness of award expenditures. Budget narratives should generally describe cost 

effectiveness in relation to potential alternatives and the goals of the project. For 

example, a budget narrative should detail why planned in-person meetings are 

necessary, or how technology and collaboration with outside organizations could be 

used to reduce costs, without compromising quality. 

The budget narrative should be mathematically sound and correspond clearly with the 

information and figures provided in the Budget Detail Worksheet. The narrative should 

explain how the applicant estimated and calculated all costs, and how those costs are 

necessary to the completion of the proposed project. The narrative may include tables 

for clarification purposes, but need not be in a spreadsheet format. As with the Budget 

Detail Worksheet, the budget narrative should describe costs by year. 

c. Cofunding 

An award made by NIJ under this solicitation may account for up to 100 percent of the 

total cost of the project. The application should indicate whether it is feasible for the 

applicant to contribute cash, facilities, or services as non-federal support for the project. 

The application should identify generally any such contributions that the applicant 

expects to make and the proposed budget should indicate in detail which items, if any, 

will be supported with non-federal contributions. 

For additional match information, see the Cost Sharing or Match Requirement section 

under Section B. Federal Award Information. 

If a successful application proposes a voluntary match amount, and OJP approves the 

budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes 

mandatory and subject to audit. 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

d. Information on Proposed Subawards (if any), as well as on Proposed Procurement 

Contracts (if any) 

Applicants for OJP awards typically may propose to make subawards. Applicants also 

may propose to enter into procurement contracts under the award. 

Whether an action – for federal grants administrative purposes – is a subaward or 

procurement contract is a critical distinction as significantly different rules apply to 

subawards and procurement contracts. If a recipient enters into an agreement that is a 

subaward of an OJP award, specific rules apply – many of which are set by federal 

statutes and DOJ regulations; others by award conditions. These rules place particular 

responsibilities on an OJP recipient for any subawards the OJP recipient may make. The 

rules determine much of what the written subaward agreement itself must require or 

provide. The rules also determine much of what an OJP recipient must do both before 

and after it makes a subaward. If a recipient enters into an agreement that is a 

procurement contract under an OJP award, a substantially different set of federal rules 

applies. 

OJP has developed the following guidance documents to help clarify the differences 

between subawards and procurement contracts under an OJP award and outline the 

compliance and reporting requirements for each. This information can be accessed 

online at https://ojp.gov/training/training.htm. 

 Subawards under OJP Awards and Procurement Contracts under Awards: A 

Toolkit for OJP Recipients. 

 Checklist to Determine Subrecipient or Contractor Classification. 

 Sole Source Justification Fact Sheet and Sole Source Review Checklist. 

In general, the central question is the relationship between what the third-party will do 

under its agreement with the recipient and what the recipient has committed (to OJP) to 

do under its award to further a public purpose (e.g., services the recipient will provide, 

products it will develop or modify, research or evaluation it will conduct). If a third party 

will provide some of the services the recipient has committed (to OJP) to provide, will 

develop or modify all or part of a product the recipient has committed (to OJP) to 

develop or modify, or will conduct part of the research or evaluation the recipient has 

committed (to OJP) to conduct, OJP will consider the agreement with the third party a 

subaward for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements. 

This will be true even if the recipient, for internal or other non-federal purposes, labels or 

treats its agreement as a procurement, a contract, or a procurement contract. Neither 

the title nor the structure of an agreement determines whether the agreement -- for 

purposes of federal grants administrative requirements -- is a subaward or is instead a 

procurement contract under an award. The substance of the relationship should be given 

greater consideration than the form of agreement between the recipient and the outside 

entity. 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

1. Information on proposed subawards 

A recipient of an OJP award may not make subawards ("subgrants") unless the 

recipient has specific federal authorization to do so. Unless an applicable statute or 

DOJ regulation specifically authorizes (or requires) subawards, a recipient must have 

authorization from OJP before it may make a subaward. 

A particular subaward may be authorized by OJP because the recipient included a 

sufficiently-detailed description and justification of the proposed subaward in the 

Program Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet, and Budget Narrative as approved by 

OJP. If, however, a particular subaward is not authorized by federal statute or 

regulation, and is not approved by OJP, the recipient will be required, post-award, to 

request and obtain written authorization from OJP before it may make the subaward. 

If an applicant proposes to make one or more subawards to carry out the federal 

award and program, the applicant should-- (1) identify (if known) the proposed 

subrecipient(s), (2) describe in detail what each subrecipient will do to carry out the 

federal award and federal program, and (3) provide a justification for the 

subaward(s), with details on pertinent matters such as special qualifications and 

areas of expertise. Pertinent information on subawards should appear not only in the 

Program Narrative, but also in the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative. 

2. Information on proposed procurement contracts (with specific justification for 

proposed noncompetitive contracts over $250,000) 

Unlike a recipient contemplating a subaward, a recipient of an OJP award generally 

does not need specific prior federal authorization to enter into an agreement that --

for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements -- is considered a 

procurement contract, provided that (1) the recipient uses its own documented 

procurement procedures and (2) those procedures conform to applicable federal law, 

including the Procurement Standards of the (DOJ) Part 200 Uniform Requirements 

(as set out at 2 C.F.R. 200.317 - 200.326). The Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget 

Narrative should identify proposed procurement contracts. (As discussed above, 

subawards must be identified and described separately from procurement contracts.) 

The Procurement Standards in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, however, reflect 

a general expectation that agreements that (for purposes of federal grants 

administrative requirements) constitute procurement “contracts” under awards will be 

entered into on the basis of full and open competition. All noncompetitive (sole 

source) procurement contracts must meet the OJP requirements outlined at 

https://ojp.gov/training/subawards-procurement.htm. If a proposed procurement 

contract would exceed the simplified acquisition threshold -- currently, $250,000 -- a 

recipient of an OJP award may not proceed without competition unless and until the 

recipient receives specific advance authorization from OJP to use a non-competitive 

approach for the procurement. An applicant that (at the time of its application) 

intends – without competition – to enter into a procurement contract that would 

exceed $250,000 should include a detailed justification that explains to OJP why, in 

the particular circumstances, it is appropriate to proceed without competition. 

If the applicant receives an award, sole source procurements that do not exceed the 

Simplified Acquisition Threshold (currently $250,000) must have written justification 
24

NIJ-2019-15466 

for the noncompetitive procurement action maintained in the procurement file. If a 

procurement file does not have the documentation that meets the criteria outlined in 

2 C.F.R. 200, the procurement expenditures may not be allowable. Sole source 

procurement over the $250,000 Simplified Acquisition Threshold must have prior 

approval from OJP using a Sole Source Grant Adjustment Notice (GAN). Written 

documentation justifying the noncompetitive procurement must be submitted with the 

GAN and maintained in the procurement file. 

e. Pre-Agreement Costs

For information on preagreement costs, see Section B. Federal Award Information. 

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) 

Indirect costs may be charged to an award only if: 

(a) The recipient has a current (unexpired), federally approved indirect cost rate; or

(b) The recipient is eligible to use, and elects to use, the “de minimis” indirect cost rate

described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, as set out at 2 C.F.R. 200.414(f). 

An applicant with a current (unexpired) federally-approved indirect cost rate is to attach a 

copy of the indirect cost rate agreement to the application. An applicant that does not have a 

current federally-approved rate may request one through its cognizant federal agency, which 

will review all documentation and approve a rate for the applicant entity, or, if the applicant’s 

accounting system permits, applicants may propose to allocate costs in the direct cost 

categories. 

For assistance with identifying the appropriate cognizant federal agency for indirect costs, 

please contact the Office of the Chief Financial Officer Customer Service Center at 1-800-

458-0786 or at ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov. If DOJ is the cognizant federal agency, an applicant 

may obtain information needed to submit an indirect cost rate proposal at 

https://www.ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/IndirectCosts.pdf. 

Certain OJP recipients have the option of electing to use the “de minimis” indirect cost rate. 

An applicant that is eligible to use the “de minimis” rate that wishes to use the "de minimis" 

rate should attach written documentation to the application that advises OJP of both-- (1) the 

applicant’s eligibility to use the “de minimis” rate, and (2) its election to do so. If an eligible 

applicant elects the “de minimis” rate, costs must be consistently charged as either indirect 

or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both. The "de 

minimis" rate may no longer be used once an approved federally-negotiated indirect cost 

rate is in place. (No entity that ever has had a federally-approved negotiated indirect cost 

rate is eligible to use the "de minimis" rate.) For the “de minimis” rate requirements 

(including information on eligibility to elect to use the rate), see the Part 200 Uniform 

Requirements, at 2 C.F.R. 200.414(f). 

6. Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable) 

A tribe, tribal organization, or third party that proposes to provide direct services or 

assistance to residents on tribal lands should include in its application a resolution, letter, 

affidavit, or other documentation, as appropriate, that demonstrates (as a legal matter) that 
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the applicant has the requisite authorization from the tribe(s) to implement the proposed 

project on tribal lands. In those instances when an organization or consortium of tribes 

applies for an award on behalf of a tribe or multiple specific tribes, the application should 

include appropriate legal documentation, as described above, from all tribes that would

receive services or assistance under the award. A consortium of tribes for which existing 

consortium bylaws allow action without support from all tribes in the consortium (i.e., without 

an authorizing resolution or comparable legal documentation from each tribal governing 

body) may submit, instead, a copy of its consortium bylaws with the application.

7. Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (including 

applicant disclosure of high-risk status)

Every OJP applicant (other than an individual applying in his or her personal capacity) is 

required to download, complete, and submit the OJP Financial Management and System of 

Internal Controls Questionnaire (Questionnaire) at 

https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf as part of its application. 

The Questionnaire helps OJP assess the financial management and internal control 

systems, and the associated potential risks of an applicant as part of the pre-award risk 

assessment process.

The Questionnaire should only be completed by financial staff most familiar with the 

applicant's systems, policies, and procedures in order to ensure that the correct responses 

are recorded and submitted to OJP. The responses on the Questionnaire directly impact the 

pre-award risk assessment and should accurately reflect the applicant’s financial 

management and internal control system at the time of the application. The pre-award risk 

assessment is only one of multiple factors and criteria used in determining funding.

However, a pre-award risk assessment that indicates that an applicant poses a higher risk to 

OJP may affect the funding decision and/or result in additional reporting requirements, 

monitoring, special conditions, withholding of award funds, or other additional award 

requirements.

Among other things, the form requires each applicant to disclose whether it currently is 

designated “high risk” by a federal grant-making agency outside of DOJ. For purposes of 

this disclosure, high risk includes any status under which a federal awarding agency 

provides additional oversight due to the applicant’s past performance, or other programmatic 

or financial concerns with the applicant. If an applicant is designated high risk by another 

federal awarding agency, the applicant must provide the following information:

 The federal awarding agency that currently designates the applicant high risk.

 The date the applicant was designated high risk.

 The high-risk point of contact at that federal awarding agency (name, phone number, 

and email address).

 The reasons for the high-risk status, as set out by the federal awarding agency.

OJP seeks this information to help ensure appropriate federal oversight of OJP awards. An 

applicant that is considered “high-risk” by another federal awarding agency is not 

automatically disqualified from receiving an OJP award. OJP may, however, consider the 
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information in award decisions, and may impose additional OJP oversight of any award 

under this solicitation (including through the conditions that accompany the award 

document).

8. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

Each applicant must complete and submit this information. An applicant that expends any 

funds for lobbying activities is to provide all of the information requested on the form 

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) posted at

https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/Disclosure.pdf. An applicant that does not expend 

any funds for lobbying activities is to enter “N/A” in the text boxes for item 10 (“a. Name and 

Address of Lobbying Registrant” and “b. Individuals Performing Services”).

9. Additional Attachments

 Statement of support from the dissertation committee chair or the doctoral student’s 

faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or individual 

with similar responsibilities, as applicable (REQUIRED) . (For information on required 

content, see page 6.)

 Certification of full-time enrollment in a social and behavioral sciences doctoral program 

at the time of application (REQUIRED). (See page 6 for details).

a. Applicant disclosure of pending applications7

Each applicant is to disclose whether it has (or is proposed as a subrecipient under) any 

pending applications for federally-funded grants or cooperative agreements that (1)

include requests for funding to support the same project being proposed in the 

application under this solicitation, and (2) would cover the identical cost items outlined in 

the budget submitted to OJP under this solicitation. The applicant is to disclose both 

applications made directly to federal awarding agencies, and also applications for 

subawards of federal funds (e.g., applications to State agencies that will subaward 

(“subgrant”) federal funds).

OJP seeks this information to help avoid inappropriate duplication of funding. Leveraging 

multiple funding sources in a complementary manner to implement comprehensive 

programs or projects is encouraged and is not seen as inappropriate duplication.

Each applicant that has one or more pending applications as described above is to 

provide the following information about pending applications submitted within the last 12 

months:

 The federal or State funding agency.

 The solicitation name/project name.

 The point of contact information at the applicable federal or State funding agency.

 

7 Typically, the applicant is not the principal investigator. Rather, the applicant, most frequently, is the institution, 

organization, or company in which the principal investigator is employed.
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SAMPLE

Federal or State 

Funding Agency 

Solicitation 

Name/Project 

Name

Name/Phone/E-mail for Point of Contact 

at Federal or State Funding Agency

DOJ/Office of

Community Oriented 

Policing Services 

(COPS Office)

COPS Hiring 

Program

Jane Doe, 202/000-0000;

jane.doe@usdoj.gov

Health and Human 

Services/ Substance 

Abuse and Mental 

Health Services 

Administration

Drug-Free 

Communities 

Mentoring 

Program/North 

County Youth 

Mentoring 

Program

John Doe, 202/000-0000; john.doe@hhs.gov

Each applicant should include the table as a separate attachment to its application. The 

file should be named “Disclosure of Pending Applications.” The applicant’s Legal Name 

on the application must match the entity named on the disclosure of pending 

applications statement. 

Any applicant that does not have any pending applications as described above is to

submit, as a separate attachment, a statement to this effect: “[Applicant Name on SF424] does not have (and is not proposed as a subrecipient under) any pending 

applications submitted within the last 12 months for federally-funded grants or 

cooperative agreements or for subawards under federal grants or cooperative 

agreements that request funding to support the same project being proposed in this 

application to OJP and that would cover the identical cost items outlined in the budget 

submitted as part of this application.”

b. Applicant Disclosure and Justification - DOJ High Risk Grantees8 (if applicable) 

An applicant that is designated as a DOJ High Risk Grantee is to submit , as a 

separate attachment to its application, information that OJP will use, among other 

pertinent information, to determine whether it will consider or select the application for an 

award under this solicitation. The file should be named “DOJ High Risk Grantee 

Applicant Disclosure and Justification.” (See, also, “Review Process,” below, under 

Section E. Application Review Information, for a brief discussion of how such information 

may considered in the application review process.) 

OJP constantly seeks to optimize its investments in criminal- and juvenile justicefocused programs and activities, increase program effectiveness, and maximize the 

return – and program impact – from limited programmatic resources. Therefore, OJP 

may remove from consideration or not select for award a “DOJ High Risk Grantee” 

applicant that is determined to pose a substantial risk of program implementation failure. 

In making such determinations, OJP will consider one or more of the following factors: 

the applicant’s lack of sufficient progress in addressing required corrective actions 

 

8 A “DOJ High Risk Grantee” is a recipient that has received a DOJ High-Risk designation based on a documented 

history of unsatisfactory performance, financial instability, management system or other internal control deficiencies, 

or noncompliance with award terms and conditions on prior awards, or that is otherwise not responsible. 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

necessary for removal of the DOJ High Risk Grantee designation; the nature and 

severity of the issues leading to or accompanying the applicant’s DOJ High Risk Grantee 

designation; or the applicant’s expected ability to manage grant funds and achieve grant 

goals and objectives. 

In this attachment, the applicant is to provide any additional information or justification –

especially with regard to corrective actions yet to be implemented (as of the application 

date) – that may help demonstrate how the applicant has addressed or otherwise 

mitigated such uncorrected matters, such that any negative impact on the proposed 

program and its implementation would be immaterial or would be significantly reduced or 

eliminated. (To the extent that the applicant believes that any of the information provided 

pursuant to this disclosure may be confidential in nature, the applicant should specifically 

identify it.) 

c. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity 

When an application proposes research (including research and development) and/or 

evaluation, the applicant must demonstrate research/evaluation independence and 

integrity, including appropriate safeguards, before it may receive award funds. The 

applicant must demonstrate independence and integrity regarding both this proposed 

research and/or evaluation, and any current or prior related projects. 

Each application should include an attachment that addresses both i. and ii. below. 

i. For purposes of this solicitation, each applicant is to document research and 

evaluation independence and integrity by including one of the following two items: 

a. A specific assurance that the applicant has reviewed its application to identify 

any actual or potential apparent conflicts of interest (including through review of 

pertinent information on the principal investigator, any co-principal investigators, 

and any subrecipients), and that the applicant has identified no such conflicts of 

interest – whether personal or financial or organizational (including on the part of 

the applicant entity or on the part of staff, investigators, or subrecipients) – that 

could affect the independence or integrity of the research, including the design, 

conduct, and reporting of the research. 

OR

b. A specific description of actual or potential apparent conflicts of interest that the 

applicant has identified – including through review of pertinent information on the 

principal investigator, any co-principal investigators, and any subrecipients – that 

could affect the independence or integrity of the research, including the design, 

conduct, or reporting of the research. These conflicts may be personal (e.g., on 

the part of investigators or other staff), financial, or organizational (related to the 

applicant or any subrecipient entity). Some examples of potential investigator (or 

other personal) conflict situations are those in which an investigator would be in a 

position to evaluate a spouse’s work product (actual conflict), or an investigator 

would be in a position to evaluate the work of a former or current colleague 

(potential apparent conflict). With regard to potential organizational conflicts of 

interest, as one example, generally an organization would not be given an award 

to evaluate a project, if that organization had itself provided substantial prior 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

technical assistance to that specific project or a location implementing the project 

(whether funded by OJP or other sources), because the organization in such an 

instance might appear to be evaluating the effectiveness of its own prior work. 

The key is whether a reasonable person understanding all of the facts would be 

able to have confidence that the results of any research or evaluation project are 

objective and reliable. Any outside personal or financial interest that casts doubt 

on that objectivity and reliability of an evaluation or research product is a problem 

and must be disclosed. 

ii. In addition, for purposes of this solicitation, each applicant is to address possible 

mitigation of research integrity concerns by including, at a minimum, one of the 

following two items: 

a. If an applicant reasonably believes that no actual or potential apparent conflicts 

of interest (personal, financial, or organizational) exist, then the applicant should 

provide a brief narrative explanation of how and why it reached that conclusion. 

The applicant also is to include an explanation of the specific processes and 

procedures that the applicant has in place, or will put in place, to identify and 

prevent (or, at the very least, mitigate) any such conflicts of interest pertinent to 

the funded project during the period of performance. Documentation that may be 

helpful in this regard may include organizational codes of ethics/conduct and 

policies regarding organizational, personal, and financial conflicts of interest. 

There is no guarantee that the plan, if any, will be accepted as proposed. 

OR

b. If the applicant has identified actual or potential apparent conflicts of interest 

(personal, financial, or organizational) that could affect the independence and 

integrity of the research, including the design, conduct, or reporting of the 

research, the applicant is to provide a specific and robust mitigation plan to 

address each of those conflicts. At a minimum, the applicant is expected to 

explain the specific processes and procedures that the applicant has in place, or 

will put in place, to identify and eliminate (or, at the very least, mitigate) any such 

conflicts of interest pertinent to the funded project during the period of 

performance. Documentation that may be helpful in this regard may include 

organizational codes of ethics/conduct and policies regarding organizational, 

personal, and financial conflicts of interest. There is no guarantee that the plan, if 

any, will be accepted as proposed. 

OJP will assess research and evaluation independence and integrity based on 

considerations such as the adequacy of the applicant’s efforts to identify factors that 

could affect the objectivity or integrity of the proposed staff and/or the applicant entity 

(and any subrecipients) in carrying out the research, development, or evaluation activity; 

and the adequacy of the applicant’s existing or proposed remedies to control any such 

factors. 

d. Documentation of Anticipated Benefit to Qualified Opportunity Zones (if 

applicable)

As is mentioned above, OJP will, as appropriate, give priority consideration in award 

decisions to applications that propose projects that will generate information about 
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enhancing public safety in the specified QOZs. Each applicant proposing a project it 

anticipates will generate information about enhancing public safety in one or more QOZs

should provide a sufficient narrative explanation in order for OJP to identify clearly the 

public safety benefit the applicant anticipates that information generated under its project 

will have on a specified QOZ(s). The attachment(s) should be clearly labeled as 

addressing QOZs. The applicant may also include tables, charts, graphs, or other 

relevant illustrations that may be useful in comprehending the manner in which the 

proposed project is anticipated to benefit a QOZ(s).

How to Apply

Applicants must register in and submit applications through Grants.gov, a primary source to find 

federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find complete instructions on how to 

register and submit an application at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html. 

Applicants that experience technical difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov 

Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606–545–5035, which operates 24 hours a day, 7

days a week, except on federal holidays.

Registering with Grants.gov is a one-time process; however, processing delays may occur,

and it can take several weeks for first-time registrants to receive confirmation of registration 

and a user password. OJP encourages applicants to register several weeks before the 

application submission deadline. In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications at 

least 72 hours prior to the application due date, in order to allow time for the applicant to receive 

validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion

any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

OJP strongly encourages all prospective applicants to sign up for Grants.gov email notifications

regarding this solicitation at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/manage-subscriptions.html. If 

this solicitation is cancelled or modified, individuals who sign up with Grants.gov for updates will 

be automatically notified.

Browser Information: Grants.gov was built to be compatible with Internet Explorer. For 

technical assistance with Google Chrome, or another browser, contact Grants.gov Customer 

Support.

Note on Attachments. Grants.gov has two categories of files for attachments: “mandatory” and

“optional.” OJP receives all files attached in both categories. Attachments are also labeled to 

describe the file being attached (e.g., Project Narrative, Budget Narrative, Other, etc.) Please 

ensure that all required documents are attached in the correct Grants.gov category and are 

labeled correctly. Do not embed “mandatory” attachments within another file.

An applicant must use the Add Attachment button to attach a file to its application. Do not click 

the paperclip icon to attach files. This action will not attach the files to the application. After 

adding an attachment, select the View Attachment button to confirm you attached the correct 

file. To remove the file, select the Delete Attachment button.

An application can be checked for errors via the Check Application button on the Forms tab of 

the Manage Workspace page. The button is active if the set of forms in the workspace matches 

those required in the application package. If you receive a Cross-Form Errors message after 

clicking the Check Application button, refer to the Cross-Form Errors help article for more 

detailed information about this validation error.
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Note on File Names and File Types: Grants.gov only permits the use of certain specific 

characters in file names of attachments. Valid file names may include only the characters shown 

in the table below. Grants.gov rejects any application that includes an attachment(s) with a file 

name that contains any characters not shown in the table below. Grants.gov forwards 

successfully-submitted applications to the OJP Grants Management System (GMS). 

Characters

Upper case (A – Z)

Lower case (a – z)

Underscore (__)

Hyphen ( - )

Space

Period (.)

Special Characters Special Characters Special Characters

Parenthesis ( ) Curly braces { } Square brackets [ ]

Ampersand (&)* Tilde (~) Exclamation point (!)

Comma ( , ) Semicolon ( ; ) Apostrophe ( ‘ )

At sign (@) Number sign (#) Dollar sign ($)

Percent sign (%) Plus sign (+) Equal sign (=)

*When using the ampersand (&) in XML, applicants must use the “&” format.

GMS does not accept executable file types as application attachments. These disallowed 

file types include, but are not limited to, the following extensions: “.com,” “.bat,” “.exe,” “.vbs,”

“.cfg,” “.dat,” “.db,” “.dbf,” “.dll,” “.ini,” “.log,” “.ora,” “.sys,” and “.zip.” GMS may reject applications 

with files that use these extensions. It is important to allow time to change the type of file(s) if 

the application is rejected. 

All applicants are required to complete the following steps: 

Unique Entity Identifier (DUNS Number) and System for Award Management (SAM)

Every applicant entity must comply with all applicable System for Award Management (SAM) 

and unique entity identifier (currently, a Data Universal Numbering System [DUNS] number) 

requirements. SAM is the repository for certain standard information about federal financial 

assistance applicants, recipients, and subrecipients. A DUNS number is a unique nine-digit 

identification number provided by the commercial company Dun and Bradstreet. More detailed 

information about SAM and the DUNS number is in the numbered sections below. 

If an applicant entity has not fully complied with the applicable SAM and unique identifier 

requirements by the time OJP makes award decisions, OJP may determine that the applicant is 

not qualified to receive an award and may use that determination as a basis for making the 

award to a different applicant. 

Applying as an Individual 

An individual who wishes to apply in his/her personal capacity should search Grants.gov for 

funding opportunities for which individuals are eligible to apply. Use the Funding Opportunity 

Number (FON) to register. (An applicant applying as an individual must comply with all 

applicable Grants.gov individual registration requirements.) 

Enter the FON at https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/IndCPRegister to complete the registration 

form and create a username and password for Grants.gov. (An applicant applying as an 

individual should complete all steps except 1, 2, and 4.) 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

Registration and Submission Steps 

1. Acquire a unique entity identifier (currently, a DUNS number). In general, the Office of 

Management and Budget requires every applicant for a federal award (other than an 

individual) to include a "unique entity identifier" in each application, including an application 

for a supplemental award. Currently, a DUNS number is the required unique entity identifier. 

This unique entity identifier is used for tracking purposes, and to validate address and point 

of contact information for applicants, recipients, and subrecipients. It will be used throughout 

the life cycle of an OJP award. Obtaining a DUNS number is a free, one-time activity. Call 

Dun and Bradstreet at 866–705–5711 to obtain a DUNS number or apply online at 

www.dnb.com. A DUNS number is usually received within 2 business days. 

2. Acquire or maintain registration with SAM. Any applicant for an OJP award creating a 

new entity registration (or updating or renewing a registration) in SAM.gov must submit an 

original, signed notarized letter appointing the authorized Entity Administrator within thirty 

(30) days of the registration activation. Notarized letters must be submitted via U.S. 

Postal Service Mail. Read the Alert at sam.gov/SAM/ to learn more about what is required 

in the notarized letter, and read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) at 

www.gsa.gov/samupdate to learn more about this process change. All applicants for OJP 

awards (other than individuals) must maintain current registrations in the SAM database. 

Applicants will need the authorizing official of the organization and an Employer 

Identification Number (EIN). Information about SAM registration procedures can be 

accessed at sam.gov/SAM/.

An application cannot be successfully submitted in Grants.gov until Grants.gov receives the 

SAM registration information. Once the SAM registration/renewal is complete, the 

information transfer from SAM to Grants.gov can take as long as 48 hours. OJP 

recommends that the applicant register or renew registration with SAM as early as possible. 

3. Acquire an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and a Grants.gov 

username and password. Complete the AOR profile on Grants.gov and create a username 

and password. An applicant entity’s "unique entity identifier" (DUNS number) must be used 

to complete this step. For more information about the registration process for organizations 

and other entities, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organizationregistration.html. Individuals registering with Grants.gov should go to 

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/registration.html. 

4. Acquire confirmation for the AOR from the E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC). 

The E-Biz POC at the applicant organization must log into Grants.gov to “confirm” the 

applicant organization’s AOR. The E-Biz POC will need the Marketing Partner Identification 

Number (MPIN) password obtained when registering with SAM to complete this step. Note 

that an organization can have more than one AOR.

5. Search for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov. Use the following identifying 

information when searching for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov. The Catalog of 

Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for this solicitation is 16.560 and the funding 

opportunity number is NIJ-2019-15466. 

6. Access Funding Opportunity and Application Package from Grants.gov. Select “Apply 

for Grants” under the “Applicants” column. Enter your email address to be notified of any 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

changes to the opportunity package before the closing date. Click the Workspace icon to 

use Grants.gov Workspace.

7. Submit a valid application consistent with this solicitation by following the directions 

in Grants.gov. To preview the application prior to (or after) submitting, go to the View 

Application tab in Workspace. For additional information, review the View Application Tab

help article and Attachments Tab help article.

Within 48 hours after submitting the electronic application, the applicant should receive two 

notifications from Grants.gov. The first will confirm the receipt of the application. The second 

will state whether the application has been validated and successfully submitted, or whether 

it has been rejected due to errors, with an explanation. It is possible to first receive a 

message indicating that the application is received, and then receive a rejection notice a few 

minutes or hours later. Submitting an application well ahead of the deadline provides time to 

correct the problem(s) that caused the rejection. Important: OJP urges each applicant to 

submit its application at least 72 hours prior to the application due date, to allow time to 

receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a 

timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification. Applications must 

be successfully submitted through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 8, 2019.

Click https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html for further 

details on DUNS numbers, SAM, and Grants.gov registration steps and timeframes. 

Note: Application Versions 

If an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, OJP will review only the most 

recent system-validated version submitted. 

Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues 

An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond its control that 

prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline must contact the Grants.gov Customer 

Support Hotline at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html or the SAM Help Desk

(Federal Service Desk) at https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/home.do to report the technical issue and 

receive a tracking number. The applicant must e-mail the NIJ contact identified in the Contact 

Information section on the title page within 24 hours after the application deadline to request 

approval to submit its application after the deadline. The applicant’s e-mail must describe the 

technical difficulties, and must include a timeline of the applicant’s submission efforts, the 

complete grant application, the applicant’s DUNS number, and any Grants.gov Help Desk or 

SAM tracking number(s). 

Note: OJP does not automatically approve requests to submit a late application. After 

OJP reviews the applicant’s request, and contacts the Grants.gov or SAM Help Desks to verify 

the reported technical issues, OJP will inform the applicant whether the request to submit a late 

application has been approved or denied. If OJP determines that the untimely application 

submission was due to the applicant’s failure to follow all required procedures, OJP will deny the 

applicant’s request to submit its application. 

The following conditions generally are insufficient to justify late submissions: 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

 Failure to register in SAM or Grants.gov in sufficient time (SAM registration and renewal 

can take as long as 10 business days to complete. The information transfer from SAM to 

Grants.gov can take up to 48 hours.) 

 Failure to follow Grants.gov instructions on how to register and apply as posted on its 

website. 

 Failure to follow each instruction in the OJP solicitation. 

 Technical issues with the applicant’s computer or information technology environment, 

such as issues with firewalls or browser incompatibility. 

Notifications regarding known technical problems with Grants.gov, if any, are posted at 

the top of the OJP Funding Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm.

E. Application Review Information 

Review Criteria 

Applications that meet basic minimum requirements will be evaluated by peer reviewers using 

the following review criteria. Each individual criterion is assigned a different weight based on the 

percentage value listed. For example, the first criterion, Statement of the Problem, is worth 10 

percent of the score in the assessment of the application’s technical merit. 

Statement of the Problem and Research Questions (Understanding of the problem, research 

questions, and their importance) – 20% 

1. Demonstrated understanding of the problem. 

2. Demonstrated importance of research questions, goals and objectives, including 

alignment with the aims of the solicitation. 

3. Demonstrated awareness of the state of current research. 

Project Design and Implementation (Quality and technical merit) – 50% 

1. Soundness of methods and analytic and technical approach to addressing the stated 

aim(s) of the proposed project. 

2. Feasibility of proposed project. 

3. Awareness of potential pitfalls of proposed project design and feasibility of proposed 

actions to minimize and/or mitigate them. 

4. Feasibility of completing the deliverables noted in the solicitation. 

Potential Impact – 20% 

Potential for a significant scientific or technical advance(s) that will improve criminal/juvenile 

justice in the United States, such as: 
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NIJ-2019-15466 

 Potential for significantly improved understanding of the stated criminal/juvenile justice 

problem. 

 Potential for innovative solution to address (all or a significant part of) the stated 

criminal/juvenile justice problem. 

Capabilities/Competencies (Capabilities, demonstrated productivity, and experience of the 

applicant organization and proposed project staff) – 10% 

1. Qualifications and experience of proposed project staff (that is, the principal investigator, 

any and all co-principal investigators, and all other individuals (and organizations) 

identified in the application (regardless of “investigator” status) who will be significantly 

involved in substantive aspects of the proposed project). 

2. Demonstrated ability of the applicant organization to implement the proposed strategies 

and manage the effort. 

3. Relationship between the capabilities/competencies of the proposed project staff 

(including the applicant organization) and the scope and strategies of the proposed 

project. 

Budget

In addition, peer reviewers will consider and may comment on the following additional items in 

the context of scientific and technical merit. 

1. Total cost of the project relative to the perceived benefit (cost effectiveness). 

2. Appropriateness of the budget relative to the level of effort. 

3. Use of existing resources to conserve costs. 

4. Alignment of the proposed budget with proposed project activities. 

5. Proposed plan (if any) to produce or to make available to broader interested audiences, 

such as criminal/juvenile justice practitioners or policymakers, summary information from 

the planned scholarly products of the project. 

Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences (if applicable to the proposed project) 

Peer reviewers may comment—in the context of scientific and technical merit—on the proposed 

plan (if any) to produce or to make available to broader interested audiences, such as 

criminal/juvenile justice practitioners or policymakers, summary information from the planned 

scholarly products of the project. 
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Review Process 

OJP is committed to ensuring a fair and open process for making awards. NIJ reviews the 

application to make sure that the information presented is reasonable, understandable, 

measurable, and achievable, as well as consistent with the solicitation. 

Peer reviewers will review the applications submitted under this solicitation that meet basic 

minimum requirements. For purposes of assessing whether an application meets basic 

minimum requirements and should proceed to further consideration, OJP screens applications 

for compliance with those requirements. Although specific requirements may vary, the following 

are common requirements applicable to all solicitations for funding under OJP programs: 

 The application must be submitted by an eligible type of applicant. 

 The application must request funding within programmatic funding constraints (if 

applicable). 

 The application must be responsive to the scope of the solicitation. 

 The application must include all items designated as “critical elements.”

 The application, if submitted by an applicant that is a DOJ High Risk Grantee,9 or is 

designated “high risk” by a federal grant-making agency outside of DOJ, must not have 

been determined by the Director/Administrator to pose a substantial risk of program 

implementation failure, based on 1) the applicant’s lack of sufficient progress in 

addressing required corrective actions necessary for removal of the DOJ High Risk 

Grantee (or non-DOJ high risk) designation, 2) the nature and severity of the issues 

leading to or accompanying the DOJ High Risk Grantee (or non-DOJ high risk) 

designation, and/or 3) the applicant’s expected ability to manage grant funds and 

achieve grant goals and objectives. 

For a list of the critical elements for this solicitation, see “What an Application Should Include” 

under Section D. Application and Submission Information. 

Peer review panels will evaluate, score, and rate applications that meet basic minimum 

requirements. NIJ may use internal peer reviewers, external peer reviewers, or a combination, 

to assess applications on technical merit using the solicitation’s review criteria. An internal 

reviewer is a current DOJ employee who is well-versed or has expertise in the subject matter of 

this solicitation. An external peer reviewer is an expert in the subject matter of a given 

solicitation who is not a current DOJ employee. Peer reviewers’ ratings and any resulting 

recommendations are advisory only, although reviewer views are considered carefully. Other 

important considerations for NIJ include geographic diversity, strategic priorities, (specifically 

including, but not limited to, demonstrable potential enhancement to public safety in one or more 

federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zones), and available funding, as well as the planned 

scholarly products and the extent to which the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative 

accurately explain project costs that are reasonable, necessary, and otherwise allowable under 

federal law and applicable federal cost principles. 

 

9 See “Applicant Disclosure and Justification - DOJ High Risk Grantees” under “What an Application Should Include,” 

above, for a definition of “DOJ High Risk Grantee.”
37

NIJ-2019-15466 

Pursuant to the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, before award decisions are made, OJP also 

reviews information related to the degree of risk posed by applicants. Among other things to 

help assess whether an applicant that has one or more prior federal awards has a satisfactory 

record with respect to performance, integrity, and business ethics, OJP checks whether the 

applicant is listed in SAM as excluded from receiving a federal award. 

The evaluation of risks goes beyond information in SAM, however. OJP itself has in place a 

framework for evaluating risks posed by applicants for competitive awards. OJP takes into 

account information pertinent to matters such as --

1. Applicant financial stability and fiscal integrity. 

2. Quality of the applicant’s management systems, and applicant’s ability to meet 

prescribed management standards, including those outlined in the DOJ Grants Financial 

Guide. 

3. Applicant’s history of performance under OJP and other DOJ awards (including scholarly 

products, and compliance with reporting requirements and award conditions), as well as 

awards from other federal agencies. 

4. Reports and findings from audits of the applicant, including audits under the Part 200 

Uniform Requirements. 

5. Applicant's ability to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements, and to effectively 

implement other award requirements. 

Note on applicants with a “high risk” designation: Risks associated with DOJ High Risk 

Grantees, or applicants designated as “high risk” by a federal grant-making agency outside of 

DOJ, are taken into account during the review process, and each applicant with such “high risk” 

designations will be considered for funding on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature 

and severity of the issues that led to the DOJ High Risk Grantee (or non-DOJ high risk) 

designation, status of progress in addressing corrective actions, and expected ability to manage 

grant funds and achieve grant goals and objectives. A “high risk” designated applicant is to 

submit disclosure and justification documentation consistent with the requirements specified, 

above, under “What an Application Should Include” in Section C. Application and Submission 

Information. 

All final award decisions will be made by the Director of the National Institute of Justice who 

may take into account not only peer review ratings and NIJ recommendations, but also other 

factors as indicated in this section. 

F. Federal Award Administration Information 

Federal Award Notices

Award notifications will be made by September 30, 2019. OJP sends award notifications by 

email through GMS to the individuals listed in the application as the point of contact and the 

authorizing official (E-Biz POC and AOR). The email notification includes detailed instructions 

on how to access and view the award documents, and steps to take in GMS to start the award 

acceptance process. GMS automatically issues the notifications at 9:00 p.m. eastern time on 

the award date. 
38

NIJ-2019-15466 

For each successful applicant, an individual with the necessary authority to bind the applicant 

will be required to login; execute a set of legal certifications and a set of legal assurances; 

designate a financial point of contact; thoroughly review the award, including all award 

conditions; and sign and accept the award. The award acceptance process requires physical 

signature of the award document by the authorized representative and the scanning and 

submission of the fully-executed award document to OJP. 

Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements 

If selected for funding, in addition to implementing the funded project consistent with the OJPapproved application, the recipient must comply with all award conditions, as well as all 

applicable requirements of federal statutes and regulations (including applicable requirements 

referred to in the assurances and certifications executed in connection with award acceptance). 

OJP strongly encourages prospective applicants to review information on post-award legal 

requirements and common OJP award conditions prior to submitting an application. 

Applicants should consult the “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards,” available in the OJP Funding 

Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. In addition, applicants should examine the 

following two legal documents, as each successful applicant must execute both documents 

before it may receive any award funds. (An applicant is not required to submit these documents 

as part of an application.) 

 Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility 

Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements. 

 Certified Standard Assurances. 

The webpages accessible through the “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to 

OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards” are intended to give applicants for 

OJP awards a general overview of important statutes, regulations, and award conditions that 

apply to many (or in some cases, all) OJP grants and cooperative agreements awarded in FY 

2019. Individual OJP awards typically also will include additional award conditions. Those 

additional conditions may relate to the particular statute, program, or solicitation under which the 

award is made; to the substance of the funded application; to the recipient's performance under 

other federal awards; to the recipient's legal status (e.g., as a for-profit entity); or to other 

pertinent considerations. 

Awards under this solicitation will include a condition (the specific terms of which will govern the 

award) related to verification of employment eligibility. The condition will, generally speaking, 

require the recipient (and any subrecipient) that accepts the award to verify the employment 

eligibility of any individual hired under the award, consonant with 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(1). 

Awards under this solicitation will include a condition (the specific terms of which will govern the 

award) related to competition requirements set forth at 2 C.F.R. § 200.319. The condition will, 

generally speaking, prohibit recipients (and any subrecipients) from procuring goods and 

services with award funds by means of any competition that disadvantages or excludes vendors 

on the basis of their having (or their having had) a prior or existing contractual relationship with 

the federal government. 
39

NIJ-2019-15466 

General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements 

In addition to the deliverables and expected scholarly products described in Section A. Program 

Description, any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to submit the 

following reports and data. 

Required reports. Recipients typically must submit quarterly financial reports, semi-annual

progress reports, final financial and progress reports, and, if applicable, an annual audit report in 

accordance with the Part 200 Uniform Requirements or specific award conditions. Applicants 

should anticipate that progress reports will be required to follow the non-budgetary components 

of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) template/format. General information on 

RPPRs may be found at www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/rppr/. Future awards and fund drawdowns 

may be withheld if reports are delinquent. (In appropriate cases, OJP may require additional 

reports.) 

Awards that exceed $500,000 will include an additional condition that, under specific 

circumstances, will require the recipient to report (to FAPIIS) information on civil, criminal, and 

administrative proceedings connected with (or connected to the performance of) either the OJP 

award or any other grant, cooperative agreement, or procurement contract from the federal 

government. Additional information on this reporting requirement appears in the text of the 

award condition posted on the OJP webpage at https://ojp.gov/funding/FAPIIS.htm. 

Data on performance measures. In addition to required reports, an award recipient under this 

solicitation also must provide data that measure the results of the work done under the award. 

To demonstrate program progress and success, as well as to assist DOJ with fulfilling its 

responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), Public 

Law 103-62, and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Public Law 111–352, OJP will require 

any award recipient, post award, to provide performance data listed as part of regular progress 

reporting. Successful applicants will be required to access OJP’s performance measurement 

page at www.ojp.gov/performance for an overview of performance measurement activities at 

OJP. 

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) 

For OJP contact(s), see the title page. 

For contact information for Grants.gov, see the title page. 

H. Other Information 

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a) 

All applications submitted to OJP (including all attachments to applications) are subject to the 

federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and to the Privacy Act. By law, DOJ may withhold 

information that is responsive to a request pursuant to FOIA if DOJ determines that the 

responsive information either is protected under the Privacy Act or falls within the scope of one 

of nine statutory exemptions under FOIA. DOJ cannot agree in advance of a request pursuant 

to FOIA not to release some or all portions of an application.
40

NIJ-2019-15466 

In its review of records that are responsive to a FOIA request, OJP will withhold information in 

those records that plainly falls within the scope of the Privacy Act or one of the statutory 

exemptions under FOIA. (Some examples include certain types of information in budgets, and 

names and contact information for project staff other than certain key personnel.) In appropriate 

circumstances, OJP will request the views of the applicant/recipient that submitted a responsive 

document.

For example, if OJP receives a request pursuant to FOIA for an application submitted by a 

nonprofit or for-profit organization or an institution of higher education, or for an application that 

involves research, OJP typically will contact the applicant/recipient that submitted the 

application and ask it to identify -- quite precisely -- any particular information in the application 

that the applicant/recipient believes falls under a FOIA exemption, the specific exemption it 

believes applies, and why. After considering the submission by the applicant/recipient, OJP 

makes an independent assessment regarding withholding information. OJP generally follows a 

similar process for requests pursuant to FOIA for applications that may contain law-enforcement 

sensitive information. 

Provide Feedback to OJP 

To assist OJP in improving its application and award processes, OJP encourages applicants to 

provide feedback on this solicitation, the application submission process, and/or the application 

review process. Provide feedback to OJPSolicitationFeedback@usdoj.gov. 

IMPORTANT: This e-mail is for feedback and suggestions only. OJP does not send replies from 

this mailbox to messages it receives in this mailbox. Any prospective applicant that has specific 

questions on any program or technical aspect of the solicitation must use the appropriate 

telephone number or e-mail listed on the front of this solicitation document to obtain information. 

These contacts are provided to help ensure that prospective applicants can directly reach an 

individual who can address specific questions in a timely manner. 

If you are interested in being a reviewer for other OJP grant applications, please e-mail your 

resume to ojpprsupport@usdoj.gov. (Do not send your resume to the OJP Solicitation Feedback 

email account.) Note: Neither you nor anyone else from your organization or entity can be a 

peer reviewer in a competition in which you or your organization/entity has submitted an 

application.
41

NIJ-2019-15466 

Application Checklist 

Graduate Research Fellowship in the Social and Behavioral Sciences 

This application checklist has been created as an aid in developing an application. 

What an Applicant Should Do: 

Prior to Registering in Grants.gov:

_____ Acquire a DUNS Number (see page 32) 

_____ Acquire or renew registration with SAM (see page 32) 

To Register with Grants.gov: 

_____ Acquire AOR and Grants.gov username/password (see page 32) 

_____ Acquire AOR confirmation from the E-Biz POC (see page 32) 

To Find Funding Opportunity:

_____ Search for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov (see page 32) 

_____ Access Funding Opportunity and Application Package (see page 32) 

_____ Sign up for Grants.gov email notifications (optional) (see page 30) 

_____ Read Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov

_____ Read OJP policy and guidance on conference approval, planning, and reporting 

available at ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.htm

(see page 14) 

After Application Submission, Receive Grants.gov Email Notifications That: 

_____ (1) application has been received 

_____ (2) application has either been successfully validated or rejected with errors 

(see page 33) 

If no Grants.gov receipt, and validation or error notifications are received: 

_____ Contact NIJ regarding experiencing technical difficulties (see page 2) 

Overview of Post-Award Legal Requirements: 

_____ Review the ““Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and 

Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center at 

https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

Scope Requirement: 

_____ The federal amount requested is within the allowable limit(s).

Eligibility Requirement: see cover page. 

What an Application Should Include: 

_____ Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) (see page 16) 

_____ Project Abstract (if applicable) (see page 16) 

_____ Program Narrative (see page 17) 

_____ Budget Detail Worksheet (see page 21) 

_____ Budget Narrative (see page 21) 

_____ Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) (see page 24) 

_____ Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable) (see page 24) 

_____ Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (see page 25) 
42

NIJ-2019-15466

_____ Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) (see page 26)

_____ Additional Attachments

_____ Verification of current enrollment (see page 6)

_____ Dissertation chair’s statement of support (or letter of support from a faculty 

advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or individual 

with similar responsibilities (required) (see page 7)

_____ Undergraduate and graduate transcripts (see page 6)

_____ Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications (see page 26)

_____ Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity (see page 28)

_____ Bibliography/references (required)

_____ Any tools/instruments, questionnaires, tables/charts/graphs, or maps pertaining 

to the proposed study (if applicable)

_____ Curriculum vitae, resumes, or biographical sketches of student and dissertation 

chair (or faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate 

studies, or individual with similar responsibilities) (required)

_____ Personal statement

_____ Dissertation committee contact information 

_____ Doctoral student eligibility documentation (timeline or other documentation, as 

applicable)

_____ Project timeline and research calendar with expected milestones (required)

_____ Human Subjects Protection paperwork

_____ Privacy Certificate

_____ List of previous and current NIJ awards to applicant organization and 

investigators 

_____ Letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements from organizations 

collaborating in the project (if applicable) 

_____ List of other agencies, organizations, or funding sources to which this application 

has been submitted

_____ Applicant Disclosure and Justification - DOJ High Risk Grantees (if applicable)

(see page 27)

_____ Documentation of Anticipated Benefit to federally designated Qualified 

Opportunity Zones (if applicable) (see page 29)

_____ Request and Justification for Employee Compensation; Waiver (if applicable)

(see page 13)
i

Funding Webinar Transcript

On February 27, 2019, NIJ hosted a webinar that provided an overview of our open 

solicitations for Graduate Research Fellowships in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Following are the transcript and slide presentation from that webinar.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar, 

Funding Opportunities through NIJ for the Graduate Research Fellowship in the Social 

and Behavioral Sciences, Fiscal Year 2019, hosted by the National Institute of Justice.

At this time, I would like to introduce you to today's presenter, Eric Martin, social science 

analyst with the Office of Research and Evaluation within the National Institute of 

Justice.

ERIC MARTIN: Thank you, Mary Jo. Good afternoon, everyone. As Mary Jo just said, 

my name is Eric Martin and I am going to be leading you through this presentation on 

the Graduate Research Fellowship in Social Behavioral Sciences. I'm joined in the room 

by two of my colleagues who aren't necessarily going to participate today, but are on 

hand to answer any questions or provide any assistance as possible. Dr. Linda Truitt, 

who works with me on this solicitation, and then our counterpart, Dr. Greg Dutton, who 

leads the GRF in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. So we will 

go ahead and start.

Before we begin, I want to give you a little bit of background about what NIJ is and how 

we serve the Department of Justice. We are unique. We are the only Research and 

Development Agency for the Department of Justice. Our charter from Congress is to 

engage in research that supports state, local, and tribal jurisdictions. There are a 

number of science agencies that are a part of the federal government and we are 

specifically for applied research. What our mission is is to really improve knowledge and 

understanding of crime and justice issues through science. That involves understanding 

why people may desist from crime, or also supporting law enforcement agencies, or 

correction agencies in giving them evidence-based practices to implement.

The NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship is the oldest standing signature program at NIJ, 

and it exemplifies our commitment to grow the field, encourage young scholars, Ph.D.

students to get involved and take interest in criminal justice issues. As you'll notice in 

the solicitation, we're proscriptive in the issues that we are really interested in 

application from. You'll see in the program description a list of the US Department of 

Justice priorities, and we really want research to support those priorities. As I said at the 

outset of this presentation, there are two tracks. One for students involved in the Social 

and Behavioral Sciences and then another track for students doing work in Science, 
ii

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Each of these funding opportunities come 

out annually. They are both live as we speak. The GRF SBS closes April 8 and then the 

GRF STEM closes a little bit after that on April 17.

Now this is a big change for the GRF SBS. In the past, as some of you probably have 

noticed, our funding was for $32,000 stipends pretty much. It was kept at $32,000 for 

what we intended to be one year of support. Before we made this change, our 

colleagues at STEM developed a new funding scheme that we're particularly interested 

in adopting. This is our inaugural year adopting the new funding scheme, and the 

exciting thing for you all is it allows much greater funding availability for support in your 

dissertation. Where we're going now is you now have up to three years of support 

usable over a five-year period. No longer just one-year awards, you can submit a 

budget of three years of support usable for a five-year period. Per year, we're allowing 

up to $35,000 in an annual student stipend and up to $15,000 for tuition fees and other 

research expenses.

In the past, we encouraged universities not to take indirect off of these awards because 

they were so small and now--although that it's still being decided, we are giving this 

money, the $15,000, where the $15,000 could be used to support that. Now you may be 

wondering how the three years of support over a five-year period works. Let's say you 

submit a three-year project plan timeline and a corresponding budget, and in year two, 

you find another wonderful opportunity to be onsite at this program that suits your 

interest, needs, whatever. You can let NIJ know, if you're awarded, that in year two, so 

to speak, you will be doing this other thing and then in year three, you will resume your 

award and work on your dissertation. That is as long as you have the right 

documentation with NIJ, that is how that would work. You don't have to know before you 

apply that in year three, you may do something else, or in year two. As we'll get to in a 

second, it makes sense because although you request three years of support, if that's 

what you need and that's what you're interested in, each year you certify that you are 

still a Ph.D. candidate at this institution and still making progress on your dissertation.

So, the money is handled in a year-to-year basis although you may have an award for 

multiple years of support.

The current requirements are still the same as in previous GRF SBS years. You need to 

be enrolled in a Ph.D. program in a Social and Behavioral Science field. Your proposed 

dissertation is relevant to the Department of Justice priority areas. And you are a Ph.D.

candidate. Now, you can be awaiting candidacy at the time of application. But for you to 

accept award funds for the GRF SBS, you have to be elevated to full candidacy. But 

that always sums up every year and some students are confused about the 

requirements at the time of application versus at the time of award. You have to meet all 
iii

these requirements at the time of award. You're still going to be expected to submit biannual progress reports, the same that all NIJ grantees for every solicitation do.

For the GRF SBS, the final deliverable, instead of a research report or executive 

summary that some of our other grantees submit to us, you will submit a copy of your 

defended dissertation. Just for your information, last year we awarded seven projects, 

totaling $224,000. But again, given the increased funding availability for this year, we're 

expecting up to $1 million of funding for the GRF SBS, and that is in the solicitation 

currently. Here are some notable past GRF fellows. The neat thing about being a GRF 

fellow is not only your support while writing your dissertation, which of course is 

appreciated and of value. But you're also really connected into a larger NIJ family of 

researchers, if you will. I work with a lot of past GRF fellows. They may serve with us in 

different capacities, maybe as an external peer reviewer, or we see them come up as 

other project applicants and I believe we have funded other grantees that were past 

GRF fellows before. Although if you are a GRF fellow, it doesn't mean you're 

guaranteed future funding for any solicitation, but it's a great way to get experience 

applying for external funding with the federal government. And also just making 

connections with NIJ Program Staff, like myself and other researchers we may know.

This is 100 percent sincere, I enjoy being a part of the GRF Program because the

applications truly are so interesting. I think the work that NIJ has funded through the 

GRF Program is very exemplary and it's really moved the field. Some FYIs, we don't 

have a big presentation today, but we intend to use a lot of time for question and 

answers. The big takeaway for this fiscal year is that the funding availability has 

dramatically increased. You can now request up to $150,000 over a three-year period.

When in the past, it was $32,000 for one year of funding. Again, this always comes up.

As GRF SBS only supports Ph.D. candidates in a Social or Behavioral Science 

Program, that can include Doctor of Education. Master of Science or Juris Doctorate are 

not eligible for this program. Even though we've increased the amount of funding and 

increased the amount of time available for GRF SBS fellows, SBS funds are still onetime awards. There will be no supplemental funds available for this program. If there is 

an offshoot to the project that develops from this, you are more than welcome to apply 

for a competitive solicitation if it is applicable. But we will not give any supplemental 

non-competitive funding increases for a GRF SBS award.

The academic institution is the official applicant. GRF SBS does not allow personal 

applicants. This has come up before, too. International students studying in the U.S. in 

an accredited institution can apply for this program, as long as the institution, as the 

official applicant, is accredited institution in the U.S. Academic institutions outside the 

U.S. are not eligible to apply. And IRB is not required at the time of application. One of 

the things you will learn as a newly minted federal grantee is you will work with our 
iv

human subjects protection officer, and your own IRB to make sure that your project has 

their necessary and required approvals. That's the same as any NIJ-funded projects, 

but this is a common question many students ask us, "Do I need IRB approval before I 

apply?" No. But to engage in the research, of course, you're going to need the 

necessary approvals.

A student must be enrolled in the Ph.D. Program at the time of application. They have 

to be advanced to candidacy at the time of award. So you cannot apply for a GRF SBS 

fellowship if you are intending on being accepted to this Ph.D. Program. You have to be 

enrolled in the program and accepted. But you can apply before you've advanced to

candidacy. The thesis topic, as we said, we really want it to have relevance to a U.S.

DOJ priority that's listed in the solicitation and you should know in your application how 

this proposed project is relevant or supports that priority. Fellowship requirements need 

to be met at the time of the award. And the biggest one is the candidacy. Candidacy has 

to be met at the time of the award. As we said earlier, you will then recertify every year 

that you are still in that program, a Ph.D. candidate, and making progress on that 

dissertation. So what we need you to do now is review the solicitation for eligibility of 

your project and your status as a student, wherever you are. Contact your university 

grants office early, establish a relationship with them. Start that line of communication 

sooner rather than later.

I can't stress enough, start assembling your application materials earlier rather than 

later. April 8 is just around the corner. It will go fast. The further along down the road 

you are earlier, it will only serve you better. This is an older screenshot from our website 

but it is still applicable. Make sure you get on our website. I assume all of you have 

been since you're here attending the webinar. Read the frequently asked questions, 

look at all our solicitations currently available, and read the past ones as well. Just get 

familiar with what NIJ is putting out every year, what we're about.

And then finally--and I hope all of you have done this already, as I said, your attendees 

of the webinar, register for email updates. This not only will let you know when new 

solicitations are coming out, but it'll also let you know if there's a change made to a 

solicitation. I'm not anticipating this would happen. But if the award deadline is maybe 

pushed back, you would then know, "Okay. I have another week to do that." Again, not 

anticipating that we're going to delay this deadline. It is April 8. But any changes to the 

solicitation or any delays in the deadline, you will be made note of it through that email 

update.

Submit questions to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. They work with us 

to answer questions as appropriate. Since this is an open competitive solicitation that is 
v

currently on the street, writing me or cold-calling me is not going to get you the 

information you need. I will then refer you to NCJRS. We do this to make sure that 

everybody has a fair ability to compete and we value transparency and make sure that 

everything is as transparent as possible. There's also the website, nij.gov/grf, and that'll 

give you more information about the program. That is all I had. So now if you had any 

questions, please submit them to the Q and A feature, and Mary Jo and I will work to 

answer them. Thank you.

ERIC MARTIN: Thank you for your interest in the program.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Hello, everyone. We do have quite a few questions. I'm going 

to repeat a couple of things that I said in the very beginning. The PowerPoint 

presentation and a transcript for today's webinar will be posted to the NIJ website in 

approximately 10 business days. You will receive an email notification when that 

information has been posted. In addition, you could reach out and visit ncjrs.gov and 

sign up to receive their funding newsletter, which comes out every Friday. That will not 

only announce new funding opportunities offered through the Office of Justice 

Programs, but we will also notify you when items such as the slides and transcripts 

have been posted. So that's another way to stay in the loop on things. We will start 

moving on to our questions. "Do we need to include a data archiving strategy? In past 

years that was required, but I don't see it in the current RFP?"

ERIC MARTIN: If you have a strategy and intend to archive your data, by all means

please include it. The GRF Program data archiving is not a requirement as other NIJ 

solicitations. We acknowledge that you're emerging scholars and you may be collecting 

data that you intend to publish on as you're building your career, so we don't require 

data archiving. That said, you may archive it with our service, ICPSR. That is totally up 

to you and that is your prerogative. I guess Greg will tell you--last year when we did this, 

one bit of advice I can give to all applicants regardless of the topic you're looking at, not 

the research topic, but the point of information you're giving, if you have information that 

can support your application, feel free to include it. Never feel like this is not important, 

or too much, or whatnot. That comes up a lot with GRF fellowships—questions, I mean, 

in these webinars. So, if you have information that you find would support your 

application, yes, include it. I hope that helps.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If a dissertation proposal does not align well with any of the 

priorities listed, is there still opportunities for the proposal to be awarded?

ERIC MARTIN: As we said at the outset, I can’t give programmatic or substantive 

advice or answers. But I would say if you feel you have a strong application, and if you 
vi

feel like it supports one of the DOJ priority areas, please submit it. As you can see, 

these priority areas are pretty wide-encompassing. I think for so many projects, a case 

could be made for how they support an area. I would say definitely think about it. Really

engage with your narrative, talk to your dissertation chair about if this solicitation is the 

right fit for you. If you don't feel like your research supports any of these areas at face 

value, this may not be right for you. I can't give you any more information, and I 

apologize. But some of these decisions are very subjective, how it supports a priority.

These are the priority areas the Department of Justice is interested in advancing on, 

and NIJ is committed in funding research to support that. That said, there's a lot of 

applied Criminal Justice Research that goes on, that could directly or indirectly support 

those areas. The one thing I could say is to the extent possible, I would really try to 

show how your research topic of interest supports in an area or multiple areas.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If a subcontractor is brought on, would it count towards the 

$35,000 stipend or the $15,000 tuition?

ERIC MARTIN: It would count towards the 15,000. That's what we're envisioning with 

the research-related costs. That's not necessarily saying that you can't submit a budget 

where you take less of a stipend. But the one thing I can say with the budget and, of 

course, finding justification for the budget, make sure that all costs are justified and 

documented. That serves you well for any grant program you're applying to. I think

sometimes it's easy when you understand what you're doing as an applicant, to think 

your justification is adequate. But know that there's so many other people who aren't 

necessarily familiar with your research or you as a scholar that need a lot of information

to understand where these dollar amounts and these activities, why they're there, and 

where they're going. I think the one thing I can say is do spend some time on that 

budget and budget justification and make sure that it's very clear to anyone who isn't 

associated with your project or knows of your project ahead of time.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I'm on my third year of my Ph.D. program in a four-year 

program. Do I still have a three-year budget?

ERIC MARTIN: You can request up to three years of funding. Whether you need three 

years of funding, that's between your chair and you, and you just have to make a strong 

justification in the application of why you need these three years of funding or two or 

whatever it may be. These are up two figures. You can submit a proposal for less than 

three years of funding. I had this question come up before, and it's not necessarily that 

projects that submit lower funding amounts or less use of funding, there's something 

advantageous to them. No. The biggest thing with the budget and the amount of funding 

that is requested is that it makes sense to an external reviewer and to NIJ, that they can 
vii

easily, through your justification, understand why this amount of funding requested this 

amount of time was allotted on a given project.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can the $15,000 be used for indirect expenses? Is there a 

maximum amount of indirect expenses?

ERIC MARTIN: Again, indirect is between the university as the applicant and you, and 

they have to have negotiated indirect. We do prefer that it does come out of the 15,000.

There may be instances where a university will lower or waive some of the indirect. NIJ 

is not a part of that conversation so to speak. That's between the university as applicant 

and you as the scholar.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Would epidemiology be considered an SBS field?

ERIC MARTIN: We tend to see a lot epidemiology topics in the STEM, but it depends 

on the topic. I would say if your research topic is definitely addressing one of those 

priorities in a social behavioral science way, then epidemiology, yes, would be 

considered part of the SBS umbrella so to speak. Greg is giving me information and I 

appreciate it. There is a National Academy of Sciences taxonomy for guidance and a list 

of classification fields and graduate programs.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is the $35,000 stipend the flat rate we should write into our 

budgets or is that just the cap? If it's the flat rate as per NIJ, would that be the 

justification we include in our budget sheet?

ERIC MARTIN: We allow up to $35,000 for a stipend for the student. Your justification of 

what you write, I can't say if one is acceptable or not. That's really your call as the 

applicant.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: How many applicants applied in the past?

ERIC MARTIN: We tend to have quite a bit of interest. We don't release exact numbers 

to the public as far as how many people apply for any given solicitation. But GRF, SBS, 

I can tell you has generated a great deal of interest. I apologize, that's all I can say right 

now.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can I apply for both the STEM and SBS at the same time?

ERIC MARTIN: No. Your institution can apply for multiple students for the SBS and the 

STEM. We've had that in the past where one institution, one school has had multiple 
viii

applicants in the SBS, and I'm sure Greg has seen it in STEM. But for one specific 

project, it would either be falling under SBS or STEM.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Would a proposal utilizing mice to study behavioral effects fit

better in SBS or STEM?

ERIC MARTIN: I guess I don't want to comment specifically and substantively on a 

project, but one thing I can tell you, and I understand that this could be kind of confusing 

because there is some overlap in the different disciplines. Think more of what your 

objectives are for the study, what are you trying to find out and how will your findings be 

applied to advanced criminal justice. That, I think, usually gives you an indication of 

what opportunity you should be applying to for those ones that are definitely in a gray 

area.

ERIC MARTIN: I would also say look at your field of study. Are you in psychology? Are 

you in biochemistry? Just to throw two out. That would usually also give you a good 

indication of where you belong so to speak.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Must you have full-time status at the time of application with 

the expectation that by the time of award, a full-time status is required?

ERIC MARTIN: You have to be currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program. Let me doublecheck the solicitation, just to make that I'm giving you correct information. Yes. On page 

26 of the solicitation, you need to be enrolled full time in social and behavioral sciences 

doctoral program at the time of application. So, even at the time of application, full-time 

enrolment is required.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: How do you evaluate the full-time student eligibility 

requirement? I am done with course requirements, so I'm only enrolled in continuing 

registration credits. So, my verification of enrollment does not list me as full time. Am I 

still eligible to apply?

ERIC MARTIN: If you look on page 26--a very good question. We ask for, as an 

attachment, certification of full-time enrolment. In those situations, I would talk to your 

dissertation chair and your university grants office to see how you can meet those 

requirements.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Are requests for funding for only one year less likely to be 

funded?
ix

ERIC MARTIN: I cannot say either way. NIJ considers high-quality projects and we fund 

high-quality research. You have up to three years of funding available over a five-year 

period. But as I said earlier, one year of funding, completing a project in one year is not 

less or more advantageous than others. It's really the scientific merit of the project, the 

quality of the application. I think that counts.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What is the biggest mistake that an applicant can make?

ERIC MARTIN: That is very subjective and I don't think I can give you a definitive 

answer on that. But one thing I can say and I've said this to applicants in all NIJ 

solicitation opportunities I'm involved with, when you are involved in research that you 

have intimate knowledge and you're writing a narrative, it's perhaps easy to read that

narrative and say to yourself, "That is very comprehensive and encompasses everything 

I want to say about my project." When you are someone who doesn't have any 

knowledge of you as a scholar, your past work or the specific topic that you are writing, 

the specific research study you're proposing, it may not be as adequate as you think.

So, one thing I would say is just make sure that to the extent possible that an outside 

person with no prior knowledge of your project could understand what you mean in your 

narrative, that they understand why you are doing the methods you are doing based on 

the research questions and they understand how the findings are going to have an 

impact on this criminal justice issue that you're proposing to do. I think that makes for a 

strong application when all those questions can be answered and used in the 

solicitation. You have the selection criteria as a guide. Look at that selection criteria as 

you're assembling your application and ensure that you're covering all those points and 

that is clear. I can't tell you what's the biggest mistake, but hopefully that gives you 

some advice.

As my colleague reminded me and especially for GRF, GRF has a lot of required 

documents and a lot of things that need to be certified and shown at the time of 

application. For many of you, this may be your first time applying for federal funding 

support. As we said at the beginning of the webinar, assemble those application 

documents early. Talk to your grants office early. Get a jump on that stuff because you 

don't want to see a quality application not go on for consideration because they didn't 

meet a basic minimum requirement of the solicitation.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can you describe how you make decisions regarding 

projects that have been partially funded by other agencies?

ERIC MARTIN: Though it's the same consideration process of all our applications, I 

think when there is an ongoing project that has received funding from another agency, 
x

it's just important that it's very obvious what the value added for additional funding from 

NIJ would be. I think that's the biggest thing I can say. There isn't any separate process 

or different levels of involvement that goes on.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I'm a current Ph.D. student but will likely not be made a 

candidate until summer/fall of 2020. Should I just wait and apply for next year's grant or 

could I apply now and if I'm granted the award, wait to accept it?

ERIC MARTIN: This is a very good question. I think of course you can still apply. Yeah, 

you can still apply now. There is nothing preventing you from doing that. And of course, 

if you're not funded, you can apply for other iterations of the solicitation if and when it 

comes out. So, yes you can apply now. You just have to have that candidacy 

advancement at the time of award.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What is the timeline for receiving the grant? If I apply in April, 

when would I need to begin my dissertation work?

ERIC MARTIN: I think the majority would be in that next calendar year if not sooner. But 

as long as in your timeline you're very clear about when you expect to advance to 

candidacy and when these programmatic requirements are met, I think that's fine.

That's important you do that. Just make sure you're very clear of where you're at now at 

the time of application, where you're going to be and when at the time of award, and 

when that project's going to be completed.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I know some degrees like a JD are not allowed, but if you are 

a joint student, say a Ph.D. /JD, is that okay provided you meet the requirements 

regarding candidacy?

ERIC MARTIN: Yes, as long as you're a candidate in a Ph.D. program in a Social 

Behavioral Science, yeah. That is okay.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is there a particular style that references should be written 

into?

ERIC MARTIN: Yeah, speaking of format, I would talk to your grants office and go 

through the application requirements but as long as it's accepted by grants.gov and can 

be uploaded. It really doesn't matter. It just needs to be clear to NIJ staff and any 

external reviewer where those references are and they can access them. But your 

grants office honestly is a great resource here and they should be able to help you.
xi

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: To be sure I understand, the FAQ say the start date of a 

grant should be October 1, would that be October 1 of 2019?

ERIC MARTIN: It can be, it can also be January 1, 2020 and there's a reason behind all 

this that I'll explain. For all NIJ solicitations we used to have the start date being October 

1 and that's the new fiscal year for the government. We're in fiscal year '19. Fiscal year 

'20 will start October 1. For a lot of solicitations, we're starting to request January 1, 

2020, which would be the next January, just to allow reasonable expectation for the 

applicant for all the levels of approvals and necessary requirements that need to be met 

before they can actually start working on the project. I think it was probably a holdover 

from a time when we used to say October 1. And with GRF, in my opinion, we're more 

flexible than in other solicitations I work with, as long as the student has a reasonable 

justification of when the start date occurs. You see earlier start dates with GRF just 

because we want to accommodate the student and their research calendar. But we tend 

to expect it to be January 2020, it can be earlier in some instances and it can be later.

Again, it all depends on that timeline and what makes sense for you and NIJ.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If awarded, can a clinical psychologist Ph.D. candidate go on 

internship or do you need to postpone until later?

ERIC MARTIN: It could be up to three years of funding over a five-year period. The 

biggest thing is that you budget the time on the project that you are intending on 

working. You see what I mean? I am going to in my budget and in my timeline spell out 

how much time I'm going to be dedicated to the project in what years. Now, as we said 

at the outset, you can take leave from the fellowship. Let's say you have an internship 

opportunity that pops up in year two. You can do that internship and then return to the 

award and your dissertation that following year as long as you haven't maxed out that 

five-year timeline. So yeah, this was one of the instances where we added this new 

funding scheme that STEM was using to give our fellows more flexibility.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If our research is outside the specific fixed areas deemed 

critical by DOJ, would applying be fortuitous?

ERIC MARTIN: Again, I think it's a case-by-case basis and you really need to look at 

your topic. If you cannot make a case or a connection between your research topic and 

one of the priority areas, it may be difficult for others to make that connection. But again 

it's a case-by-case basis and spend some time with the solicitation and spend some 

time with your proposed dissertation. And see how congruent they are, that's the best I 

can tell you.
xii

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: My university grants office differentiates between applicant 

disclosure, appending applications, and lists of previous and current NIJ awards to 

applicant organizations and investigators. What is the difference between these two?

ERIC MARTIN: NIJ wants to know if you've applied with the same topic to other federal 

grant making institutions. That's the pending application. Let's pretend I am submitting a 

research project and I applied to NSF previously within that time period, yes, I would 

disclose that. The list of past awards, that's different. That could be projects that have 

been funded from that institution in the past. I hope that answers your question.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What types of quantitative research projects are eligible for 

funding?

ERIC MARTIN: We encourage both quantitative and qualitative methods in our 

research, and we don't necessarily specify a specific method that is eligible. We're more 

concerned with the impact of the topic and how it's going to advance the field and 

practice. Also, one thing I would add too is just make sure that the method is 

appropriate for the research questions you're asking and the data that you have.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If awarded but not a candidate yet, will award be canceled or 

delayed until candidacy is reached?

ERIC MARTIN: You need to have a reasonable expectation of when that candidacy will 

be achieved at the time of application because that will go in your timeline. We 

understand that there may be some departure from that. But just try to be clear of when 

that candidacy will be achieved because that will help NIJ make funding decisions and 

understand where you're going to be at what time if awarded.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is there a certain degree of flexibility in terms of research 

design that can be used for this study? Is it better to submit the most thorough design 

that requires more time and therefore funding or the most cost efficient?

ERIC MARTIN: That's an interesting question. Again, these are great questions. I don't 

have the ability to say one way or the other what type of design or if there's a strategy 

on what type of design is meant. I think the one thing I can say is just make sure that 

your design has scientific merit and that is appropriate for the questions you are asking.

I think I would focus on the project and make sure that the budget justification, the 

budget, the timeline, realistically and adequately represent the project you're applying 

to. But we don't prioritize a specific method over another or say that you should do one 
xiii

or the other. What we're looking for is the scientific merit of the project and how that 

project is going to advance the field.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: This is similar question that we asked before. I'm not going to 

read the whole thing because I think the first part you can answer it. Can we apply for 

both SBS and STEM solicitations?

ERIC MARTIN: No, it's not encouraged. I would look carefully at what your research 

topic is, what field you belong to, and then review both solicitations to see what would 

be more appropriate for you.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is it okay if you finish your research early? If so, what 

happens?

ERIC MARTIN: Yeah. You will not be penalized for finishing your research early. You 

just need to make sure that you're budgeting appropriately for the activities on the 

research project you're doing. Then, also, as you're going through your research, your 

grants office and you are drawing down funds, if awarded, from the award for what's 

actually being done.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I have looked over the NIJ priorities and wanted to clarify, is 

the juvenile justice system included under the criminal justice system?

ERIC MARTIN: Yes.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What is the timeline for disbursement if I were to apply this 

cycle and advance to candidacy late next fall, would that be okay?

ERIC MARTIN: Yes. Just make sure that you are very clear in your proposed timeline of 

when you're planning on advancing the candidacy.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Who should we contact if we're unsure whether our topic fits 

well with the funding priorities?

ERIC MARTIN: You are free to submit a question through the National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service. But again, we really are constrained to not comment, make 

substantive comments on any individual application since this is a competitive process 

and it is open. And again, we want to get as many questions in. But really go through 

that solicitation and go through your topic. See how you can describe how you would 

make a contribution to a priority area. If it's difficult, the solicitation may not align to your 
xiv

topic, but I don't know what other assistance you would be able to receive. But again, 

feel free if you have any other questions on that to submit it to the Grants@ncjrs.gov.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Should fringe benefits be included in the 35,000 or the 

15,000?

ERIC MARTIN: The fringe would be part of the stipend. Indirect will be part of the 

15,000.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can you explain a little more about the biannual progress 

report, i.e. what it entails and what to include in a deadline?

ERIC MARTIN: These are submitted by all NIJ grantees. You submit them once in the 

summer at the end of July and then at the end of January. Now, if you're awarded and 

your projects starts January 1, you wouldn't submit a progress report on January 31, but 

you will receive information on the progress reports in the award package and these are 

just a set of questions that judge the progress of the project, any hurdles you may 

encounter, any impact you may be having, conferences you're traveling to. It really 

helps us and we use a standard form throughout all science agencies in the 

government. It helps us understand what the impact of federal science-making 

institution is. These progress reports are actually very helpful, and they're very useful for 

NIJ science staff to understand where every grantee is at currently in their project and 

what assistance, if any, they would need.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: How often are qualitative projects funded or is it most 

frequently quantitative?

ERIC MARTIN: Qualitative projects are funded. I can't give a frequency or a rate by 

year. We tend to see more quantitative projects come in, but we encourage qualitative 

or mixed methods projects as well. The one thing I can say, if there's any concern, if 

there's any advantage over a method or a type of method, the best thing you could do is 

make sure that your method makes sense given the research questions you're asking, 

that anybody could see why you're doing that method, and what you hope to gain from 

that method and what the limitations are.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: The solicitation specifies that the focus should be on criminal 

justice in the United States, does this mean that case studies from other countries will 

not be considered? Example, dissertation research on criminal groups in Mexico.
xv

ERIC MARTIN: I can't comment individually on any one design but I would say look in 

the solicitation and look at the priorities listed and how NIJ sees research from this, 

supporting these DOJ priorities. If you can make a case that this supports this DOJ 

priority, please apply. Again, I can't comment on any specific topic or design.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: As I am planning to graduate next year, I will be using data 

from 2018 to 2019, and the latest 2020, would that be a problem?

ERIC MARTIN: As long as you spell out very clearly what data you will have, what data 

you will collect, and how you will have time to analyze that through the proposed 

timeline. That's the biggest thing, is that you make a case that you will be able to collect 

this data by this time and have access to this data in your timeline.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What should be included in the research and evaluation 

independence and integrity if all data being used as secondary and/or public in nature?

ERIC MARTIN: Talk to your grants office about this. Your university should have 

standard protocol and obviously certain projects, like you said, they may be more at risk

than others. That's not for NIJ to judge. NIJ is interested in seeing that your applicant, 

the university, has a protocol of how they deal with research independence and integrity 

and how they would handle issues that may arise. Each university should have protocol 

and what we're seeking as part of the application is a statement to that effect.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: You mentioned that candidacy is a requirement at the time of 

award. Forgive me if this is on the website, but when are the awards granted?

ERIC MARTIN: Each year it is different as far as when we can expect award decisions 

will be made and those award decisions will be announced. That's why, early in the 

webinar, we talked about how we encourage everybody to put no earlier than January 

1, 2020 as a project start date. And this comes up especially with GRF because of the 

academic calendar. We can't expect that anything will be announced prior to September 

30 of that fiscal year, so it is safe to really count on that January 1, 2020 start date.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If applying for three years of funding and I get the award but 

end up completing the project within two years, are there any negative consequences 

for me?

ERIC MARTIN: No, you would just notify NIJ that the project is complete. You have to 

make sure during your project that you're spending money as appropriate and as what's 

planned in the project period. But as far as any other negative ramification, no, the 
xvi

projects can always close early, you just have to let NIJ know and then your grants 

office would work with our grant managers to start the closeout process for that award.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can we propose a start date of September 1, 2020, instead 

of January 1, 2020?

ERIC MARTIN: Yes, you can propose that. Very similar to an earlier question if you're 

planning on advancing to candidacy later, you can still apply. If you're not awarded, 

you'd be eligible for another iteration of the solicitation because that falls right in a gray 

area where January 2021 is right around the corner.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Could expenses on traveling to the study area be eligible for 

funding?

ERIC MARTIN: Yes, that is an allowable cost, just make sure that it is clear in the 

budget justification why the travel is occurring, what's going to be gained from the travel, 

and that everything is clear in the budget.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I have already collected my data, and I'm currently at the 

analysis dissertation proposal stage, are grants mainly intended for those starting out 

their projects?

ERIC MARTIN: I can't really comment individually and this is not only protecting the 

competitive nature of the solicitation, but also my interpretation of where you might be is 

different than reality just based on what I understand you say. With that said, look at the 

solicitation, see what you have left to do on your dissertation, what is still outstanding,

and how that funding could support you if awarded, that's the best thing I can say.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I currently have a population willing to participate with no 

compensation, however, things could change if I receive funding. In the application, 

should I write up the proposal as if I had funding available?

ERIC MARTIN: I apologize. I don't understand the question and I may not be able to 

comment on it anyway because it sounds like it's on an individual project.

ERIC MARTIN: One thing I can say is any incentives that are given or planned to be 

given if awarded need to be clearly spelled out in the budget justification and in the 

application itself.
xvii

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can you apply for the NIJ Fellowship and apply for a smaller 

university specific scholarship using the same research at the same time?

ERIC MARTIN: I believe so. I don't think that would be a problem, but I would suggest 

you submit that question through the NCJRS just to make sure that we can get all 

appropriate eyes on it. So yeah, submit that to NCJRS, that's a good question.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: All right. We are now at 2:15. We're actually 15 minutes 

beyond the end time so we are going to end the webinar. The slide that has been up 

through the entire webinar is information so you have the URL for the GRF website, and 

you also have the call-in number, email address, and web chat options for the National 

Criminal Justice Reference Service.

We apologize if we did not get to address your question today. If that is the case, please 

feel free to submit that question to Grants@ncjrs.gov, and again, their email address is 

listed here on the slide so you can have a few minutes to jot that down. As a reminder, 

the slides and the transcript for today's webinar will be posted to the NIJ website in 

approximately 10 business days. If you have any other questions as you move forward, 

even things that weren't addressed today or you didn't think of today, submit those too 

as well to NCJRS. So at this time, on behalf of the National Institute of Justice as well 

as Eric, we would like to thank you for attending today's webinar. Eric, I'm not sure if 

you have anything else you want to say?

ERIC MARTIN: No, thanks for your interest in this solicitation and your time. I hope the 

webinar was helpful and I hope you all have a great day.
Funding Opportunities through NIJ for the Graduate 

Research Fellowship in the Social and Behavioral 

Sciences, Fiscal Year 2019

February 27, 2019 | 1:00 PM EST

The webinar will begin shortly
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selecting all panelists. Questions will be answered at the end of the presentation.

• A transcript of this presentation, and the related slides will be posted to the NIJ website.

Important Information for Today’s Webinar
Today’s Presenter: 

Eric D. Martin, Social Science Analyst, Office of Research and Evaluation, National Institute of Justice

Funding Opportunities through NIJ for the 

Graduate Research Fellowship in the Social and 

Behavioral Sciences, Fiscal Year 2019

Solicitation: NIJ-2019-15466

Solicitation Post Date: February 5, 2019

Solicitation Close Date: April 8, 2019 11:59 PM EDT
Who we are:

• NIJ is the research, development, and evaluation agency 

of the U.S. Department of Justice

Our mission: 

• Improving knowledge and understanding of crime and 

justice issues through science

National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Program Goal:

• Support doctoral students engaged in research that 

addresses challenges of crime and justice in the U.S. 

Two Program tracks:

• Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)

• Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)

NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF)
Funding opportunity announcements posted annually

GRF Solicitations
Increased Funding Availability for 

GRF SBS Fellowships

Major Increases in Fellowship Support:

• A $35,000 annual student stipend

• Up to $15,000 annually for tuition, fees, and research expenses

• Up to 3 years of support usable over a 5-year period 
GRF SBS Requirements

Key Requirements: 

• Current Enrollment in a Ph.D. program in a SBS field

• Proposed dissertation relevant to U.S. DOJ priorities

• Ph.D. candidacy required for receipt of funding 
GRF SBS Program 

Project deliverables:

• Bi-annual progress reports

• Official copy of defended dissertation

FY18 awards: 

• 7 awards = $224,000 
Examples of Recent GRF Fellows

Lallen

Johnson

2010 Fellow

Temple 

University 

Dissertation project: “Classifying 

Drug Markets by Travel Patterns: 

Testing Reuter and MacCoun’s

Typology of Market Violence”

Currently: Assistant Professor at 

Drexel University 

Naomi Sugie

2013 Fellow

Princeton 

University

Dissertation project: “Finding Work: A 

Smartphone Study of Job Searching, 

Social Contacts, and Wellbeing after 

Prison” 

Currently: Assistant Professor at the 

University Of California, Irvine
SBS FYI’s

• GRF SBS funding availability increased to align with GRF STEM 

• The SBS fellowship supports only PhD or other social and 

behavioral science doctoral students (i.e., EdD)

-MS, JD, or other terminal degrees are not eligible

• SBS funds are one-time awards

-Supplemental funds will not be available
GRF SBS FYI’s

• The academic institution is the official applicant 

• International students studying in the U.S. may apply through 

their academic institution

• Academic institutions outside the U.S. are not eligible to apply

• IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval is not required at the 

time of application
GRF SBS FYI’s (cont’d)

• The student must be enrolled in a PhD program at the time of 

application

• The proposed thesis topic must have relevance to a U.S. DOJ 

priority

• Fellowship requirements must be met at the time an award is 

made, not at the time of application
GRF SBS FYI’s (cont’d)

What to do now:

• Review the solicitation for eligibility

• Contact your university grants office

• Start assembling application materials

1. Write the program narrative 

2. Ask for letter(s) of support

3. Obtain enrollment verification
Learn about NIJ Funding

www.nij.gov

Read the 

FAQs

Read active 

solicitations

Read past 

solicitations 

for examples

Sign up for email 

updates when 

solicitations post

Solicitations

Past 

Awards

Go to www.nij.gov & click on FUNDING & AWARDS
For more information: 

GRF webpage: www.nij.gov/grf

For questions about the GRF solicitations, contact:

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)

1-800-851-3420 (TTY: 301-240-6310 for hearing impaired only) 

Email: Grants@ncjrs.gov

Web chat: https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp