MODIFICATION NOTICE

5/4/2016: This solicitation originally stated that awards would be made on or before May 1, 

2016. As of May 4, 2016, all applications are still under review and NIJ is not yet able to 

announce awards or give an estimated announcement date. 

NIJ still anticipates that funds awarded under this solicitation will be available on or before 

August 1, 2016. But applicant academic institution and doctoral student are cautioned not to 

anticipate the availability of funds for meeting any necessary or required expenses for the fall 

2016 semester or quarter until the requirements stipulated under Doctoral Student Eligibility 

have been met in full. 

Applicants are encouraged to visit the program website at www.nij.gov/GRF-STEM for program 

information and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). This page was updated on March 4, 2016. 

For further assistance please contact GRF-STEM@usdoj.gov. 

On September 2, the paragraph on page 17 reading, “Both the Budget Detail Worksheet and 

the Budget Narrative should address no more than the funding anticipated to be provided with 

the initial award. 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).”

was changed. 

The paragraph was changed to: “The Budget Narrative and Budget Detail Worksheet should 

reflect the entire proposed project timeline of up to three years, in discrete 12-month 

increments. However, the SF-424 should only reflect the first 12-months funding requirement. 

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).”

To assist applicants in completing their proposals, NIJ has made FAQs available for this funding 

opportunity. Visit http://www.nij.gov/funding/fellowships/graduate-research-fellowship/Pages/grfstem.aspx for questions and answers to help prepare your application. 

These FAQs were updated on November 30, 2015. 

For further assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, please contact GRFSTEM@usdoj.gov. 
U.S. Department of Justice OMB No. 1121-0329

Office of Justice Programs Approval Expires 07/31/2016

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 innovative doctoral dissertation research in 

science, technology, engineering, or mathematics that is relevant to providing solutions to better 

ensure public safety, prevent and control crime, and ensure the fair and impartial administration 

of criminal justice in the United States. 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 and local levels.

Graduate Research Fellowship in Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Mathematics

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.

NIJ may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal 

years, dependent on the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.

For additional eligibility information, see Section C. Eligibility Information.

Deadline

Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are 

due to be submitted and in receipt of a successful validation message in Grants.gov by 

11:59 p.m. eastern time on December 15, 2015.

All applicants are encouraged to read this Important Notice: Applying for Grants in 

Grants.gov.

For additional application 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 or 606-545-5035, or via e-mail to support@grants.gov.

The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except 

federal holidays.

Applicants that experience unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond their control that 

prevent them from submitting their application by the deadline must e-mail the NIJ contact 

identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline and request approval to 

submit their application. Additional information on reporting technical issues is found under 

“Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues” in the How to Apply section.
NIJ-2016-4320

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For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact GRF-STEM@usdoj.gov.

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 announcement: NIJ-2016-4320

Release date: August 26, 2015
NIJ-2016-4320

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Contents

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

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

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

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products .........................................7

B. Federal Award Information .......................................................................................................7

Type of Award ...........................................................................................................................9

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls...........................................................9

Budget Information ..................................................................................................................10

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement .......................................................................................10

Pre-Agreement Cost Approvals...............................................................................................10

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver...............................10

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs ...................11

Costs Associated with Language Assistance (if applicable) ...................................................11

C. Eligibility Information ..............................................................................................................11

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement .......................................................................................11

Limit on Number of Application Submissions ..........................................................................12

D. Application and Submission Information ................................................................................12

What an Application Should Include........................................................................................12

How to Apply ...........................................................................................................................22

E. Application Review Information ..............................................................................................25

Selection Criteria.....................................................................................................................25

Review Process.......................................................................................................................27

F. Federal Award Administration Information..............................................................................28

Federal Award Notices ............................................................................................................28

Administrative, National Policy, and other Legal Requirements..............................................28

General Information About Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements..............................29

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) ....................................................................................31

H. Other Information ...................................................................................................................31

Provide Feedback to OJP .......................................................................................................31

Application Checklist ...............................................................................................................33
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Graduate Research Fellowship in Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

(CFDA No. 16.562)

A. Program Description

Overview

The Graduate Research Fellowship in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

(GRF-STEM) 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 fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the 

United States. Applicant academic institutions sponsoring doctoral students are eligible to apply 

only if:

1. The doctoral student’s degree program is in a science, technology, engineering, or 

mathematics (STEM) discipline; and

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

solutions to problems that affect public safety, crime, and the fair and impartial 

administration of criminal justice in the United States.

Academic institutions sponsoring doctoral students whose disciplines are in the social and 

behavioral sciences should consider submitting their proposals under the forthcoming “NIJ 

Graduate Research Fellowship Program in the Social and Behavioral Sciences” solicitation.

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

cover a fellowship for the sponsored doctoral student. Although the initial award is only for 1 

year of funding, each fellowship potentially provides up to 3 years of support usable over a 5-

year period. The applicant institution will have to reapply on behalf of the student for each 

additional year. Pending NIJ review of continued enrollment and adequate progress, up to 3 

years of support are possible. For each year of support, NIJ provides the degree-granting 

institution a stipend of $35,000 usable toward the student’s salary and related costs, and up to 

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

(see Section B. Federal Award Information). Final award decisions will be made by the Director 

of the National Institute of Justice.

Authorizing Legislation: Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

(sections 201 and 202); and 28 U.S.C. 530C.

Program-Specific Information

Degree-granting academic 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-2016-4320

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Successful applicants must demonstrate clearly how the proposed dissertation research will 

advance one or more of these areas of criminal justice practice and/or policy in the United 

States.

Official Applicant

The official 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 be removed from consideration.

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 academic institution 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 verf 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 STEM discipline at the eligible

academic institution; and

2. Propose a dissertation research topic that is relevant to providing solutions to problems 

that directly affect 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 

such a time as the applicant academic institution submits proof that the doctoral student’s 

dissertation topic has been accepted by their 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). If the doctoral student’s topic has not been 

approved at the time of application, then the expected dates by which the doctoral student will 

meet this 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 
NIJ-2016-4320

6

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 awards 

under this solicitation will be made on or before May 1, 2016. The applicant academic institution 

and 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 doctoral students may receive fellowship funding only while actively 

enrolled in the initially identified doctoral degree program and actively carrying out research 

toward the dissertation. 

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 paperwork 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 signed statement of support from 

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

disbursement of the funds provided with the award (applicants can expect to see conditions to 

that effect attached to any such award.) If a dissertation committee has accepted the doctoral 

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 the same as 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 other outstanding work, academic or otherwise, toward completion of the 

degree.

• Verify the date on which the dissertation research project is expected to be ready to 

begin.

• Comment on the student’s potential to complete the dissertation successfully.

• Indicate that the doctoral student has his/her full support.
NIJ-2016-4320

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• Describe the dissertation committee chair’s role in monitoring the project and present 

evidence of both the department’s and the dissertation committee chair’s abilities to 

mentor doctoral candidates through the completion of their degrees.

• Verify that the dissertation committee chair will review and approve all progress reports 

prior to their 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 12.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The ultimate goal of this solicitation is to increase the pool of researchers who are involved in 

providing STEM-based solutions to problems that affect criminal justice policy and practice in 

the United States. Through the GRF-STEM program, NIJ supports STEM graduate education by 

investing in academic institutions that support outstanding and promising doctoral students. 

All awards made under this solicitation will be required to deliver interim 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). Students who receive funds under the GRF program are encouraged but are 

not required to archive their dissertation data. 

B. Federal Award Information

Each fellowship award will initially be made for a 12-month period. However, pending, among 

other factors, the availability of funding, strategic priorities, NIJ’s assessment of the quality of 

the management of the award (for example, timeliness and quality of progress reports), and 

NIJ’s assessment of the progress of the work funded under the award, each fellowship may 

potentially be extended for second and third years of support usable over a 5-year total period. 

The applicant institution will have to resubmit an application package on behalf of the student for 

each additional year. Each annual supplement of fellowship support after the initial award will 
NIJ-2016-4320

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require, minimally, proof that the doctoral student is still actively carrying out research toward 

the dissertation topic originally proposed (or substantively similar to that originally proposed). It 

will also require verification of satisfactory progress on the dissertation in the form of a signed 

letter from the dissertation committee chair.

Each year of support (i.e., the initial award, and possible second and third year supplements) 

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, 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, project costs, professional society membership fees, or conference travel, 

among other allowed expenses during the award period (see complete Budget Information, 

including “What will not be funded”). 

To allow time for, among other things, any necessary post-award review, modification, and 

clearance by OJP of the proposed budget, applicants should propose an award start date of

August 1, 2016. In selecting an award start date, please be advised that NIJ awards are 

activated on the first day of a given month. Although NIJ anticipates that funds awarded under 

this GRF-STEM solicitation will be made available on or before August 1, 2016, 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 fall 2016 semester or quarter until the 

requirements stipulated under Doctoral Student Eligibility have been met in full.

The total period of an award will not exceed five years. The applicant’s budget narrative and 

budget detail worksheet should reflect the entire proposed project timeline of up to three years, 

in discrete 12-month increments. However, Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) should 

only reflect the first 12-months funding requirement. 

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 the NIJ Program Office via 

his/her academic institution representative, as identified in the initial application. The fellow’s 

award funding may be temporarily suspended at the discretion of the NIJ Program Office.

NIJ anticipates that up to $1,000,000 will be available in FY 2016 for a maximum of 20 awards. 

NIJ expects that half of the resulting awards will support research topics of interest to 

NIJ’s Office of Science and Technology (OST), and half will support research topics of interest 

to NIJ’s Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences (OIFS).

Students do not receive awards directly. 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.
NIJ-2016-4320

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

additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Type of Award1

NIJ expects to make any award from this solicitation in the form of a grant.

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

Department of Justice regulations on confidentiality and human subjects’ protection. See 

“Evidence, Research, and Evaluation Guidance and Requirements” under “Solicitation 

Requirements” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls

If selected for funding, the award recipient must:

a. Establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides 

reasonable assurance that the non-federal entity 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 non-federal entity's compliance with statute, 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 non-federal entity considers sensitive consistent with applicable federal, 

State and local laws regarding privacy and obligations of confidentiality. In order to better 

understand administrative requirements and cost principles, award applicants are 

encouraged to enroll, at no charge, in the Department of Justice Grants Financial 

Management Online Training available here.

 1 See generally 31 U.S.C. §§ 6301-6305 (defines and describes various forms of federal assistance relationships, 

including grants and cooperative agreements (a type of grant)). 
NIJ-2016-4320

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Budget Information

What will not be funded:

• Direct administrative expenses or indirect costs of the institutional applicant.

• Proposals for dissertation research by doctoral students who are not pursuing research 

related to providing STEM-based solutions to problems that affect public safety, crime, 

and/or the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the United States. 

• Proposals primarily to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies. (A budget may 

include these items, valued at up to $15,000, if they are necessary to conduct research, 

development, demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.)

• Conference, meeting or training activity hosted by the applicant. (Conference, meeting or 

training attendance by the fellow, if included in the fellowship proposal and budget, may 

be allowable.)

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement

See “Cofunding” paragraph under item 4 (“Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative”) 

under What an Application Should Include in Section D. Application and Submission 

Information.

Pre-Agreement Cost Approvals

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

prior written approval of OJP for all such costs. If approved, pre-agreement costs could be paid 

from grant funds consistent with a grantee’s approved budget, and under applicable cost 

standards. However, all such costs prior to award and prior to approval of the costs are incurred 

at the sole risk of an applicant. Generally, no applicant should incur project costs before

submitting an application requesting federal funding for those costs. Should there be 

extenuating circumstances that appear to be appropriate for OJP’s consideration as preagreement costs, the applicant should contact the point of contact listed on the title page of this 

announcement for details on the requirements for submitting a written request for approval. See 

the section on Costs Requiring Prior Approval in the Financial Guide, 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, recipients may 

not use federal funds to pay total cash compensation (salary plus cash bonuses) to any 

employee of the award recipient at a rate that exceeds 110% 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.2 The 2015 salary 

table for SES employees is available at the Office of Personnel Management website. Note: A 

recipient may compensate an employee at a greater rate, provided the amount in excess of this 

compensation limitation is paid with non-federal funds. (Any such additional compensation will 

not be considered matching funds where match requirements apply.) For employees who 

 2 This limitation on use of award funds does not apply to the non-profit organizations specifically named at Appendix 

VIII to 2 C.F.R. part 200.
NIJ-2016-4320

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charge only a portion of their time to an award, the allowable amount to be charged 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, the limitation on compensation rates allowable under an award. An applicant 

requesting a waiver should include a detailed justification in the budget narrative of the 

application. Unless the applicant submits a waiver request and justification with the application, 

the applicant should anticipate that OJP will request the applicant to adjust and resubmit the 

budget.

The justification should include the particular qualifications and expertise of the individual, the 

uniqueness of the service the individual will provide, the individual’s specific knowledge of the 

program or project being undertaken with award funds, and a statement explaining that the 

individual’s salary is commensurate with the regular and customary rate for an individual with 

his/her qualifications and expertise, and for the work to be done.

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

OJP strongly encourages applicants that propose to use award funds for any conference-, 

meeting-, or training-related activity to review carefully—before submitting an application—the 

OJP policy and guidance on “conference” approval, planning, and reporting available 

at www.ojp.gov/financialguide/PostawardRequirements/chapter15page1.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 such costs for cooperative 

agreement recipients and of some such costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, 

including 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.

For additional information, see the "Civil Rights Compliance" section under “Solicitation 

Requirements” in OJP’s Funding Resource Center.

C. Eligibility Information

Eligibility

For additional eligibility information, see title page.

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement

For additional information on cost sharing and match requirement, see Section B. Federal 

Award Information. A given academic institution may submit applications for more than one 

doctoral student.
NIJ-2016-4320

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Limit on Number of Application Submissions

If an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, NIJ will review only the most 

recent system-validated version submitted. For more information on system-validated versions, 

see How to Apply.

D. Application and Submission Information

What an Application Should Include

Applicants should anticipate that if they fail to submit an application that contains all of the 

specified elements, it may affect negatively the review of their application; and, should a 

decision be made to make an award, it may result in the inclusion of special conditions that 

preclude the recipient from accessing or using award funds pending satisfaction of the 

conditions.

Moreover, applicants should anticipate that applications determined to be nonresponsive to the 

scope of the solicitation, or that do not include the application elements that NIJ has designated 

to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review nor receive further consideration. Under this

solicitation, NIJ has designated the following application elements as required: Program 

Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet, Budget Narrative, verification of enrollment in a qualifying 

degree program, undergraduate or graduate transcripts (official or unofficial), and 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. Please review the “Note on File Names and File Types” under How to 

Apply to be sure applications are submitted in permitted formats.

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

“Program Narrative,” “Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative,” “Timelines,” 

“Memoranda of Understanding,” “Resumes”) for all attachments. Also, OJP recommends that 

applicants include resumes in a single file.

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).

Intergovernmental Review: This funding opportunity (program) is not subject to Executive 

Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, applicants are to make the appropriate selection in 

response to question 19 to indicate 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. 
NIJ-2016-4320

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

project in 250-400 words. Project abstracts 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 a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman) with 1-inch margins.

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

program narrative.

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 12 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 12-page limit for the 

narrative section. The project abstract, table of contents, appendices, and government forms 

do not count toward the 12-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.3

Program Narrative Guidelines: 

a. Title Page (not counted against the 12-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 academic 

institution and the Principal Investigator (i.e., the sponsored doctoral student, if 

allowed by the academic institution).

b. Resubmit Response (if applicable) (not counted against the 12-page program 

narrative limit).

If an applicant is resubmitting a proposal 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 NIJassigned application number of the previous proposal, and (2) a brief summary of 

 3 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 to set out each phase clearly.
NIJ-2016-4320

14

revisions to the proposal, including responses to previous feedback received 

from NIJ.

c. Table of Contents and Figures (not counted against the 12-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.

• Project Design and Implementation.

• Potential Impact.

• Capabilities/Competencies.

Within these sections, the narrative should address:

• Purpose, goals, and objectives.

• Review of relevant literature.

• Detailed description of research design and methods, such as research 

questions, hypotheses, description of sample, and analysis plan.

• Planned Scholarly Products (See Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and 

Expected Scholarly Products under Program-Specific Information, above, 

for a discussion of expected scholarly products.)

• Implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States.

• A description of the project’s management plan and organization. This 

description should identify the people involved in the execution of the 

project, their specific roles, and any framework to be used for ensuring 

that their tasks are fulfilled.

• If applicable, a description contextualizing the proposed doctoral work 

relative to, or within, any other work being conducted under an existing 

NIJ award, which must be specifically identified.

• Management plan and organization.

• Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences. Applicants should identify 

plans both to disseminate their findings at scholarly meetings and to 

make their work available to broader interested audiences (such as

criminal/juvenile justice practitioners or policymakers). Applicants should 
NIJ-2016-4320

15

consider how and to whom they will provide summary information from 

the planned scholarly products of the proposed project (such as 

summaries of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals), in a form 

designed to be readily accessible and useful to broader audiences. Such 

dissemination might include, for example, trade press articles and 

webinars.

e. Appendices (not counted against the 12-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, resumes, or biographical sketches of the doctoral student 

and the dissertation committee chair.

• 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 three (3)

double-spaced pages in 12-point font with 1-inch margins.

• List of the student’s dissertation committee (if known) and their contact 

information to include: names, telephone numbers, and email addresses. The 

dissertation chair should be clearly identified. Applicants should use the 

“Proposed Project Staff, Affiliation, and Roles” form available 

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

this listing.

• Proposed project timeline and expected milestones. The timeline should also 

include details about student progress milestones including, but not limited to, 

the date by which the student will have advanced to candidacy (if applicable), 

any major dates in the dissemination plan, the writing of the dissertation, and 

an expected dissertation defense date. If one or more of these steps is not 

required by the sponsoring institution for successful completion of the 

doctoral degree, then such exceptions should be clearly documented. The 

project timeline should also allow for time needed to complete edits to the 

dissertation manuscript and for submission of the final dissertation to NIJ.

• 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 applicant organization and 

investigator(s), including the NIJ-assigned award numbers and a brief 
NIJ-2016-4320

16

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.”)

• Letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements from 

organizations collaborating in the project, such as law enforcement and 

correctional agencies (if applicable).

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

proposal has been submitted (if applicable), including, but not limited to, other 

fellowships which the doctoral student has received and the dates during 

which those fellowships will be active.

• Data archiving plan. Applicants should anticipate that NIJ will require (through 

special award conditions, including a partial withholding of award funds) that 

data sets resulting in whole or in part from projects funded under this 

solicitation be submitted for archiving with the National Archive of Criminal 

Justice Data (NACJD) (see www.nij.gov/funding/data-resourcesprogram/applying/Pages/data-archiving-strategies.aspx).

Applications should include as an appendix a brief plan – labeled “Data 

Archiving Plan” – to comply with data archiving requirements. The plan 

should provide brief details about proposed data management and archiving,

including submission to NIJ (through NACJD) of all files and documentation

necessary to allow for future efforts by others to reproduce the project’s 

findings and/or to extend the scientific value of the data set through 

secondary analysis. Pertinent files and documentation include, among other 

things, qualitative and quantitative data produced, instrumentation and data 

collection forms, codebook(s), any specialized programming code necessary 

to reproduce all constructed measures and the original data analysis,

description of necessary de-identification procedures, and (when required) a 

copy of the privacy certificate and informed consent protocols. 

If applicable, the plan should be one or two pages in length and include the 

level of effort associated with meeting archiving requirements.

Note that required data sets are to be submitted 90 days before the end of 

the project period.

4. Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative

a. Budget Detail Worksheet 

A sample Budget Detail Worksheet can be found 

at www.ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/BudgetDetailWorksheet.pdf. Applicants that 

submit their budget in a different format should include the budget categories listed in 

the sample budget worksheet. (Work associated with satisfying data archiving 

requirements should be reflected.) NIJ expects applicants to provide a thorough 

narrative to each section of the Budget Detail Worksheet. The Budget Detail Worksheet 

should be broken down by year.
NIJ-2016-4320

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

see the Financial Guide at http://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 three years, in discrete 12-month increments. However, the SF424 should only reflect the first 12-months funding requirement. 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).

Applicants should demonstrate in their budget narratives how they will maximize cost 

effectiveness of grant 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 narrative should be sound mathematically, and correspond 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 they are relevant 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 be broken down by year.

The following are sample budget narrative descriptions of relevant cost items that might 

be used by an applicant.

Salaries and Wages – Personnel

Each year of support includes a $35,000 allowance usable toward the student’s 

salary/stipend and related costs, such as fringe benefits or medical insurance. 

Where possible in accordance with institutional policy, academic institutions 

should account for the full amount of $35,000 when justifying the personnel 

expenses of the doctoral student.

The Principal Investigator (i.e., the doctoral student), Mr./Ms. xxx, will devote xxx 

summer months and xxx academic months per year toward the project. One summer 

month effort is equivalent to xxx hours. One academic month effort is equivalent to 

xxx hours. Therefore, the salary paid to Mr./Ms. xxx in each academic month will be 

xxx, and in each summer month will be xxx. (Note that if a stipend will be allocated in 

equal disbursements each month, please provide such a description with the 

corresponding monthly breakdown.)

The fringe benefit rate during the academic year for the graduate student is ___%. 

The summer fringe benefit rate is ___%. The benefits included in the rate cover 

__________.
NIJ-2016-4320

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Travel (Non-Federal)

Attendance at the xxx Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity to disseminate the 

results of my work within the relevant academic community. The meeting will be held 

in xxx. The expected lodging rate is $xxx, based on xxx source, for a total of xxx 

nights ($xxx total). The meal allowance is $xxx per day, based on xxx source. (Note 

that whether the appropriate source is the Federal per diem rate or a lower rate 

stipulated by the academic institution is at the institution’s discretion.) The expected 

transportation cost is $xxx, based on xxx source. Other anticipated costs include an 

anticipated baggage fee of $30. The total requested funding for this travel event is 

$xxx.

Note that direct and indirect administrative expenses of the applicant university 

are not allowable costs and will not be funded under this solicitation.

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.

d. Non-Competitive Procurement Contracts In Excess of Simplified Acquisition 

Threshold

If an applicant proposes to make one or more non-competitive procurements of products 

or services, where the non-competitive procurement will exceed the simplified 

acquisition threshold (also known as the small purchase threshold), which is currently 

set at $150,000, the application should address the considerations outlined in 

the Financial Guide.

e. Pre-Agreement Cost Approvals

For information on pre-agreement costs approvals, see Section B. Federal Award 

Information.

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

Indirect costs are not allowed under this solicitation. 
NIJ-2016-4320

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6. Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable)

Tribes, tribal organizations, or third parties proposing to provide direct services or assistance 

to residents on tribal lands should include in their applications a resolution, a letter, affidavit, 

or other documentation, as appropriate, that certifies that the applicant has the legal 

authority from the tribe(s) to implement the proposed project on tribal lands. In those 

instances when an organization or consortium of tribes applies for a grant 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 grant. 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. Applicant Disclosure of High-Risk Status

Applicants are to disclose whether they are currently designated high-risk by another federal 

grant making agency. This includes any status requiring additional oversight by the federal 

agency due to past programmatic or financial concerns. If an applicant is designated highrisk by another federal grant making agency, you must email the following information to 

OJPComplianceReporting@usdoj.gov at the time of application submission:

• The federal agency that currently designated the applicant as high-risk.

• Date the applicant was designated high-risk.

• The high-risk point of contact name, phone number, and email address, from that 

federal agency.

• Reasons for the high-risk status.

OJP seeks this information to ensure appropriate federal oversight of any grant award. 

Unlike the Excluded Parties List, this high-risk information does not disqualify any 

organization from receiving an OJP award. However, additional grant oversight may be 

included, if necessary, in award documentation.

8. Additional Attachments

a. Certification of full-time enrollment in a STEM doctoral program at the time of 

application (required). (See page 5 for details.)

b. 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.)

c. Undergraduate or graduate transcripts, either official or unofficial (required).
NIJ-2016-4320

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SAMPLE

d. Applicant disclosure of pending applications4

Applicants are to disclose whether they have pending applications for federally funded 

grants or subgrants (including cooperative agreements) that include requests for funding 

to support the same project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the 

identical cost items outlined in the budget narrative and worksheet in the application 

under this solicitation. The disclosure should include both direct applications for federal 

funding (e.g., applications to federal agencies) and indirect applications for such funding 

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

OJP seeks this information to help avoid any 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.

Applicants that have pending applications as described above are 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 funding agency.

Applicants should include the table as a separate attachment, with the file name 

“Disclosure of Pending Applications,” to their application. Applicants that do not have 

pending applications as described above are to include a statement to this effect in the 

separate attachment page (e.g., “[Applicant Name on SF-424] does not have pending 

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

(including cooperative agreements) that include requests for funding to support the same 

project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the identical cost items 

outlined in the budget narrative and worksheet in the application under this solicitation.”).

 4 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.

Federal or 

State 

Funding 

Agency 

Solicitation 

Name/Project 

Name

Name/Phone/E-mail for Point of Contact at 

Funding Agency

DOJ/COPS COPS Hiring 

Program

Jane Doe, 202/000-0000; jane.doe@usdoj.gov

HHS/ 

Substance 

Abuse & 

Mental Health 

Services 

Administration

Drug Free 

Communities 

Mentoring Program/ 

North County Youth 

Mentoring Program

John Doe, 202/000-0000; john.doe@hhs.gov
NIJ-2016-4320

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e. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity

If a proposal involves research and/or evaluation, regardless of the proposal’s other 

merits, in order to receive funds, the applicant must demonstrate research/evaluation 

independence, including appropriate safeguards to ensure research/evaluation 

objectivity and integrity, both in this proposal and as it may relate to the applicant’s other 

current or prior related projects. This documentation may be included as an attachment 

to the application which addresses BOTH i. and ii. below.

i. For purposes of this solicitation, applicants must document research and evaluation 

independence and integrity by including, at a minimum, one of the following two 

items:

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

any research integrity issues (including all principal investigators and subrecipients) and it has concluded that the design, conduct, or reporting of 

research and evaluation funded by NIJ grants, cooperative agreements, or 

contracts will not be biased by any personal or financial conflict of interest on 

the part of part of its staff, consultants, and/or sub-recipients responsible for 

the research and evaluation or on the part of the applicant organization;

OR

b. A specific listing of actual or perceived conflicts of interest that the applicant 

has identified in relation to this proposal. These conflicts could be either 

personal (related to specific staff, consultants, and/or sub-recipients) or 

organizational (related to the applicant or any subgrantee organization). 

Examples of potential investigator (or other personal) conflict situations may 

include, but are not limited to, 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 could not be 

given a grant to evaluate a project if that organization had itself provided 

substantial prior technical assistance to that specific project or a location 

implementing the project (whether funded by OJP or other sources), as the 

organization in such an instance would 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 applicants must address the issue of 

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 potential personal or 

organizational conflicts of interest exist, then the applicant should provide a 

brief narrative explanation of how and why it reached that conclusion.
NIJ-2016-4320

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Applicants MUST also include an explanation of the specific processes and 

procedures that the applicant will put in place to identify and eliminate (or, at 

the very least, mitigate) potential personal or financial conflicts of interest on 

the part of its staff, consultants, and/or sub-recipients for this particular 

project, should that be necessary during the grant period. Documentation that 

may be helpful in this regard could include organizational codes of 

ethics/conduct or policies regarding organizational, personal, and financial 

conflicts of interest.

OR

b. If the applicant has identified specific personal or organizational conflicts of 

interest in its proposal during this review, the applicant must propose a 

specific and robust mitigation plan to address conflicts noted above. At a 

minimum, the plan must include specific processes and procedures that the 

applicant will put in place to eliminate (or, at the very least, mitigate) potential 

personal or financial conflicts of interest on the part of its staff, consultants, 

and/or sub-recipients for this particular project, should that be necessary 

during the grant period. Documentation that may be helpful in this regard 

could include organizational codes of ethics/conduct or policies regarding 

organizational, personal, and financial conflicts of interest. There is no 

guarantee that the plan, if any, will be accepted as proposed.

Considerations in assessing research and evaluation independence and integrity will 

include, but are not be limited to, the adequacy of the applicant’s efforts to identify 

factors that could affect the objectivity or integrity of the proposed staff and/or the 

organization 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.

9. Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire

In accordance with 2 C.F.R. 200.205, federal agencies must have in place a framework for 

evaluating the risks posed by applicants before they receive a federal award. To facilitate 

part of this risk evaluation, all applicants (other than an individual) are to download, 

complete, and submit this form.

10. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

All applicants must complete this information. Applicants that expend any funds for lobbying 

activities are to provide the detailed information requested on the form Disclosure of 

Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL). Applicants that do not expend any funds for lobbying activities 

are to enter “N/A” in the text boxes for item 10 (“a. Name and Address of Lobbying 

Registrant” and “b. Individuals Performing Services”).

How to Apply

Applicants must register in, and submit applications through Grants.gov, a “one-stop storefront” 

to find federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find complete instructions on how to 

register and submit an application at www.Grants.gov. Applicants that experience technical 

difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-
NIJ-2016-4320

23

4726 or 606–545–5035, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except 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 and a user password. OJP 

encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline. 

In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications 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.

NIJ strongly encourages all prospective applicants to sign up for Grants.gov email notifications

regarding this solicitation. If this solicitation is cancelled or modified, individuals who sign up with 

Grants.gov for updates will be automatically notified.

Note on File Names and File Types: Grants.gov only permits the use of certain specific

characters in names of attachment files. Valid file names may include only the characters shown 

in the table below. Grants.gov is designed to reject any application that includes an 

attachment(s) with a file name that contains any characters not shown in the table below. 

Grants.gov is designed to forward successfully submitted applications to OJP’s Grants 

Management System (GMS).

Characters Special Characters

Upper case (A – Z) Parenthesis ( ) Curly braces { } Square brackets [ ]

Lower case (a – z) Ampersand (&) Tilde (~) Exclamation point (!)

Underscore (__) Comma ( , ) Semicolon ( ; ) Apostrophe ( ‘ )

Hyphen ( - ) At sign (@) Number sign (#) Dollar sign ($)

Space Percent sign (%) Plus sign (+) Equal sign (=)

Period (.) 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: 

OJP may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all 

applicable DUNS and SAM requirements. If an applicant has not fully complied with the 

requirements by the time the federal awarding agency is ready to make a federal award, the 

federal awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal 

award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

1. Acquire a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. In general, the Office of 

Management and Budget requires that all applicants (other than individuals) for federal 

funds include a DUNS number in their applications for a new award or a supplement to an 

existing award. A DUNS number is a unique nine-digit sequence recognized as the 

universal standard for identifying and differentiating entities receiving federal funds. The 

identifier is used for tracking purposes and to validate address and point of contact 

information for federal assistance applicants, recipients, and subrecipients. The DUNS 

number will be used throughout the grant life cycle. Obtaining a DUNS number is a free, 
NIJ-2016-4320

24

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 1-2 business days.

2. Acquire registration with the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM is the 

repository for standard information about federal financial assistance applicants, recipients, 

and subrecipients. OJP requires all applicants (other than individuals) for federal financial 

assistance to maintain current registrations in the SAM database. Applicants must be 

registered in SAM to successfully register in Grants.gov. Applicants must update or renew 

their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status.

Applications cannot be successfully submitted in Grants.gov until Grants.gov receives the 

SAM registration information. The information transfer from SAM to Grants.gov can take up 

to 48 hours. OJP recommends that the applicant register or renew registration with SAM as 

early as possible.

Information about SAM registration procedures can be accessed at www.sam.gov.

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. The applicant organization’s DUNS number must be used to complete this 

step. For more information about the registration process, go 

to www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.htm.

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. 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 number for this solicitation is 16.562, titled “Criminal Justice 

Research and Development—Graduate Research Fellowships,” and the funding opportunity 

number is NIJ-2016-4320.

6. Submit a valid application consistent with this solicitation by following the directions 

in Grants.gov. Within 24–48 hours after submitting the electronic application, the applicant 

should receive two notifications from Grants.gov. The first will confirm the receipt of the 

application and the second will state whether the application has been successfully

validated, or 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 well ahead of the deadline provides time to correct the 

problem(s) that caused the rejection. Important: OJP urges applicants to submit 

applications 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. 

Click here for further details on DUNS, SAM, and Grants.gov registration steps and 

timeframes.
NIJ-2016-4320

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Note: Duplicate Applications

If an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, NIJ will review only the most 

recent system-validated version submitted. See Note on File Names and File Types under How 

To Apply.

Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues

Applicants that experience unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond their control that 

prevent them from submitting their application by the deadline must contact the Grants.gov 

Customer Support Hotline or the SAM Help Desk (Federal Service Desk) to report the technical 

issue and receive a tracking number. Then applicant must e-mail the NIJ contact identified in 

the Contact Information section on page 2 within 24 hours after the application deadline and 

request approval to submit their application. The e-mail must describe the technical difficulties, 

and 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: 

NIJ does not automatically approve requests. After the program office reviews the 

submission, and contacts the Grants.gov or SAM Help Desks to validate 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 applicant failed to follow all required procedures, 

which resulted in an untimely application submission, OJP will deny the applicant’s request to 

submit their application. 

The following conditions are generally insufficient to justify late submissions:

• Failure to register in SAM or Grants.gov in sufficient time.

• 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, 

including firewalls.

Notifications regarding known technical problems with Grants.gov, if any, are posted at

the top of the OJP funding web page at www.ojp.gov/funding/index.htm.

E. Application Review Information

Selection Criteria

Applications that meet basic minimum requirements will be evaluated by peer reviewers using 

the following review criteria.

Statement of the Problem (Understanding of the problem and its importance) – 20% 

1. Clarity of problem statement and its importance to the field of study.

2. Demonstrated connection between problem and proposed research.
NIJ-2016-4320

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3. Awareness of the state of current research and/or technology.

4. Identification of gaps in existing research.

Project Design and Implementation (Quality and technical merit) – 40%

1. Detailed and complete discussion of proposed research methods.

2. Soundness of the research methods and appropriateness to the proposed study.

3. Awareness of potential limitations of the research plan and proposed practical solutions.

4. Overall feasibility of proposed project.

5. Innovation and creativity.

Potential Impact – 20% 

Potential for a scientific or technical advance(s) that will improve criminal/juvenile justice in the 

United States, such as:

1. Potential for important advances in the scientific or technical understanding of the 

problem.

2. Potential for advances in the field and the filling of key gaps in scientific knowledge 

related to criminal justice policy and practice in the United States.

3. Relevance for improving criminal justice policy and practice, public safety, security 

and/or quality of life, including the concerns of specific criminal justice agencies.

4. Perceived potential for commercialization and/or implementation of new technology 

(when applicable).

5. Potential for innovative solution to address (all or a significant part of) the stated criminal 

justice problem.

Capabilities/Competencies (Capabilities, demonstrated productivity, and experience of the 

applicant organization and proposed project staff) – 20%

1. Qualifications and experience of the doctoral student and the dissertation committee 

chair (if identified), e.g., successful coursework completion, relevant work and/or 

research experience, leadership roles, mentoring experience, and record of publication.

2. Applicant academic institution’s record of accomplishment with respect to doctoral 

candidates’ completion of degrees.

3. Applicant academic institution’s record of past performance regarding NIJ grants and 

contracts (if applicable).
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Budget

Peer reviewers will consider and may comment on the following additional items in the context 

of scientific and technical merit.

1. Appropriateness of requested research expenses and related costs to the proposed 

dissertation research.

2. Use of existing resources to conserve costs.

Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences 

Peer reviewers may comment—in the context of scientific and technical merit—on the proposed 

plan to disseminate the key findings of the work to the larger research community and to make 

available summary information from the planned scholarly products of the project to broader 

interested audiences, such as criminal/juvenile justice practitioners or policymakers.

Review Process

OJP is committed to ensuring a fair and open process for awarding grants. 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 applicants have met basic minimum 

requirements, OJP screens applications for compliance with specified program requirements to 

help determine which applications should proceed to further consideration for award. Although 

program requirements may vary, the following are common requirements applicable to all 

solicitations for funding under OJP grant programs:

• Applications must be submitted by an eligible type of applicant.

• Applications must request funding within programmatic funding constraints (if 

applicable).

• Applications must be responsive to the scope of the solicitation.

• Applications must include all items designated as “critical elements.”

• Applicants will be checked against the General Services Administration’s Excluded 

Parties List.

For a list of critical elements, see “What an Application Should Include” under Section D. 

Application and Submission Information.

NIJ may use internal peer reviewers, external peer reviewers, or a combination, to assess 

applications meeting basic minimum requirements on technical merit using the solicitation’s 

selection criteria. An external peer reviewer is an expert in the subject matter of a given 

solicitation who is not a current DOJ employee. An internal reviewer is a current DOJ employee 
NIJ-2016-4320

28

who is well-versed or has expertise in the subject matter of this solicitation. A peer review panel 

will evaluate, score, and rate applications that meet basic minimum requirements.

OJP reviews applications for potential discretionary awards to evaluate the risks posed by 

applicants before they receive an award. This review may include but is not limited to the 

following:

1. Financial stability and fiscal integrity.

2. Quality of management systems and ability to meet the management standards 

prescribed in the Financial Guide.

3. History of performance.

4. Reports and findings from audits.

5. The applicant's ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other 

requirements imposed on non-federal entities.

6. Proposed costs to determine if the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative 

accurately explain project costs, and whether those costs are reasonable, necessary, 

and allowable under applicable federal cost principles and agency regulations.

All final award decisions will be made by the Director of the National Institute of Justice. Peer 

reviewers’ ratings and any resulting recommendations are advisory only, although their views 

are considered carefully. In addition to peer review ratings, considerations for award 

recommendations and decisions may include, but are not limited to, planned scholarly products, 

proposed budgets, past performance (including scholarly products) under prior NIJ and OJP 

awards, research independence and integrity, strategic priorities, and available funding when 

making awards.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Notices

OJP award notification will be sent from GMS. Recipients will be required to login; accept any 

outstanding assurances and certifications on the award; designate a financial point of contact; 

and review, sign, and accept the award. The award acceptance process involves physical 

signature of the award document by the authorized representative and the scanning of the fullyexecuted 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 

agency-approved project proposal and budget, the recipient must comply with award terms and 

conditions, and other legal requirements, that are included in the award, incorporated into the 

award by reference, or are otherwise applicable to the award. OJP strongly encourages 

prospective applicants to review the information pertaining to these requirements prior to 

submitting an application. To assist applicants and recipients in accessing and reviewing this 
NIJ-2016-4320

29

information, OJP has placed it on its Solicitation Requirements page of the OJP Funding 

Resource Center.

Please note in particular the following two forms, which applicants must submit in GMS prior to 

the receipt of any award funds, as each details legal requirements with which applicants must 

provide specific assurances and certifications of compliance. Applicants may view these forms

in the OJP Funding Resource Center and are strongly encouraged to review and consider them 

carefully prior to making an application for OJP grant funds.

• Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility 

Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements.

• Standard Assurances.

Upon grant approval, OJP electronically transmits (via GMS) the award document to the 

prospective award recipient. In addition to other award information, the award document 

contains award terms and conditions that specify national policy requirements5 with which 

recipients of federal funding must comply; uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, 

and audit requirements; and program-specific terms and conditions required based on 

applicable program (statutory) authority or requirements set forth in OJP solicitations and 

program announcements. For example, certain efforts may call for special requirements, terms, 

or conditions relating to intellectual property, data/information-sharing or -access, or information 

security; or audit requirements, expenditures and milestones, or publications and/or press 

releases.

OJP also may place additional terms and conditions on an award based on its risk assessment 

of the applicant, or for other reasons it determines necessary to fulfill the goals and objectives of 

the program. 

Prospective applicants may access and review the text of mandatory conditions OJP includes in 

all OJP awards, as well as the text of certain other conditions, such as administrative conditions, 

via the Mandatory Award Terms and Conditions page of the OJP Funding Resource Center.

General Information About Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements

Recipients must submit quarterly financial reports, semi-annual progress reports, final financial 

and progress reports, and, if applicable, an annual audit report in accordance with 2 C.F.R. Part 

200. Applicants should anticipate that progress reports will be required to follow the nonbudgetary 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.

Special Reporting requirements may be required by OJP depending on the statutory, legislative 

or administrative requirements of the recipient or the program.

As indicated earlier in this solicitation, NIJ expects scholarly products to result from any award 

under this solicitation. Please review the Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected 

 5 See generally 2 C.F.R. 200.300 (provides a general description of national policy requirements typically applicable 

to recipients of Federal awards, including the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 

(FFATA)).
NIJ-2016-4320

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Scholarly Products segment of the “Program-Specific Information” section of this solicitation, as 

well as the “Performance Measures” section.

In addition to the expectation of scholarly products, successful applicants under this solicitation 

will be required to submit the following deliverables regarding the work funded by the NIJ award.

Draft and Final Summary Overview of the Work Conducted under the Award

The overview is expected to provide an overall summary of the work under, and results of, the 

project funded by NIJ under this solicitation. Among other things, the summary overview should 

address the purpose of the project, project subjects (if applicable), project design and methods, 

data analysis, project findings, and implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the 

United States.

A draft summary overview no longer than 10 pages long (double-spaced) is to be submitted 90 

days prior to the end of the project period for NIJ review and comment.

Required Data Sets and Associated Files and Documentation

As discussed earlier, NIJ requires recipients of an award under this solicitation to submit to 

NACJD all data sets that result in whole or in part from the work funded by NIJ, along with 

associated files and any documentation necessary to allow for future efforts by others to 

reproduce the project’s findings and/or to extend the scientific value of the data set through 

secondary analysis. All data sets and necessary documentation are to be submitted 90 days 

prior to the end of the project period. For more information, see the “Program Narrative” section 

of What an Application Should Include.

Performance Measures

To assist the Department 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, applicants that receive funding under this solicitation must provide data 

that measure the results of their work done under this solicitation. OJP will require any award 

recipient, post award, to provide the data requested in the “Data Grantee Provides” column so 

that OJP can calculate values for the “Performance Measures” column. (Submission of 

performance measures data is not required for the application.) Performance measures for this 

solicitation are as follows:
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Objective Performance Measure(s) Data Grantee Provides

Conduct research 

in science, 

technology, 

engineering, 

and/or 

mathematics 

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 

proposal or any subsequent agency-approved 

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 

(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.

4. Number of technologies fielded as a result (in 

whole or in part) of work funded under the NIJ 

award.

1. Quarterly financial reports, 

annual and final progress 

reports.

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.

4. An official signed copy of 

the doctoral student’s 

successfully defended and 

accepted final dissertation.

5. Description of all 

technologies fielded as a 

result (in whole or in part) of 

work funded under the NIJ 

award.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s)

For additional Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s), see the title page.

For additional contact information for Grants.gov, see the title page. 

H. Other Information

Provide Feedback to OJP

To assist OJP in improving its application and award processes, we encourage applicants to 

provide feedback on this solicitation, the application submission process, and/or the application 

review/peer review process. Provide feedback to OJPSolicitationFeedback@usdoj.gov.

IMPORTANT: This e-mail is for feedback and suggestions only. Replies are not sent from this 

mailbox. If you have specific questions on any program or technical aspect of the solicitation, 

you must directly contact the appropriate number or e-mail listed on the front of this solicitation 

document. These contacts are provided to help ensure that you can directly reach an individual 

who can address your 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 ojppeerreview@lmbps.com. The OJP Solicitation Feedback email account will not 
NIJ-2016-4320

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forward your resume. Note: Neither you nor anyone else from your organization can be a peer 

reviewer in a competition in which you or your organization have submitted an application.
NIJ-2016-4320

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Application Checklist

Graduate Research Fellowship in Science, Engineering, Technology, and 

Mathematics

This application checklist has been created to assist in developing an application.

What an Applicant Should Do:

Prior to Registering in Grants.gov:

_____ Acquire a DUNS Number (see page 23)

_____ Acquire or renew registration with SAM (see page 24)

To Register with Grants.gov:

_____ Acquire AOR and Grants.gov username/password (see page 24)

_____ Acquire AOR confirmation from the E-Biz POC (see page 24)

To Find Funding Opportunity:

_____ Search for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov (see page 24)

_____ Download Funding Opportunity and Application Package (see page 24)

_____ Sign up for Grants.gov email notifications (optional) (see page 23)

_____ Read Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov

_____ Read OJP policy and guidance on “conference” approval, planning, and reporting 

available 

at www.ojp.gov/financialguide/PostawardRequirements/chapter15page1.htm (see page 

10)

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 24)

If no Grants.gov receipt, and validation or error notifications are received:

_____ Contact NIJ regarding experiencing technical difficulties (see page 25)

General Requirements:

_____ Review the Solicitation Requirements in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

What an Application Should Include: 

_____ Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) (see page 12)

_____ Project Abstract (if applicable) (see page 12)

_____ Program Narrative (required) (see page 13)

_____ Budget Detail Worksheet (required) (see page 16)

_____ Budget Narrative (required) (see page 17)

_____ Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) (see page 18)

_____ Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable) (see page 19)

_____ Applicant Disclosure of High-Risk Status (see page 19)

_____ Additional Attachments

_____ Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications (see page 20)

_____ Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity (see page 21)

_____ Verification of current enrollment (required) (see page 19

_____ Statement of support (required) (see page 19)
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_____ Undergraduate and graduate transcripts (required) (see page 19)

_____ Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (if applicable)

(see page 22)

_____ Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) (see page 22)

_____ Employee Compensation Waiver request and justification (if applicable) 

(see page 10)