2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

June 28, 2018

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June 28, 2018

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) 

Disaster Resilience (DR) Research Grants Program

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Federal Agency Name: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 

United States Department of Commerce (DoC)

• Funding Opportunity Title: Disaster Resilience (DR) Research Grants Program

• Announcement Type: Initial

• Funding Opportunity Number: 2018-NIST-DR

• Assistance Listing Number: 11.609, Measurement and Engineering Research and 

Standards

• Dates: Applications must be received at Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time, Monday, August 27, 2018. Applications received after this deadline 

will not be reviewed or considered. Applicants should be aware, and factor in their 

application submission planning, that the Grants.gov system is expected to be 

closed for routine maintenance at these times: from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, 

Saturday, July 21, 2018 until Monday, July 23, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time; and 

again from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, August 18, 2018 until 6:00 a.m. 

Eastern Time Monday, August 20, 2018. Applications cannot be submitted when 

Grants.gov is closed. NIST expects to complete its review, selection of successful 

applicants, and award processing by June 2019. NIST expects the earliest 

estimated start date for awards under this NOFO to be August 2019.

Applicants are strongly urged to read Section IV.2.b., Attachment of Required 

Application Documents, found on pages 14 and 15 of this NOFO, with great 

attention. Applicants should carefully follow the instructions and 

recommendations regarding attachments and using Grants.gov’s Download 

Submitted Applications feature to check that all required attachments were 

contained in their submission. Applications submitted without the required 

documents will not pass the Initial Administrative Review, described in 

Section V.3.a. of this NOFO. 

When developing the submission timeline, please keep in mind that: (1) all 

applicants are required to have a current registration in the electronic System for 

Award Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the 

SAM.gov (see Section IV.3. and Section IV.7.a.2). of this NOFO) often takes 

between three and five business days and may take as long as two weeks; (3)
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applicants are required to have a current registration in Grants.gov; and (4) 

applicants using Grants.gov will receive email notifications over a period of up to two 

business days as the application moves through intermediate systems before the 

applicant learns via a validation or rejection notification whether NIST has received 

the application. (See http://www.grants.gov for full information on application and 

notification through Grants.gov). Please note that a federal assistance award cannot 

be issued if the designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award 

Management (SAM.gov) is not current at the time of the award.

• Application Submission Address: Applications must be submitted using 

Grants.gov.

• Funding Opportunity Description: The Disaster Resilience (DR) Research 

Grants Program seeks applications from eligible applicants to conduct research 

aimed at advancing the principles of resilience in building design and building codes

and standards. Research proposals must support the overall effort of developing 

science-based building codes by evaluating potential technologies and architectural 

design criteria to improve disaster resilience in the built environment. Research 

projects must be aligned with existing NIST Engineering Laboratory (EL) Disaster 

Resilience programs, as described in Section I. of this NOFO, and any application 

that is non-research related (such as developing a product) will be disqualified.

• Anticipated Amounts: In FY 2018, NIST anticipates that up to approximately 

$3,000,000 may be available for NIST to fund new DR Research Grants Program 

projects. NIST anticipates funding five to fifteen awards in the range of $250,000 to 

$750,000 each with project performance periods of up to three (3) years, consistent 

with the multi-year funding policy (see Section II.2. of this NOFO). NIST may also 

make awards under this competition using FY 2019 appropriations, should such 

funding become available. 

• Funding Instrument: Cooperative agreement.

• Who Is Eligible Applicants: All programs listed in this NOFO are open to all

domestic non-Federal entities. Eligible applicants include institutions of higher 

education, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, state and local 

governments, Indian tribes, and hospitals. Please note that, for the purposes of this 

NOFO, individuals and unincorporated sole proprietors are not considered “nonFederal entities” and are not eligible to apply. In addition, foreign entities are not 

eligible to apply.

• Cost Sharing Requirements: Matching funds are not required for this NOFO. 

• Public Website, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Webinar: NIST has a 

public website, http://www.nist.gov/el/disaster_NOFO.cfm that provides information 
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pertaining to this Funding Opportunity1. NIST anticipates that a “Frequently Asked 

Questions” section or other resource materials will be maintained and updated on 

the website as needed to provide additional guidance and clarifying information that 

may arise related to this Funding Opportunity. Any amendments to this NOFO will 

be announced through Grants.gov.

Applicants must submit all questions pertaining to this Funding Opportunity in writing 

to millie.glick@nist.gov. Questions submitted to NIST may be posted on the public 

website, http://www.nist.gov/el/disaster_NOFO.cfm. Alternatively, applicants may 

ask questions during the informational public webinar as described in the next 

paragraph. 

NIST will hold a webinar on July 11, 2018 to provide general information regarding 

this NOFO, offer general guidance on preparing applications, and answer questions. 

Proprietary technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted 

and NIST staff will not critique or provide feedback on specific project ideas while 

such ideas are being developed by an applicant or brought forth during the Webinar,

or at any time before the deadline for all applications. However, questions about the 

DR Research Grants Program, eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, 

selection process, and the general characteristics of a competitive application can 

be addressed at the Webinar and by e-mail to millie.glick@nist.gov. There is no cost 

to attend the Webinar, but participants must register in advance. Participation in the 

Webinar is not required and will not be considered in the application review and 

selection process. Additional information on the DR Research Grants Program and 

the Webinar is available at https://www.nist.gov/newsevents/events/2018/07/disaster-resilience-grants-webinar-2018. 

Table of Contents

I. Program Description..................................................................................................... 4

II. Federal Award Information ........................................................................................... 7

III. Eligibility Information.................................................................................................... 8

IV. Application and Submission Information.................................................................... 8

V. Application Review Information ..................................................................................19

VI. Federal Award Administration Information ................................................................24

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts ...........................................................................36

VIII. Other Information.........................................................................................................37

 1 Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Programmatic and Technical 

Questions, if you seek the information at this link and it is no longer working or you need more 

information.
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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Program Description

The statutory authority for the Disaster Resilience (DR) Research Grants Program is 15 

U.S.C. §§ 272(b)(4), (b)(5), (b)(8), (b)(10), and (c)(17) and (c)(18).

1. The Disaster Resilience (DR) Research Grants Program seeks applications from 

eligible applicants to conduct research aimed at advancing the principles of 

resilience in building design and building codes and standards. Research proposals 

must support the overall effort of developing science-based building codes by 

evaluating potential technologies and architectural design criteria to improve disaster 

resilience in the built environment. Research projects must be aligned with existing 

NIST Engineering Laboratory (EL) Disaster Resilience programs, as described 

below: 

a) Structural Performance under Multi-Hazard Program. This program supports

research to improve the understanding of windstorms (hurricanes, tornadoes, 

thunderstorms, and others) and coastal flooding events (storm surge and 

tsunamis), their impacts, and impact mitigation. Proposals are solicited to 

conduct research on:

1) quantification of wind loads on structural elements by computational wind 

engineering methods; 

2) quantification of localized wind loads on non-structural exterior elements 

(cladding, windows, roofing, doors, etc.) of common engineered structures by 

computational or experimental methods; and/or

3) development of new sensors and methods to collect spatiotemporal data on 

windstorm phenomena, including surface-level winds and near ground 

velocity profiles, atmospheric pressure, and storm surge flooding and velocity 

over what is normally dry land (water level, current, and waves). 

These research areas support Strategic Priority 2 and Objective 6 of the National 

Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP) Strategic Plan

(https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/03/13/strategic_plan_for

_national_windstorm_impact_reduction_program_-_draft_f.pdf) and the 

objectives of NIST’s Structural Performance under Multi-Hazards Program 

(https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/structural-performance-multi-hazardsprogram). 

b) Disaster and Failure Studies (DFS) Program. The program conducts research 

in disaster metrology that includes the development of innovative measurement 

and analysis methods—including field equipment, survey instruments, and 

assessment algorithms—to characterize hazard intensity, building and 
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infrastructure performance, morbidity and mortality due to a damaged built 

environment, disaster recovery, and uncertainty in field studies.

Specific areas of research solicited in this funding opportunity include:

1) advancement of field reconnaissance methods and analysis of the 

performance of civil lifelines that impact the functionality of buildings, while 

accounting for uncertainty introduced in field data collection; 

2) advancement of field reconnaissance methods and analysis of the recovery of 

critical social dimensions of resilience related to the built environment, while 

accounting for uncertainty introduced in field data collection; and/or

3) development of methods to assess the net benefits and life-cycle costs 

associated with recommendations typical of DFS investigations and studies.

Recent NIST activities for this program can be found at 

https://www.nist.gov/topics/disaster-failure-studies/about-disaster-and-failurestudies-program

c) Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Program. This program conducts 

research to reduce risk of fire hazard in WUI communities. This research 

includes NIST mission-related measurement science research and services to 

develop wildland-urban interface fire risk exposure metrics; predict the spread of 

fires in WUI communities, assess fire performance of structures and 

communities, and mitigate effects of WUI fires on structures and communities 

through science-based codes and standards. 

Specific areas of research solicited in this funding opportunity include the 

development, advancement, and deployment of measurement science to:

1) characterize the fundamental ignition phenomena including heat transfer, 

pyrolysis, and fluid dynamics that occur as a firebrand or a group of firebrands 

ignite a structural fuel package; and/or

2) develop material-based solutions to prevent firebrand ignition of structures to 

reduce the risk of fire spread in WUI communities. 

Additional information about wildland-urban interface WUI fire research at NIST 

can be found at https://www.nist.gov/el/fire-research-division-73300/wildlandurban-interface-fire-73305. 

d) National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). The program 

conducts research in the areas of earthquake impact reduction, including 

engineering for existing buildings and physical infrastructure/lifelines. Specific 

areas of research solicited in this funding opportunity include:

1) developing improved simulation capabilities and potential cost-effective 

solutions to mitigate earthquake vulnerabilities in older non-ductile masonry, 

structural steel or reinforced concrete buildings or building elements; 
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2) developing improved techniques, tools, and guidelines to assess the 

resilience of civil lifelines at both the individual component and system scales 

prior to an earthquake; 

3) developing approaches and frameworks within the social sciences to improve 

engagement in mitigation of seismic risk at the state, region, and local 

community levels; and/or

4) conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the nation’s earthquake risk 

reduction progress over the years since the Earthquake Hazards Reduction 

Act of 1977 was enacted to the present.

Recent NIST research reports, workshop reports as well as published researchneeds studies can be found on http://www.nehrp.gov.

2. Specifically, each application (see Section IV.2.a.6) of this NOFO, Proposal) must: 

a) identify the specific disaster resiliency problem that the applicant proposes to 

solve, demonstrate that it aligns with or is complementary to one of the four 

existing EL disaster resilience programs described above, explain the problem’s 

difficulties, and describe the benefits that would accrue if the problem were 

solved;

b) propose a technical approach that directly addresses the identified problem; 

c) provide a schedule of milestones for the overall project that includes metrics for 

measuring the success of the proposed efforts, and include plans for publication 

in professional literature and for technology transfer; and 

d) describe the qualifications, proposed roles, and level of planned effort of the 

project participants, including the proposed role of the project lead. 

Awards made under this announcement may include financial support for recipients to 

host and/or participate in special sessions at conferences, workshops, technical 

research meetings and other education and outreach activities relevant to and in 

support of their technical proposal. 

Additional information on the DR Research Grants Program may be found at 

http://www.nist.gov/el/disaster_NOFO.cfm2.

3. NIST Annual Disaster Resilience Symposium: The Disaster Resilience 

Symposium will take place at the NIST Gaithersburg campus in August of each year 

beginning August of 2018, and each NIST Disaster Resilience Award Recipient is 

required to attend. Applicants must budget for the participation in the NIST yearly 

Disaster Resilience Symposium in addition to any other travel. 

 2 Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Programmatic and Technical 

Questions, if you seek the information at this link and it is no longer working or you need more 

information.
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a) The 2018 Symposium will be hosted August 14-15, 2018 and will feature the 

2016 Disaster Resilience Grant Research Program recipients. The 2016 

Disaster Resilience Grant Research Program awarded a total of just over $6 

million to 12 of the 172 proposals received. These recipients will convene to 

present their research and findings, share insights and answer questions 

related to the research topics funded under the 2016-NIST-DR-01 program, 

which included Disaster and Failure Studies, National Earthquake Hazards 

Reduction Program, Wind Impact Reduction, and Reduced Ignition of Building 

Components in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires Project. Additionally, 

NIST researchers will present their work that supports advancement in U.S. 

Disaster Resilience. 

NIST will live stream the presentations to allow the Disaster Resilience 

Community and the public the opportunity to participate. The symposium will 

be open to the public. Registration details will be posted later.

b) In subsequent years, each recipient under this NOFO will give a presentation 

at the Symposium and describe the yearly progress and/or completion of 

research activities. Each recipient will have up to 45 minutes to make their 

presentation and will be followed by a 15-minute question and answer 

session. Additional information regarding the NIST Symposium can be found 

at https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2018/08/disaster-resiliencesymposium

II. Federal Award Information

1. Funding Instrument. The funding instrument that will be used is a cooperative 

agreement. The nature of NIST’s “substantial involvement” will generally include 

collaboration with the recipients in developing and in implementing the approved scope 

of work.

2. Multi-Year Funding Policy. When an application for a multi-year award is 

approved, funding will usually be provided for only the first year of the project. If a 

project is selected for funding, NIST has no obligation to provide any additional funding 

in connection with that award. Continuation of an award to increase funding or extend 

the period of performance is at the sole discretion of NIST. Continued funding will be 

contingent upon satisfactory performance, continued relevance to the mission and 

priorities of the individual DR Research Grants Programs, and the availability of funds. 

3. Funding Availability. In FY 2018, NIST anticipates that up to approximately 

$3,000,000 may be available for NIST to fund new DR Research Grants Program 

projects. NIST anticipates funding five to fifteen awards, ranging from $250,000 to 

$750,000 total for each award over a project performance period of up to three (3) 

years, consistent with the multi-year funding policy (see Section II.2. of this NOFO). 
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NIST does not intend to publish a separate FY 2019 Disaster Resilience NOFO. 

Therefore, if NIST receives FY 2019 appropriations to support this program, NIST will 

use the FY 2019 funds to make awards to applications received under this competition. 

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants. All programs listed in this NOFO are open to all domestic nonFederal entities. Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, non-profit 

organizations, for-profit organizations, state and local governments, Indian tribes, and 

hospitals. Please note that, for the purposes of this NOFO, individuals and 

unincorporated sole proprietors are not considered “non-Federal entities” and are not 

eligible to apply. In addition, foreign entities are not eligible to apply.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching. Matching funds are not required for this NOFO. 

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package. The application package is available 

at www.grants.gov under Funding Opportunity Number 2018-NIST-DR. 

2. Content and Format of Application Submission. NIST will disqualify any 

applications that do not contain the documents required, exceed the page limitation

of 11 pages for the Proposal, or fail to indicate to which of the four program areas 

they are applying, as specified below.

All documents must be in English, including but not limited to the initial application, 

any additional documents submitted in response to a NIST request, all reports, and 

any correspondence with NIST. 

a) Required Forms and Documents

The Application must contain the following elements:

1) SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. The SF-424 must be signed 

by an authorized representative of the applicant organization. 

• “SF-424, Item 8.d. Zip/Postal Code field, should reflect the Zip code + 4 

(#####-####) format.”

• SF-424, Item 12, should list the NOFO number 2018-NIST-DR.

• SF-424, Item 18, should list the total budget information for the duration of 

the project. 
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• The list of certifications and assurances referenced in Item 21 of the SF424 is contained in the SF-424B. 

2) SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs. The budget 

should reflect anticipated expenses for the project, considering all potential cost 

increases, including cost of living adjustments. 

• The Grant Program Function or Activity on Line 1 under Column (a) should be 

entered as “Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards.” The 

Assistance Listing Number on Line 1 under Column (b) should be entered as 

“11.609”.

• Section A, line 1., column (e) should reflect the full budget request for the 

project.

• Use Section B – Budget Categories to reflect the budget breakdown by 

year. Column (1) should be used for the first year; Column (2) should be used 

for the second year; and Column (3) should be used for the third year. 

• Section C is for matching funds. Matching funds are not required for this 

NOFO.

• Section D, line 13 should reflect the breakdown of the first year’s budget by 

quarter.

• The budget estimate for the second year of the award should be entered in 

Section E, field 16, column (b). Section E, field 16, column (c) should reflect 

the third year’s budget estimate. 

3) SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

4) CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. Enter “2018-NIST-DR” in the 

Award Number field. Enter the title of the application used in field 15 of the SF424, or an abbreviation of that title, in the Project Name field. 

5) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable)

6) Proposal. The Proposal is a document of no more than eleven (11) pages 

responsive to the program description (see Section I. of this NOFO) and the 

evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of this NOFO). The Proposal must contain 

the following elements: the Cover Page, the Executive Summary, and the 

Technical Proposal. Page limits for these components are cited below.

Note: references and bibliographies count against the page limits.

a) The Cover Page

The Cover Page consists of four (4) elements: 
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i. The name and address of the applicant institution, and the name,

address, and contact information for the application’s Principal Investigator. 

ii. The specific component Disaster Resilience research grant program to which 

the application is being submitted, using the following choices: 

1) Structural Performance under Multi-Hazard Program; 

2) the Disaster and Failure Studies Program; 

3) Wildland Urban Interface Fire Program; or 

4) the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.

iii. Statement of Relevance and Benefit to the General Public. 

Using no more than two or three sentences, describe the relevance and 

benefit of the research proposed in this application to the public. This 

statement should be succinct and use plain language that can be 

understood by a general audience.

iv. Statement of Collaboration with NIST Employees. 

Indicate if` the application proposes collaborations with specific NIST 

employees, and cite the Technical Proposal page or pages where the 

collaboration is detailed.

Applicants proposing collaborations with specific NIST employees should 

carefully read Section VI.2.e) of this NOFO.

The Cover Page must not exceed one (1) single-sided page and counts 

toward the eleven (11) page limit of the Proposal. 

b) Executive Summary. 

The Executive Summary is a concise summary/abstract of the proposed project

that contains a summary of the proposed activity and is suitable for dissemination 

to the public. The Executive Summary should be a self-contained document that 

identifies the name of the applicant, the project director/principal investigator(s), 

the project title, the objectives of the project, a description of the project, 

including methods to be employed, the potential impact of the project (i.e., 

benefits, outcomes), and major participants (for collaborative projects). This 

document must not include any proprietary or sensitive business information as 

NIST may make the Executive Summary available to the public after awards are 

issued.

The Executive Summary must not exceed one (1) single-sided page and

counts toward the 11-page limit of the Proposal. 

c) Technical Proposal
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The Technical Proposal consists of three (3) components: (i) Problems, Solutions 

and Technical Approach; (ii) Statement of Work and Potential Impact of the 

Results; and (iii) Qualifications and Experience of Key Personnel and Resources 

Availability.

i. Problems, Solutions and Technical Approach. This is a description of the 

problems proposed to be solved, why the problems are difficult, and the 

alignment with existing NIST Engineering Laboratory Disaster Resilience 

programs. This section should explain what solutions are needed to 

overcome the problems, who would benefit from the solutions, and what the 

anticipated impacts are if the problems are solved. This section should also 

include a description of the technical approach that the applicant plans to 

employ to solve the identified problems and to achieve the anticipated 

impacts. 

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Problems, Solutions and 

Technical Approach evaluation criteria (see Section V.1.a). of this NOFO).

ii. Statement of Work and Potential Impact of the Results. This is a 

complete statement of work to meet the technical approach that directly 

addresses the problems described in the Problems, Solutions and Technical 

Approach. The statement of work must include a schedule of milestones for 

the overall project, the applicant’s plan to manage the project tasks, and 

metrics for measuring the success of the proposed efforts and potential 

impact of the results. This section should include plans for publication in 

professional literature and for technology transfer. Refer to Sections VI.2.g. 

and h. for application requirements for proposals involving human subjects 

and/or live vertebrate animals, as applicable.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Statement of Work and 

Potential Impact of the Results evaluation criteria (see Section V.1.b). of this 

NOFO).

iii. Qualifications and Experience of Key Personnel and Resources 

Availability. This is a description of the qualifications, proposed roles, and 

level of planned effort of the project participants, including the proposed role 

of the project leader, key personnel and staff. A resume of the project leader 

is required (see Section IV.2.a.9). of this NOFO). A description of the 

applicant’s access to the necessary equipment and facilities to accomplish 

the proposed objectives should be included. 

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Qualifications and 

Experience of Key Personnel and Resources Availability evaluation criteria 

(see Section V.1.c). of this NOFO). 
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The Technical Proposal must not exceed nine (9) single-sided pages and 

counts toward the eleven (11) page limit of the Proposal. 

7) Budget Narrative. (This does not count toward the page limit). The Budget 

Narrative must provide a detailed breakdown of each of the object class 

categories as reflected on the SF-424A. The budget justification should address 

all the budget categories (personnel, fringe benefits, equipment, travel, supplies, 

other direct costs and indirect costs) for which Federal funds are requested. The 

written justification should include the necessity and the basis for the cost. 

Proposed funding levels must be consistent with the project scope, and only 

allowable costs should be included in the budget. Information on cost allowability 

is available in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and 

Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200 

(http://go.usa.gov/SBYh), which apply to awards in this program. Information 

needed for each category is as follows:

a) Personnel – At a minimum, the budget justification for all personnel should 

include the following: name, job title, commitment of effort on the proposed 

project in terms of average number of hours per week or percentage of time, 

salary rate, total direct charges on the proposed project, description of the 

role of the individual on the proposed project and the work to be performed. 

b) Fringe Benefits – Fringe benefits should be identified separately from 

salaries and wages and based on rates determined by organizational policy. 

The items included in the fringe benefit rate (e.g., health insurance, parking, 

etc.) should not be charged under another cost category. 

c) Travel – For travel costs required by the recipient to complete the project, the 

budget justification for travel should include the following: destination; names 

and number of people traveling; dates and/or duration; mode of 

transportation, lodging and subsistence rates; and description of how the 

travel is directly related to the proposed project. For travel that is yet to be 

determined, please provide best estimates based on prior experience. If a 

destination is not known, an approximate amount may be used with the 

assumptions given for the location of the meeting. Applicants must budget for 

the participation in the NIST yearly Disaster Resilience Symposium in addition 

to any other travel (see Section I.3).

d) Equipment – Equipment is defined as an item of property that has an 

acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (unless the organization has established 

lower levels) and an expected service life of more than one year. Any items 

that do not meet the threshold for equipment can be included under the 

supplies line item. The budget justification should list each piece of 

equipment, the cost, and a description of how it will be used and why it is 

necessary to the successful completion of the proposed project. Please note 
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that any general use equipment (computers, etc.) charged directly to the 

award should be allocated to the award according to expected usage on the 

project. 

e) Supplies – Supplies are defined as all tangible personal property other than 

that described as equipment. Provide a list of each supply, and the 

breakdown of the total costs by quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity 

of the cost for the completion of the proposed project. 

f) Contractual (i.e. Contracts or Subawards) – Each contract or subaward 

should be treated as a separate item. Describe the services provided and the 

necessity of the subaward or contract to the successful performance of the 

proposed project. Contracts are for obtaining normal goods and services. 

Subawardees perform part of the project scope of work. For each subaward, 

applicants must provide budget detail justifying the cost of the work performed 

on the project. 

g) Construction - Not an allowable cost under this NOFO.

h) Other Direct Costs – For costs that do not easily fit into the other cost 

categories, please list the cost, and the breakdown of the total costs by 

quantity or unit of cost. Include the necessity of the cost for the completion of 

the proposed project. Only allowable costs can be charged to the award.

This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Budget Narrative 

evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. d). of this NOFO).

8) Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. (This does not count toward the page limit). 

If indirect costs are included in the proposed budget, provide a copy of the 

approved negotiated agreement if this rate was negotiated with a cognizant 

Federal audit agency. If the rate was not established by a cognizant Federal 

audit agency, provide a statement to this effect. If the successful applicant 

includes indirect costs in the budget and has not established an indirect cost rate 

with a cognizant Federal audit agency, the applicant will be required to obtain 

such a rate in accordance with the Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions https://go.usa.gov/xXRxK.

Alternatively, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f), applicants that have 

never received a negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge indirect costs 

to an award pursuant to a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified total direct 

costs (MTDC), in which case a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement is not 

required. Applicants proposing a 10 percent de minimis rate pursuant to 2 C.F.R. 

§ 200.414(f)should note this election as part of the budget and budget narrative 

portion of the application.
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9) Resumes of Key Personnel. A resume for the project leader is required.

This individual is considered key personnel to the project. Resumes of additional 

key personnel may be supplied. Resumes are limited to two pages per 

individual. 

10)Data Management Plan. Consistent with the NIST Policy 5700.003, Managing 

Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research, and NIST Order 

5701.004, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research”, 

applicants must include a Data Management Plan (DMP).

The DMP is a supplementary document of not more than two pages that must 

include, at a minimum, a summary of proposed activities that are expected to 

generate data, a summary of the types of data expected to be generated by the 

identified activities, a plan for storage and maintenance of the data expected to 

be generated by the identified activities, and a plan describing whether and how 

data generated by the identified activities will be reviewed and made available to 

the public. As long as the DMP meets these NIST requirements, it may take the 

form specified by the applicant’s institution or some other entity (e.g., the 

National Science Foundation7 or the National Institutes of Health8). 

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST funding 

are required to adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and preservation 

are not within the scope of the project. 

For the purposes of the DMP, NIST adopted the definition of “research data” at 2 

C.F.R. § 200.315(e)(3) (available at http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ). 

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included in the 

application.

The sufficiency of the DMP will be considered as part of the administrative review 

(see Section V.3.a). of this NOFO); however, the DMP will not be evaluated 

against any evaluation criteria. 

b) Attachment of Required Documents

Items IV.2.a.(1) through IV.2.a.(5) above are part of the standard application 

package in Grants.gov and can be completed through the download application 

process. 

 3 https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/05/09/Final-P-5700.pdf 4 https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/05/09/Final-O-5701_0.pdf 7 http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp

4 http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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15

Items IV.2.a.(6) through IV.2.a.(10) must be completed and attached by 

clicking on “Add Attachments” found in item 15 of the SF-424, Application 

for Federal Assistance. This will create a zip file that allows for transmittal 

of the documents electronically via Grants.gov. 

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions at

www.grants.gov to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov 

system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicates only that an application was 

transferred to a system. It does not provide details concerning whether all 

attachments (or how many attachments) transferred successfully. 

Applicants using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail messages over a 

period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s 

electronic system has received its application.

Applicants are strongly advised to use Grants.gov’s Download Submitted 

Applications option to check that their application’s required attachments were 

contained in their submission.

After submitting the application, follow the directions found at this link, 

https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh in the Grants.gov Online Users Guide.

If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the submission, follow 

the attachment directions found above, resubmit the application, and check again 

for the presence of the required attachments. 

If the directions found at https://go.usa.gov/xQqeh are not effective, please 

contact the Grants.gov Help Desk immediately. If calling from within the United 

States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place 

outside the United States or a U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. E-mails 

should be addressed to support@grants.gov. Assistance from the Grants.gov 

Help Desk will be available around the clock every day, with the exception of 

Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the 

day after Federal holidays.

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following the 

procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up to two 

business days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov system to 

NIST.

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not issue 

Agency Tracking Numbers.

c) Application Format

1) Paper, E-mail and Facsimile (fax) Submissions. Will not be accepted.
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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16

2) Figures, Graphs, Images, and Pictures. Should be of a size that is easily 

readable or viewable and may be landscape orientation and will count toward 

the overall 11- page limit of the proposal.

3) Font. Easy to read font (12-point minimum). Smaller type may be used in 

figures and tables but must be clearly legible.

4) Page Limit. The Proposal for Applications is limited to eleven (11) pages.

Resumes are also excluded from the Proposal page count. Resumes are 

limited to two (2) pages each. The Data Management Plan, limited to two (2) 

pages, is also excluded from the Proposal page count. 

5) Page size. 21.6 centimeters by 27.9 centimeters (8 1⁄2 inches by 11 inches).

6) Application language. English.

d) Application Replacement Pages. Applicants may not submit replacement 

pages and/or missing documents once an application has been submitted. Any 

revisions must be made by submission of a new application that must be 

received by NIST by the submission deadline.

e) Pre-Applications. There are no pre-applications with this NOFO.

f) Statement of Intent. To assist NIST in gauging interest and planning for the 

evaluation process, all potential applicants are strongly encouraged to send an email to el_agreementsspecialist@nist.gov with “Disaster Resilience [program 

title for to which you intend to apply to] Competition” in the subject line indicating 

intent to apply. The statement of intent will only be used for competition planning 

purposes; it will not be used as part of the evaluation process or to eliminate any 

applicants from consideration under this NOFO. An applicant will receive full 

consideration under this NOFO if they do not submit a statement of intent. 

g) Certifications Regarding Federal Felony and Federal Criminal Tax 

Convictions, Unpaid Federal Tax Assessments and Delinquent Federal Tax 

Returns. In accordance with Federal appropriations law, an authorized 

representative of the selected applicant(s) may be required to provide certain 

pre-award certifications regarding federal felony and federal criminal tax 

convictions, unpaid federal tax assessments, and delinquent federal tax returns.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM). Pursuant to 

2 C.F.R. part 25, applicants and recipients (as the case may be) are required to: (i) 

be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique 

entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM 

registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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17

award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency, 

unless otherwise excepted from these requirements pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 25.110. 

NIST will not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied 

with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant 

has not fully complied with the requirements by the time that NIST is ready to make 

a Federal award pursuant to this NOFO, NIST 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.

4. Submission Dates and Times. Applications must be received at Grants.gov no 

later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday, August 27, 2018. Applications 

received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Applicants should be 

aware, and factor in their application submission planning, that the Grants.gov 

system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance at these times: from 12:01 

a.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, July 21, 2018 until Monday, July 23, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. 

Eastern Time; and again from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, August 18, 2018 

until 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time Monday, August 20, 2018. Applications cannot be 

submitted when Grants.gov is closed. NIST expects the earliest estimated start date 

for awards under this NOFO to be August 2019.

When developing your submission timeline, please keep in mind that: (1) all 

applicants are required to have a current registration in the electronic System for 

Award Management (SAM.gov); (2) the free annual registration process in the 

SAM.gov (see Sections IV.3. and IV.7.a.2). of this NOFO) often takes between three 

and five business days and may take as long as two weeks; (3) applicants are 

required to have a current registration in Grants.gov; and (4) applicants using 

Grants.gov will receive email notifications over a period of up to two business days 

as the application moves through intermediate systems before the applicant learns

via a validation or rejection notification whether NIST has received the application. 

(See http://www.grants.gov for full information on application and notification through 

Grants.gov.). Please note that a federal assistance award cannot be issued if the 

designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) 

is not current at the time of the award.

5. Intergovernmental Review. Applications under this Program are not subject to

Executive Order 12372.

6. Funding Restrictions. Applications for product development and/or 

commercialization are not considered responsive to this NOFO. Profit or fee is not 

an allowable cost.

7. Other Submission Requirements

a) Applications must be submitted electronically. Applications must be 

submitted via Grants.gov at www.grants.gov. 
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18

1) Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions to ensure 

that all attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt 

from Grants.gov indicating an application is received does not provide 

information about whether attachments have been received. For further 

information or questions regarding applying electronically for the 2018-NISTDR announcement, contact Christopher Hunton by phone at 301-975-5718 or 

by e-mail at grants@nist.gov. 

2) Applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the 

approaching due date before logging on and reviewing the instructions for 

submitting an application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov registration 

process must be completed before a new registrant can apply electronically. 

If all goes well, the registration process takes three to five business days. If 

problems are encountered, the registration process can take up to two weeks 

or more. Applicants must have a valid unique entity identifier number and 

must maintain a current registration in the Federal government’s primary 

registrant database, the System for Award Management 

(https://www.sam.gov/), as explained on the Grants.gov Web site. See also

Section IV.3. of this NOFO. After registering, it may take several days or 

longer from the initial log-on before a new Grants.gov system user can submit 

an application. Only individuals authorized as organization representatives 

will be able to submit the application, and the system may need time to 

process a submitted application. Applicants should save and print the proof 

of submission they receive from Grants.gov. If problems occur while using 

Grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (a) print any error message received 

and (b) call Grants.gov directly for immediate assistance. If calling from 

within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If 

calling from a place other than the United States or a U.S. territory, please

call 606-545-5035. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be 

available around the clock every day, with the exception of Federal holidays. 

Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after 

Federal holidays. For assistance using Grants.gov, you may also contact 

support@grants.gov.

3) To find instructions on submitting an application on Grants.gov, Applicants 

should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just below the top of the 

www.grants.gov home page. Clicking on the “Applicants” tab produces two 

exceptionally useful sources of information, Grant Applications and Applicant 

Resources, which applicants are advised to review. 

Applicants will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two 

business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system 

has received its application. Closely following the detailed information in 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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19

these subcategories will increase the likelihood of acceptance of the 

application by the Federal agency’s electronic system. 

Applicants should pay close attention to the guidance under “Applicant 

FAQs,” as it contains information important to successful submission on 

Grants.gov, including essential details on the naming conventions for 

attachments to Grants.gov applications.

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into 

applicants’ schedules for delivery of their application. Applicants are advised 

that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy leading up to the 

deadline date.

The application must be both received and validated by Grants.gov. The 

application is “received” when Grants.gov provides the applicant a 

confirmation of receipt and an application tracking number. If an applicant 

does not see this confirmation and tracking number, the application has not 

been received. After the application has been received, it must still be 

validated. During this process, it may be “validated” or “rejected with errors.” 

To know whether the application was rejected with errors and the reasons 

why, the applicant must log in to Grants.gov, select “Applicants” from the top 

navigation, and select “Track my application” from the drop-down list. If the 

status is “rejected with errors,” the applicant may still seek to correct the 

errors and resubmit your application before the deadline. If the applicant 

does not correct the errors, the application will not be forwarded to NIST by 

Grants.gov.

Refer to important information in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times, 

to help ensure your application is received on time. 

b) Amendments. Any amendments to this NOFO will be announced through 

Grants.gov. Applicants may sign up on Grants.gov to receive amendments by email or may request copies from Millie Glick by telephone at (301) 975-5962 or 

by e-mail to millie.glick@nist.gov. 

V. Application Review Information

1. Evaluation Criteria. The evaluation criteria that will be used in evaluating 

applications and assigned weights (for a total of 100 points) are as follows:

a) Problems, Solutions and Technical Approach. (0-35 points, each subcriterion will be given approximately equal weight) Reviewers will evaluate: 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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20

1) how well the applicant demonstrates a clear understanding of the 

problems and solutions;

2) the fitness, alignment and complementary nature of the proposed 

technical approach within the context of existing Engineering Lab DR 

Research Program (see Section I. of this NOFO); and

3) the degree to which the technical approach is comprehensive, 

innovative, feasible, and likely to solve the identified problems, produce 

the anticipated impacts, and meet the objectives of the DR Research 

Grants Program. 

b) Statement of Work and Potential Impact of the Results. (0-35 points) 

Reviewers will evaluate the appropriateness, quality, reasonableness and 

completeness of the applicant’s statement of work, including the plans to manage 

the project tasks, timeline, and work of all project staff, to ensure realization of 

project goals and objectives. The likelihood of potential impact of the project 

results, including plans for publication in professional literature and technology 

transfer, will also be evaluated.

c) Qualifications and Experience of Key Personnel and Resources 

Availability. (0-15 points) Reviewers will evaluate the appropriateness, quality 

and degree of the qualifications and experience of the project leader and 

proposed staff, as well as the adequacy and quality of the applicant’s access to 

equipment and facilities, to assess the likelihood of achieving the objectives of 

the project. If access to necessary equipment is limited or not available and the 

applicant plans to purchase equipment, proposed equipment purchases will be 

evaluated according to the Budget Narrative evaluation criteria (see Section 

V.1.d). of this NOFO). 

d) Budget Narrative. (0-15 points) Reviewers will assess the budgeted costs 

against the proposed activities to determine the practicality of the proposed 

budget with respect to developing and implementing the proposed project.

2. Selection Factors. The selection factors for this competition are as follows: 

a) Results of the reviewers’ evaluations (the three reviews and the Evaluation Panel 

review, see Section V.3.b.1) of this NOFO);

b) The availability of Federal funds;

c) Whether the project duplicates other projects funded by NIST, DoC, or by other 

Federal agencies; 

d) The likelihood that the project will have a substantial impact on the field of 

disaster resilience studies; 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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21

e) Alignment with the four existing Disaster Resilience programs; and

f) Balance across the four EL Disaster Resilience programs. 

3. Review and Selection Process Proposals, reports, documents and other 

information related to applications submitted to NIST and/or relating to financial 

assistance awards issued by NIST will be reviewed and considered by Federal 

employees, Federal agents and contractors, and/or by non-Federal personnel who 

have entered into nondisclosure conflict of interest and confidentiality agreements 

covering such information, when applicable.

a) Initial Administrative Review. Applications received by the deadline will be 

reviewed to determine eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness to this NOFO 

and to the scope of the stated program objectives (see Section I. of this NOFO). 

Applications determined to be ineligible, incomplete, and/or nonresponsive will 

generally be eliminated from further review. However, NIST, in its sole discretion, 

may continue the review process for an application that is missing non-substantive 

information, the absence of which may easily be rectified during the review process.

b) Review of Eligible, Complete, and Responsive Applications. Applications 

determined to be eligible, complete, and responsive will proceed for full reviews in 

accordance with the review and selection process below:

1) Merit Review and Rating. At least three (3) objective reviewers, who may be 

Federal employees or non-Federal personnel, with appropriate professional and 

technical expertise relating to the topics covered in this NOFO, will evaluate and 

score each eligible, complete, and responsive application based on the 

evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of this NOFO). While every application will 

have at least three (3) reviewers, applications may have more than three (3) 

reviewers if specialized expertise is needed. During the review process, the 

reviewers may discuss the applications with each other, but scores and narrative 

comments will be determined on an individual basis. Reviewers may consult as a

panel with Federal or non-Federal subject-matter experts to seek clarification or 

explanation of specific issues identified during the initial review process. 

Applications will be ranked by averaging the scores of all reviewers for each 

application. 

2) Evaluation and Rating. An Evaluation Panel, consisting of NIST staff and/or 

other federal agency employees with appropriate technical expertise, will conduct 

a panel review of the reviewers’ ranked applications. For the purpose of

clarifying information in an application, the Evaluation Panel may ask questions 

of applicants in writing and/or may require teleconferences with all applicants. 

The Evaluation Panel will group the applications by program applied to and 

prepare and provide four sets of final adjectival ratings, one for each program, to 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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the Selecting Official for further consideration, taking into consideration the 

following information:

a) All application materials;

b) Results of the Evaluation Panel’s evaluations; 

c) Reviewer notes; and 

d) Any clarifying information obtained through written questions or 

teleconferences with the applicants.

The adjectival ratings ratings are:

Fundable, Outstanding

Fundable, Very Good

Fundable

Unfundable

For decision-making purposes, applications receiving the same adjectival 

rating will be considered to have an equivalent rating, although their review 

scores will not necessarily be the same.

3) Selection. The Selecting Official, the NIST EL Director, will make final award 

recommendations to the NIST Grants Officer. The Selecting Official shall 

generally select and recommend the most meritorious applications for an award 

based on the four sets of adjectival ratings prepared by the Evaluation Panel and 

one or more of the selection factors listed in Section V.2. of this NOFO. The 

Selecting Official retains the discretion to select and recommend an application 

out of order (i.e., from a lower adjectival category) based on one or more of the 

selection factors. 

NIST reserves the right to negotiate budget costs with the selected applicants. 

Negotiations may include requesting that the applicant remove certain costs. 

Additionally, NIST may request that the applicant modify objectives or work plans 

and provide supplemental information required by the agency prior to award. 

NIST also reserves the right to reject an application where information is 

uncovered that raises a reasonable doubt as to the responsibility of the applicant. 

NIST may select some, all, or none of the applications, or part(s) of any particular 

application. NIST may request that fundable applicants consider working 

together in a combined project if this approach might effectively advance the 

program mission. The final approval of selected applications and issuance of 

awards will be by the NIST Grants Officer. The award decisions of the NIST 

Grants Officer are final.

c) Federal Awarding Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants. After 

applications are proposed for funding by the Selecting Official, the NIST Grants 

Management Division (GMD) performs pre-award risk assessments in accordance 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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23

with 2 C.F.R. § 200.205, which may include a review of the financial stability of an 

applicant, the quality of the applicant’s management systems, the history of 

performance, and/or the applicant’s ability to effectively implement statutory, 

regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities. 

In addition, prior to making an award where the total Federal share is expected to 

exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $150,000), NIST GMD will 

review and consider the publicly available information about that applicant in the 

Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). An 

applicant may, at its option, review and comment on information about itself 

previously entered into FAPIIS by a Federal awarding agency. As part of its review of 

risk posed by applicants, NIST GMD will consider any comments made by the 

applicant in FAPIIS in making its determination about the applicant’s integrity, 

business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards. Upon completion 

of the pre-award risk assessment, the Grants Officer will make a responsibility 

determination concerning whether the applicant is qualified to receive the subject 

award and, if so, whether appropriate specific conditions that correspond to the 

degree of risk posed by the applicant should be applied to an award.

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Date. NIST expects the earliest estimated 

start date for awards under this program to be August 2019.

5. Additional Information

a) Safety. Safety is a top priority at NIST. Employees and affiliates of award 

recipients who conduct project work at NIST will be expected to be safetyconscious, to attend NIST safety training, and to comply with all NIST safety 

policies and procedures, and with all applicable terms of their guest research 

agreement. 

b) Notification to Unsuccessful Applicants. An email will be sent to the

individual noted on the SF-424, section 8 F. Applicants must request within 7

calendar days of the email notification their request to have the program office 

provide a debrief which is limited in scope. The program office will then work 

with the unsuccessful applicant in arranging a date/time for the debrief.

c) Retention of Unsuccessful Applications. All electronic applications, whether 

successful or unsuccessful applications, are retained stored indefinitely in the 

NIST Grants Management and Information System in accordance with the 

General Record Schedule 1.2/021.

d) Protection of Proprietary Information. When an application includes trade 

secrets or information that is commercial or financial, or information that is 

confidential or privileged, it is furnished to the Government in confidence with the 

understanding that the information shall be used or disclosed only for evaluation 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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24

of the application. Such information will be withheld from public disclosure to the 

extent permitted by law, including the Freedom of Information Act. Applicants 

should clearly mark as “proprietary” any information contained in their 

applications that they believe is a trade secret or otherwise protected proprietary 

business information. Without assuming any liability for inadvertent disclosure, 

NIST will seek to limit disclosure of such information to its employees and to 

outside reviewers when necessary for merit review of the application or as 

otherwise authorized by law. This restriction does not limit the Government’s 

right to use the information if it is obtained from another source.

VI. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices. Successful applicants will receive an award package from 

the NIST Grants Officer. 

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 

a) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit 

Requirements. Through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, the Department of Commerce 

adopted Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 

Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, which apply to awards in 

this program. Refer to http://go.usa.gov/SBYh and http://go.usa.gov/SBg4. 

b) The Department of Commerce will apply the Financial Assistance Standard 

Terms and Conditions. The Department of Commerce will apply to each award 

in this program, the Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions in 

effect on the date of award. The current version, dated March 31, 2017, is 

accessible at http://go.usa.gov/xXRxK. Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, 

Federal Awarding Agency Contacts, Grant Rules and Regulations, if you need 

more information. 

c) Pre-Award Notification Requirements. The Department of Commerce will 

apply the Pre-Award Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative 

Agreements dated December 30, 2014 (79 FR 78390), accessible at 

http://go.usa.gov/hKkR. Refer to Section VII. of this NOFO, Federal Awarding 

Agency Contacts, Grant Rules and Regulations, if you need more information.

d) Funding Availability and Limitation of Liability. Funding for the program 

listed in this NOFO is contingent upon the availability of appropriations. In no 

event will NIST or the Department of Commerce be responsible for application 

preparation costs if this program fails to receive funding or is cancelled because 

of agency priorities. Publication of this NOFO does not oblige NIST or the 

Department of Commerce to award any specific project or to obligate any 

available funds.
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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25

e) Collaborations with NIST Employees. All applications should include a 

description of any work proposed to be performed by an entity other than the 

applicant, and the cost of such work should ordinarily be included in the budget. 

If an applicant proposes collaboration with NIST, the statement of work should 

include a statement of this intention, a description of the collaboration, and 

prominently identify the NIST employee(s) involved, if known. Any collaboration 

by a NIST employee must be approved by appropriate NIST management and is 

at the sole discretion of NIST. Prior to beginning the merit review process, NIST 

will verify the approval of the proposed collaboration. Any unapproved 

collaboration will be stricken from the application prior to the merit review. Any 

collaboration with an identified NIST employee that is approved by appropriate 

NIST management will not make an application more or less favorable in the 

competitive process.

f) Use of NIST Intellectual Property. If the applicant anticipates using any NISTowned intellectual property to carry out the work proposed, the applicant should 

identify such intellectual property. This information will be used to ensure that no 

NIST employee involved in the development of the intellectual property will 

participate in the review process for that competition. In addition, if the applicant 

intends to use NIST-owned intellectual property, the applicant must comply with 

all statutes and regulations governing the licensing of Federal government 

patents and inventions, described in 35 U.S.C. §§ 200-212, 37 C.F.R. Part 401, 2 

C.F.R. §200.315, and in Section D.03 of the DoC Financial Assistance Terms 

and Conditions dated December 26, 2014, found at http://go.usa.gov/hKbj.

Any use of NIST-owned intellectual property by a recipient of an award under this 

announcement is at the sole discretion of NIST and will be negotiated on a caseby-case basis if a project is deemed meritorious. The applicant should indicate 

within the statement of work whether it already has a license to use such 

intellectual property or whether it intends to seek one.

g) Research Activities Involving Human Subjects, Human Tissue, Data or 

Recordings Involving Human Subjects Including Software Testing. Any 

application that includes research activities involving human subjects, human 

tissue/cells, or data or recordings from or about human subjects, must satisfy the 

requirements of the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects 

(“Common Rule”), codified for the Department of Commerce at 15 C.F.R. Part 

27. Research activities involving human subjects that fall within one or more of 

the classes of vulnerable subjects found in 45 C.F.R. Part 46, Subparts B, C and 

D must satisfy the requirements of the applicable subpart(s). In addition, any 

such application that includes research activities on these subjects must be in 

compliance with all applicable statutory requirements imposed upon the 

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and other Federal agencies, 

all regulations, policies and guidance adopted by DHHS, the Food and Drug 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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26

Administration (FDA), and other Federal agencies on these topics, and all 

Executive Orders and Presidential statements of policy on applicable topics. 

(Regulatory Resources: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/index.html

which includes links to FDA regulations, but may not include all applicable 

regulations and policies).

NIST uses the following Common Rule definitions for research and human 

subjects research:

Research: A systematic investigation, including research development, testing 

and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. 

Activities which meet this definition constitute research for purposes of this 

policy, whether or not they are conducted or supported under a program which is 

considered research for other purposes. For example, some demonstration and 

service programs may include research activities.

Human Subject: A living individual about whom an investigator (whether 

professional or student) conducting research obtains data through intervention or 

interaction with the individual or identifiable private information. 

1) Intervention includes both physical procedures by which data are gathered 

and manipulations of the subject or the subject's environment that are 

performed for research purposes. 

2) Interaction includes communication or interpersonal contact between 

investigator and subject. 

3) Private information includes information about behavior that occurs in a 

context in which an individual can reasonably expect that no observation or 

recording is taking place, and information which has been provided for 

specific purposes by an individual and which the individual can reasonably 

expect will not be made public (for example, a medical record). Private 

information must be individually identifiable (i.e., the identity of the subject is 

or may readily be ascertained by the investigator associated with the 

information) in order for obtaining the information to constitute research 

involving human subjects. 

See 15 C.F.R. § 27.102 (Definitions). 

1) Requirement for Federalwide Assurance. If the application is accepted for [or 

awarded] funding, organizations that have an Institutional Review Board (IRB)

are required to follow the procedures of their organization for approval of exempt 

and non-exempt research activities that involve human subjects. Both domestic 

and foreign organizations performing non-exempt research activities involving 

human subjects will be required to have protocols approved by a cognizant, 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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27

active IRB currently registered with the Office for Human Research Protections 

(OHRP) within the DHHS that is linked to the engaged organizations. All 

engaged organizations must possess a currently valid Federalwide Assurance 

(FWA) on file from OHRP. Information regarding how to apply for an FWA and 

register an IRB with OHRP can be found at 

http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/assurances/index.html. NIST relies only on OHRPissued FWAs and IRB Registrations for both domestic and foreign organizations 

for NIST supported research involving human subjects. NIST will not issue its 

own FWAs or IRB Registrations for domestic or foreign organizations. 

2) Administrative Review. The NIST Human Subjects Protection Office (HSPO) 

reserves the right to conduct an administrative review5 of all applications that 

potentially include research involving human subjects and were approved by an 

authorized non-NIST institutional entity (an IRB or entity analogous to the NIST 

HSPO) under 15 C.F.R. § 27.112 (Review by Institution). If the NIST HSPO 

determines that an application includes research activities that potentially involve 

human subjects, the applicant will be required to provide additional information to 

NIST for review and approval. The documents required for funded proposals are 

listed in each section below. Most documents will need to be produced during the 

proposal review process; however, the Grants Officer may allow final versions of 

certain required documents to be produced at an appropriate designated time 

post-award. Research involving human subjects may not start until the NIST 

Grants Officer issues an award explicitly authorizing such research. In addition, 

all amendments, modifications, or changes to approved research and requests 

for continuing review and closure will be reviewed by the NIST HSPO.

3) Required documents for proposal review. All applications involving human 

subject research must clearly indicate, by separable task, all research 

activities believed to be exempt or non-exempt research involving human 

subjects, the expected institution(s) where the research activities involving 

human subjects may be conducted, and the institution(s) expected to be 

engaged in the research activities.

a) Not research determination. If an activity/task involves human subjects as 

defined in the Common Rule, but the applicant participant(s) indicates to 

NIST that the activity/task is not research as defined in the Common Rule, the 

 5 Conducting an “administrative review” means that the NIST HSPO will review and verify the performing 

institution’s determination for research not involving human subjects or exempt human subjects research. 

In addition, for non-exempt human subjects research, the NIST HSPO will review and confirm that the 

research and performing institution(s) are in compliance with 15 C.F.R. Part 27, which means HSPO will 

1) confirm the engaged institution(s) possess, or are covered under a Federalwide Assurance, 2) review 

the research study documentation submitted to the IRB and verify the IRB’s determination of level of risk 

and approval of the study for compliance with 15 C.F.R. Part 27, 3) review and verify IRB-approved 

substantive changes to an approved research study before the changes are implemented, and 4) review 

and verify that the IRB conducts an appropriate continuing review at least annually.
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following information may be requested for that activity/task:

i. Justification, including the rationale for the determination and such 

additional documentation as may be deemed necessary by NIST to review 

and/or support a determination that the activity/task in the application is 

not research as defined in the Common Rule. 

ii. If the applicant participant(s) used a cognizant IRB that provided a 

determination that the activity/task is not research, a copy of that 

determination documentation must be provided to NIST. The applicant 

participant(s) is not required to establish a relationship with a cognizant 

IRB if they do not have one.

NIST will review the information submitted and may coordinate further with the 

applicant before determining whether the activity/task will be defined as research 

under the Common Rule in the applicable NIST financial assistance program or 

project.

b) Research not involving human subjects. If an activity/task is determined to 

be research and involves human subjects, but is determined to be not human 

subjects research (or research not involving human subjects) under the 

Common Rule, the following information may be requested for that 

activity/task:

i. Justification, including the rationale for the determination and such 

additional documentation as may be deemed necessary by NIST to review 

and/or support a determination that the activity/task in the application is 

not research as defined in the Common Rule. 

ii. If the applicant participant(s) used a cognizant IRB that provided a 

determination that the activity/task is research not involving human 

subjects, a copy of that determination documentation must be provided to 

NIST. The applicant participant(s) is not required to establish a 

relationship with a cognizant IRB if they do not have one.

c) Exempt research determination with no IRB. If the application appears to 

NIST to include exempt research activities, and the performer of the activity or 

the supplier and/or the receiver of the biological materials or data from human 

subjects does not have a cognizant IRB to provide an exemption 

determination, the following information may be requested during the review 

process so that NIST can evaluate whether an exemption under the Common 

Rule applies (see 15 C.F.R. § 27.101(b), (c) and (d)).

i. The name(s) of the institution(s) where the exempt research will be 

conducted.

ii. The name(s) of the institution(s) providing the biological materials or data 

from human subjects.
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iii. A copy of the protocol for the research to be conducted; and/or the 

biological materials or data from human subjects to be collected/provided, 

not pre-existing samples (i.e., will proposed research collect only 

information without personal identifiable information, will biological 

materials or data be de-identified and when and by whom was the deidentification performed, how were the materials or data originally 

collected).

iv. For pre-existing biological materials or data from human subjects, provide 

copies of the consent forms used for collection and a description of how 

the materials or data were originally collected and stripped of personal 

identifiers. If copies of consent forms are not available, explain.

v. Any additional clarifying documentation that NIST may deem necessary in 

order to make a determination whether the activity/task or use of biological 

materials or data from human subjects is exempt under the Common 

Rule.

d) Research review with an IRB. If the application appears to NIST to include 

research activities (exempt or non-exempt) involving human subjects, and the 

proposed performer of the activity has a cognizant IRB registered with OHRP, 

and linked to their Federalwide Assurance, the following information may be 

requested during the review process:

i. The name(s) of the institution(s) where the research will be conducted;

ii. The name(s) and institution(s) of the cognizant IRB(s), and the IRB 

registration number(s);

iii. The FWA number of the applicant linked to the cognizant IRB(s);

iv. The FWAs associated with all organizations engaged in the planned 

research activity/task, linked to the cognizant IRB;

v. If the IRB review(s) is pending, the estimated start date for research 

involving human subjects;

vi. The IRB approval date (if currently approved for exempt or non-exempt

research);

vii. If any of the engaged organizations has applied for or will apply for an 

FWA or IRB registration, those details should be clearly provided for each 

engaged organization.

If the application includes research activities involving human subjects to be 

performed in the first year of an award, additional documentation may be 

requested by NIST during pre-award review for those performers, and may 

include the following for those research activities: 

i. A signed (by the study principal investigator) copy of each applicable final 

IRB-approved protocol;

ii. A signed and dated approval letter from the cognizant IRB(s) that includes 

the name of the institution housing each applicable IRB, provides the start 
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30

and end dates for the approval of the research activities, and any IRBrequired interim reporting or continuing review requirements;

iii. A copy of any IRB-required application information, such as 

documentation of approval of special clearances (i.e., biohazard, HIPAA, 

etc.) conflict-of-interest letters, or special training requirements;

iv. A brief description of what portions of the IRB submitted protocol are 

specifically included in the application submitted to NIST, if the protocol 

includes tasks not included in the application, or if the protocol is 

supported by multiple funding sources. For protocols with multiple funding 

sources, NIST will not approve the study without a non-duplication-offunding letter indicating that no other federal funds will be used to support 

the tasks proposed under the proposed research or ongoing project;

v. If a new protocol will only be submitted to an IRB if an award from NIST is 

issued, a draft of the proposed protocol;

vi. Any additional clarifying documentation that NIST may request during the 

review process to perform the NIST administrative review of research 

involving human subjects. (See 15 C.F.R. § 27.112 Review by 

Institution.))

This clause reflects the existing NIST policy and requirements for Research Involving 

Human Subjects. Should the policy be revised prior to award, a clause reflecting the 

policy current at time of award may be incorporated into the award.

If the policy is revised after award, a clause reflecting the updated policy may be 

incorporated into the award.

For more information regarding research projects involving human subjects, contact 

Anne Andrews, Director, NIST Human Subjects Protection Office (e-mail: 

anne.andrews@nist.gov; phone: (301) 975-5445).

h) Research Activities Involving Live Vertebrate Animals or Pre-Existing Cell 

Lines/Tissues From Vertebrate Animals. Any application that includes research 

activities involving live vertebrate animals, that are being cared for, euthanized, or 

used by participants in the application to accomplish research goals, teaching, or 

testing, must meet the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) (7 U.S.C. § 

2131 et seq.), and the AWA final rules (9 C.F.R. Parts 1, 2, and 3), and if 

appropriate, the Good Laboratory Practice for Non-clinical Laboratory Studies (21 

C.F.R. Part 58). In addition, such applications should be in compliance with the 

“U.S. Government Principles for Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in 

Testing, Research, and Training.” The Principles and guidance on these Principles 

are available in the National Research Council's “Guide for the Care and Use of 

Laboratory Animals,'' which can be obtained from National Academy Press, 500 5th

Street, N.W., Department 285, Washington, DC 20055, or as a free PDF online at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12910/guide-for-the-care-and-use-of-laboratory-animalseighth. 
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31

1) Administrative Review. NIST reserves the right to conduct an administrative 

review6 of all applications that potentially include research activities that involve 

live vertebrate animals, or custom samples from, or field studies with live 

vertebrate animals. If the application includes research activities, field studies, or 

custom samples involving live vertebrate animals, the applicant will be required 

to provide additional information for review and approval. In addition, NIST will 

verify the applicant’s determination(s) of excluded samples from vertebrate 

animals. The documents required for funded proposals are listed in each section 

below. Some may be requested for a pre-review during the proposal review 

process; however, the Grants Officer may allow final versions of certain required 

documents to be produced at an appropriate designated time post-award. If an 

award is issued, no research activities involving live vertebrate animals shall be 

initiated or costs incurred for those activities under the award until the NIST 

Grants Officer issues written approval. In addition, all re-approvals, amendments, 

modifications, changes, annual reports and closure will be reviewed by NIST.

2) Required documents for NIST proposal review. The applicant should clearly 

indicate in the application, by separable task, all research activities believed to 

include research involving live vertebrate animals and the institution(s) where the 

research activities involving live vertebrate animals may be conducted. In 

addition, the applicant should indicate any activity/task that involves an excluded 

or custom collection from vertebrate animals, or a field study with animals.

a) Excluded Collections from Vertebrate Animals: The requirements for 

review and approval by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee 

(IACUC) do not apply to proposed research using preexisting images of 

animals or to research plans that do not include live animals. These 

regulations also do not apply to obtaining stock or pre-existing items from 

animal material suppliers (e.g. tissue banks), such as pre-existing cell lines 

and tissue samples, or from commercial food processors, where the 

vertebrate animal was euthanized for food purposes and not for the purpose 

of sample collection.

For pre-existing cell lines and tissue samples originating from vertebrate 

animals, NIST requires that the proposer provide documentation or the 

 6 Conducting an “administrative review” means that the NIST HSPO will review and verify the performing 

institution’s IACUC’s approval of research with live vertebrate animals, and confirm that the research and 

performing institution(s) have an appropriate assurance and are in compliance with applicable 

regulations. HSPO will 1) confirm the engaged institution(s) possess, or are covered under an applicable 

assurance, 2) review the research study documentation submitted to the IACUC and verify the IACUC’s 

determination of level of risk and approval of the study for compliance with applicable regulations, 

3) review and verify IACUC-approved substantive changes to an approved research study before the 

changes are implemented, and 4) review and verify that the IACUC receives an annual report for the 

study and conducts an appropriate continuing review at least every three years.
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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32

rationale for the determination that the cell line or tissue is pre-existing and 

not a custom collection from live vertebrate animals for an activity/task within 

the proposal. NIST may require additional documentation to review and/or 

support the determination that the cells and/or tissues from vertebrate 

animals are excluded from IACUC review.

b) Custom Collections Harvested from Live Vertebrate Animals: NIST 

requires documentation for obtaining custom samples from live vertebrate 

animals from animal material suppliers and other organizations (i.e.,

universities, companies, and government laboratories, etc.). A custom 

sample includes samples from animal material suppliers, such as when a 

catalog item indicates that the researcher is to specify the characteristics of 

the live vertebrate animal to be used, or how a sample is to be collected from 

the live vertebrate animal. 

c) Field Studies of Animals: Some field studies of animals may be exempt 

under the Animal Welfare Act from full review and approval by an animal care 

and use committee, as determined by each institution. Field study is defined 

as “... a study conducted on free-living wild animals in their natural habitat...”. 

9 C.F.R. § 1.1. However, this term excludes any study that involves an 

invasive procedure or that harms or materially alters the behavior of an 

animal under study. Field studies, with or without invasive procedures, may 

also require obtaining appropriate federal or local government permits 

(marine mammals, endangered species, etc.). If the applicant’s institution 

requires review and approval by an animal care and use committee, NIST will 

require that documentation to be provided as described below.

d) For custom collections or studies with live vertebrate animals that 

require review and approval by an animal care and use committee the 

following documentation is required:

1) Requirement for Assurance. An applicable assurance for the care 

and use of the live vertebrate animal(s) to be used in the proposed 

research is required. NIST may request documentation to confirm an 

assurance, if adequate confirmation is not available through an 

assuring organization’s website. The cognizant IACUC where the 

research activity is located may hold one or more assurances 

applicable to the research activity that are acceptable to NIST. These 

three assurances are:

i. Animal Welfare Assurance from the Office of Laboratory Animal 

Welfare (OLAW) indicated by the OLAW assurance number,

i.e., A-1234; 

ii. USDA Animal Welfare Act certification indicated by the 

certification number, i.e., 12-R-3456; 
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iii. Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory 

Animal Care (AAALAC) indicated by providing the organization 

name accredited by AAALAC as listed in the AAALAC Directory 

of Accredited Organizations. 

2) Documentation of Research Review by an IACUC: If the applicant’s 

application appears to include research activities, field studies, or 

custom sample collections involving live vertebrate animals the 

following information regarding review by an applicable IACUC may be 

requested during the application review process:

i. The name(s) of the institution(s) where the research involving live

vertebrate animals will be conducted and/or custom samples 

collected.

ii. The assurance type and number, as applicable, for the cognizant 

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) where the 

research activity is located. [For example: Animal Welfare

Assurance from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) 

should be indicated by the OLAW assurance number, i.e. A-1234; 

an USDA Animal Welfare Act certification should be indicated by the 

certification number i.e. 12-R-3456; and an Association for the 

Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) 

should be indicated by AAALAC.]

iii. The IACUC approval date for the Animal Study Protocol (ASP) (if 

currently approved).

iv. If the review by the cognizant IACUC is pending, the estimated start 

date for research involving vertebrate animals.

v. If any assurances or IACUCs need to be obtained or established, 

that should be clearly stated.

vi. If any special permits are required for field studies, those details 

should be clearly provided for each instance, or indicated as 

pending.

If the application includes research activities involving vertebrate animals to 

be performed in the first year of an award, additional documentation may be 

requested by NIST during pre-award review for those performers, and may 

include the following for those research activities, which may also include field 

studies, custom sample collections involving live vertebrate animals:

i. A signed (by the Principal Investigator) copy of the IACUC approved 

ASP.

ii. Documentation of the IACUC approval indicating the approval and 

expiration dates of the ASP.

iii. If applicable, a non-duplication-of-funding letter if the ASP is funded 

from several sources.
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34

iv. If a new ASP will only be submitted to an IACUC if an award from 

NIST is issued, a draft of the proposed ASP may be requested.

v. Any additional clarifying documentation that NIST may request 

during review of applications to perform the NIST administrative 

review of research involving live vertebrate animals.

This clause reflects the existing NIST policy for Research Involving Live 

Vertebrate Animals. Should the policy be revised prior to award, a clause 

reflecting the policy current at time of award may be incorporated into the award.

If the policy is revised after award, a clause reflecting the updated policy may be 

incorporated into the award.

For more information regarding research projects involving live vertebrate 

animals, contact Linda Beth Schilling, Senior Analyst (e-mail: 

linda.schilling@nist.gov; phone: (301)-975-2887).

i) Collaborations Making Use of NIST User Facilities. All applications should 

include a description of any work proposed to be performed using either of NIST’s two 

User Facilities, the NIST Center for Neutron Research or the Center for Nanoscale 

Science and Technology: https://www.nist.gov/labs-major-programs/user-facilities. 

If an applicant proposes use of NIST facilities, the statement of work should include a 

statement of this intention and a description of the facilities. Any use of these two NIST 

facilities must be approved by appropriate NIST management and is at the sole 

discretion of NIST. Prior to beginning the merit review process, NIST will verify the 

availability of the facilities and approval of the proposed usage. Any unapproved facility 

use will be stricken from the application prior to the merit review. 

3. Reporting

a) Reporting Requirements. The following reporting requirements described in 

Section A.01 Reporting Requirements of the Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions dated March 31, 2017, 

https://go.usa.gov/xXRxK, apply to awards in this program:

1) Financial Reports. Each award recipient will be required to submit an SF-425, 

Federal Financial Report on a semi-annual basis for the periods ending March 31 

and September 30 of each year. Reports will be due within 30 days after the end 

of the reporting period to the NIST Grants Officer and Grants Specialist named in 

the award documents. A final financial report is due within 90 days after the end 

of the project period.
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35

2) Performance (Technical) Reports. Each award recipient will be required to 

submit a technical progress report to the NIST Grants Officer and the NIST 

Federal Program Officer on a semi-annual basis for the periods ending March 31 

and September 30 of each year. Reports will be due within 30 days after the end 

of the reporting period. Technical progress reports shall conform to the 

requirements in 2 C.F.R. § 200.328 (http://go.usa.gov/xkVgP) and Department of 

Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, Section A.01

(https://go.usa.gov/xXRxK). A final technical progress report shall be submitted 

within 90 days after the expiration date of the award, and publication citation 

information as well as links to publicly available data shall be submitted as soon 

as they become available. If a recipient’s Data Management Plan (DMP) has 

changed since their last submission of a technical progress report, the recipient 

must include their revised DMP in the next technical progress report following the 

revision to the DMP. The revised DMP must include all the requirements 

described in Section IV.2.a.10). of this NOFO. 

3) Patent and Property Reports. From time to time, and in accordance with the 

Uniform Administrative Requirements and other terms and conditions governing 

the award, the recipient may be required to submit property and patent reports.

4) Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters. In accordance with Section 872 

of Public Law 110-417 (as amended; see 41 U.S.C. § 2313), if the total value of a 

recipient’s currently active grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement 

contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceeds $10,000,000 for any 

period of time during the period of performance of an award made under this 

NOFO, then the recipient shall be subject to the requirements specified in 

Appendix XII to 2 C.F.R. Part 200, http://go.usa.gov/cTBwC, for maintaining the 

currency of information reported to SAM that is made available in FAPIIS about 

certain civil, criminal, or administrative proceedings involving the recipient.

b) Audit Requirements. The Department of Commerce Financial Assistance 

Standard Terms and Conditions, Section D.01.b.1., and 2 C.F.R. Part 200 Subpart 

F, adopted by the Department of Commerce through 2 C.F.R. § 1327.101, require 

any non-Federal entity (e.g., including non-profit institutions of higher education and 

non-profit organizations) that expends Federal awards of $750,000 or more in the 

recipient’s fiscal year to conduct a single or program-specific audit in accordance 

with the requirements set out in the Subpart. Additionally, unless otherwise specified 

in the terms and conditions of the award, entities that are not subject to Subpart F of 

2 C.F.R. Part 200 (e.g., for-profit commercial entities) that expend $750,000 or more 

in DOC funds during their fiscal year must have an audit conducted for that year in 

accordance with program guidance. Applicants are reminded that NIST, the 

Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, or another authorized Federal 

agency may conduct an audit of an award at any time.
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36

c) Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. In accordance 

with 2 C.F.R. Part 170, all recipients of a Federal award made on or after October 1, 

2010, are required to comply with reporting requirements under the Federal Funding 

Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law No. 109-282). In general, 

all recipients are responsible for reporting sub-awards of $25,000 or more. In 

addition, recipients that meet certain criteria are responsible for reporting executive 

compensation. Applicants must ensure they have the necessary processes and 

systems in place to comply with the reporting requirements should they receive 

funding. Also see the Federal Register notice published September 14, 2010, at 75 

FR 55663 available here http://go.usa.gov/hKnQ.

4. Award Management and Public Engagement

Publication and Technology Transfer. Each award recipient is expected to present 

the results of their work in appropriate professional literature and conferences to make 

the findings broadly available. Data supporting any findings or conclusions shall be 

made available in a manner consistent with the Data Management Plan. Award 

recipients are expected to fulfill their obligations consistent with Section C.03 Intellectual 

Property Rights of the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms 

and Conditions. See Section VI.2.b) of this NOFO. Additionally, as described in 

Section I.3. of this NOFO, the Engineering Laboratory at NIST, Gaithersburg, will host 

an annual symposium featuring the Disaster Resilience Grant Research 

Program recipients. The recipients will convene to share insights and findings based on 

the research. Recipients are required to attend the symposium every year and give a 

presentation describing their yearly progress and/or completion of research activities. 

The allotted time for presentation will be 45 minutes followed by a 15-minute question 

and answer session. NIST will live stream the presentations to allow the Disaster 

Resilience Community and the public the opportunity to participate. Registration details 

will be posted at a later date. Applicants must budget for the participation in the NIST 

yearly Disaster Resilience Symposium in addition to any other travel.

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

Questions should be directed to the following contact persons:

Subject Area Point of Contact

Programmatic and Technical Questions Millie Glick

Phone: 301-975-5962

E-mail: millie.glick@nist.gov

Technical Assistance with Grants.gov 

Submissions

Christopher Hunton

Phone: 301-975-5718

Fax: 301-975-6368

E-mail: grants@nist.gov
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Subject Area Point of Contact

Or

Grants.gov

Phone: 800-518-4726

E-mail: support@grants.gov 

Grant Rules and Regulations Husai Rahman

Phone: 301-975-4355

Fax: 301-975-6368

E-mail: husai.rahman@nist.gov

VIII. Other Information

1. Personal and Business Information.

The applicant acknowledges and understands that information and data contained in 

applications for financial assistance, as well as information and data contained in 

financial, performance and other reports submitted by applicants, may be used by 

the Department of Commerce in conducting reviews and evaluations of its financial 

assistance programs. For this purpose, applicant information and data may be 

accessed, reviewed and evaluated by Department of Commerce employees, other 

Federal employees, and also by Federal agents and contractors, and/or by nonFederal personnel, all of whom enter into appropriate conflict of interest and 

confidentiality agreements covering the use of such information. As may be provided 

in the terms and conditions of a specific financial assistance award, applicants are 

expected to support program reviews and evaluations by submitting required 

financial and performance information and data in an accurate and timely manner, 

and by cooperating with Department of Commerce and external program evaluators. 

In accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.303(e), applicants are reminded that they must 

take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally identifiable information 

and other confidential or sensitive personal or business information created or 

obtained in connection with a Department of Commerce financial assistance award.

In addition, Department of Commerce regulations implementing the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, Public 

Information. These regulations set forth rules for the Department regarding making 

requested materials, information, and records publicly available under the FOIA. 

Applications submitted in response to this NOFO may be subject to requests for 

release under the Act. In the event that an application contains information or data 

that the applicant deems to be confidential commercial information that should be 

exempt from disclosure under FOIA, that information should be identified, bracketed, 

and marked as Privileged, Confidential, Commercial or Financial Information. In 

accordance with 15 CFR § 4.9, the Department of Commerce will protect from 
2018-NIST-DR Notice of Funding Opportunity

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38

disclosure confidential business information contained in financial assistance 

applications and other documentation provided by applicants to the extent permitted 

by law.

2. Public Website, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and Webinar.

NIST has a public website, http://www.nist.gov/el/disaster_NOFO.cfm, that provides 

information pertaining to this Funding Opportunity. NIST anticipates that a 

“Frequently Asked Questions” section or other resource materials will be maintained 

and updated as needed to provide additional guidance and clarifying information that 

may arise related to this Funding Opportunity. Any amendments to this NOFO will 

be announced through Grants.gov.

Applicants must submit all questions pertaining to this Funding Opportunity in writing 

by e-mail to millie.glick@nist.gov. Questions submitted to NIST may be posted on 

the public website, http://www.nist.gov/el/disaster_NOFO.cfm. Alternatively, 

applicants may ask questions during the informational public webinar as described in 

the next paragraph. 

NIST will hold a webinar on July 11, 2018 to provide general information regarding 

this NOFO, offer general guidance on preparing applications, and answer questions. 

Proprietary technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted 

and NIST staff will not critique or provide feedback on specific project ideas while 

they are being developed by an applicant or brought forth during the Webinar or at 

any time before the deadline for all applications. However, questions about the DR 

Research Grants Program, eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, 

selection process, and the general characteristics of a competitive application can 

be addressed at the Webinar and by e-mail to millie.glick@nist.gov as described in 

the previous paragraph. There is no cost to attend the Webinar, but participants 

must register in advance. Participation in the Webinar is not required, and will not 

be considered in the application review and selection process. Additional 

information on the DR Research Grants Program and the Webinar is available at 

http://www.nist.gov/el/disaster_NOFO.cfm and https://www.nist.gov/newsevents/events/2018/07/disaster-resilience-grants-webinar-2018.