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2022-NIST-PSIAP-2022-01

Notice of Funding Opportunity

11/17/2021

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO)

NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program 2022 (PSIAP-2022)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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

United States Department of Commerce (DoC)

● Funding Opportunity Title: NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program

– 2022 (PSIAP-2022)

• Announcement Type: Initial

• Funding Opportunity Number: 2022-NIST-PSIAP-2022-01

• Assistance Listing (CFDA Number): 11.609, Measurement and Engineering 

Research and Standards

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

Eastern Time, January 18, 2022. 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 closes periodically for routine maintenance. 

Applicants should visit Grants.gov for information on any scheduled closures. 

NIST expects to complete its review, selection of initial successful applicants, 

and award processing by April 2022. NIST expects the earliest start date for 

awards under this NOFO to be May 2022. Depending on the availability of funds, 

NIST may issue additional awards in multiple batches through the end of 

September 2022. All awards in this program will be issued prior to September 30, 

2022. 

• Application Submission Address: Applications must be submitted using 

Grants.gov. Paper applications will not be accepted.

• Funding Opportunity Description: The NIST Public Safety Innovation 

Accelerator Program (PSIAP) is seeking applications from eligible applicants for 

activities to accelerate research, development, production, and testing of key 

public safety capabilities related to mission critical voice, location-based services, 

and user interface/user experience as described in Section I. of this NOFO.
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• Anticipated Amounts: In Fiscal Year 2022, NIST anticipates funding up to 

$7,000,000 in new awards. Funding is expected to range from $300,000 to 

$600,000 per year, per award. Project performance periods may be up to two (2) 

years, with the exception of proposals submitted by institutions of higher 

education for the purposes of supporting research by graduate students as part

of a doctoral program, for which the period of performance may be up to three (3) 

years.

• Funding Instrument: Grant or cooperative agreement.

• Eligibility: Eligibility for the program listed in this NOFO is open to all nonFederal entities. Eligible applicants include accredited institutions of higher 

education; non-profit organizations; for-profit organizations incorporated in the 

United States; state, local, territorial, and Indian tribal governments; foreign 

public entities; and foreign organizations. Please note that individuals and 

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

not eligible to apply under this NOFO. Although Federal entities are not eligible to 

receive funding under this NOFO, they may participate as unfunded 

collaborators.

NIST will consider multiple applications per applicant. However, an individual 

researcher may only be listed as the principal investigator on one application. In 

addition, applicants should refrain from submitting multiple applications with 

related subject matter. 

• Cost Sharing Requirements: Non-federal cost share is not required for awards 

issued pursuant to this NOFO.

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

website 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 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 via email to pscr@nist.gov with ‘PSIAP-2022’ in the subject line. Questions 

submitted to NIST may be posted on the public website. Alternatively, 

applicants may ask questions during the informational public webinar.
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• Webinar Information Session: NIST will host a webinar to provide general 

information regarding this NOFO, offer general guidance on preparing 

applications, and answer questions. Scheduling details about the webinar will 

be available on the public website. Proprietary technical discussions about 

specific project ideas will not be permitted during the webinar and NIST staff will 

not critique or provide feedback on specific project ideas while they are being 

developed by an applicant, brought forth during the webinar, or at any time 

before the deadline for all applications. However, questions about the funding 

opportunity, eligibility requirements, evaluation and award criteria, selection 

process, and the general characteristics of a competitive application will be 

addressed at the webinar. 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.

Table of Contents

I. Program Description............................................................................................. 3

II. Federal Award Information................................................................................ 19

III. Eligibility Information ........................................................................................ 20

IV. Application and Submission Information.......................................................... 20

V. Application Review Information......................................................................... 36

VI. Federal Award Administration Information....................................................... 42

VII. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts................................................................ 57

VIII. Other Information........................................................................................... 57

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Program Description

The statutory authority for the NIST PSIAP is 15 U.S.C. § 3706 and 47 U.S.C. § 

1443.

Program Description

The mission of the NIST Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) 

Division is to research, develop, and test technologies to improve first responder 

communications and operations. PSCR created this funding opportunity to 

stimulate external research and development (R&D) activities addressing critical 

technology gaps identified by stakeholders and to build a public-safety-focused

R&D ecosystem with long-lasting impact. 
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The NIST Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program 2022 (PSIAP-2022) is 

seeking applications to accelerate research and development (R&D) around the 

use of mission critical voice (MCV), location-based services (LBS), and user 

interface/user experience (UIUX) for improving public safety communication 

technologies.

1. Background Information 

The PSIAP-2022 funding opportunity supports the emerging Nationwide 

Public Safety Broadband Network and recognizes the urgent need for first 

responders to have access to the same broadband communications and 

innovative technologies that consumers on commercial networks now expect. 

Each of the three technical program goals, described in more detail in 

Sections I.4.a through I.4.c. of this NOFO, include specific objectives 

prioritized by public safety stakeholders that could transform the future of 

public safety operations.

2. Program Overview

Recipients will rapidly accelerate the objectives of the funding opportunity 

through innovative research and development (R&D) projects. Applicants may 

propose projects specific to one or more PSIAP-2022 technical program goals

and may propose cross-cutting projects that address one or more objectives 

within each or multiple goals. Applicants may also propose new ideas and 

objectives within any of the goals but may not propose new goals.

Applicants are required to develop partnerships with Public Safety 

Organizations (PSOs) to ensure that the R&D outputs of each PSIAP-2022

project are highly relevant and will have a meaningful impact on the public 

safety community. Potential applicants are responsible for contacting the 

organizations and arranging partnerships. NIST will not assist potential 

applicants with finding partners. 

For purposes of this NOFO, PSOs include U.S. federal, state, and local 

emergency medical services (EMS), fire services, law enforcement, and 

public safety communications/911 centers. At least one PSO involved in the 

project must be an active or volunteer department or agency. For the sake of 

the PSO participation requirement, consulting agencies and associations are 

not considered PSOs.

The program office recognizes that operational demands and limited budgets 

typically preclude public safety entities from dedicating resources to 
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participate in R&D activities. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to identify 

appropriate partners and include funding in their proposed budget for nonfederal first responders and public safety personnel to actively participate 

within their projects, and to budget significant time and sufficient travel for this 

interaction. Please note that Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding 

under this NOFO, though they may participate as unfunded collaborators. 

Applicants should also plan R&D projects tailored to disseminate their ideas 

and technology to the public safety stakeholder community. Such activities 

may be achieved through publications, technology transfer, 

commercialization, training, and/or the release of tools, designs, and/or data 

sets. Applicants may include funding in their proposed budget that would 

support the dissemination of the results and lessons of their PSIAP-2022

R&D efforts to the public safety stakeholder community.

The PSIAP-2022 funding opportunity is intended to accelerate R&D that 

directly impacts first responder communications and operations. This should 

be distinguished from activities addressing citizen emergency 

communications, e.g. 911. All applications must clearly demonstrate direct 

impact to first responder communications and operations.

The protection of human-subject-derived data is a priority for NIST research. 

The use of any data potentially involving human subjects will require an 

appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) waiver or approval that 

addresses the research to be performed. Data and IRB considerations and 

risks must be addressed in the Project Narrative. NIST cannot serve as an 

applicant’s IRB. For more details about research involving human-subjectderived data, see Section VI.2.g. of this NOFO. 

3. Program Requirements

Applicants may address one or more of the goals described below in Section 

I.4. of this NOFO within one application. 

The recipient’s Principal Investigator (PI) will be required to participate in the 

PSCR Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meetings (approximately five 

days) each calendar year during the term of the award to present research 

and meet with stakeholders from public safety, government, industry, and

academia. Other essential project staff are encouraged to attend. Attendance 

at this event should be reflected in the project schedule and budget.

4. Technical Program Goals
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a. Goal 1 – Mission Critical Voice 

Ever increasing operational demands on first responders, along with new 

technological opportunities and capabilities, are driving public safety 

organizations (PSOs) to adopt broadband technologies such as Long Term 

Evolution (LTE) and 5G for mission critical data. While access to broadband 

data is improving public safety operations and providing new applications, 

voice remains the most critical communications capability. PSCR is seeking 

proposals for innovative R&D projects to accelerate the development, 

production, and testing of mission critical voice over broadband networks.

An operational MCV capability includes a number of key functions, and 

successful implementation using LTE will require incorporation of a broad set 

of technologies, some of which are new or developing. However, PSCR’s 

stakeholder engagement and evaluation activities, coupled with the 

technology landscape assessments and industry roadmaps, clearly support 

the need for R&D in four particular areas: 1) direct mode operations, 2) 

mission critical push-to-talk, 3) LMR to Broadband, and 4) MCV 

Measurements/Quality of Experience. 

i. Direct Mode Operations

Direct mode operations (DMO) allow first responders to communicate 

independent of existing network infrastructure. DMO is currently used 

for several reasons, e.g., when operating outside of coverage areas or 

in covert mode, in areas with limited or degraded network capacity, etc. 

But, above all, it is a lifeline for first responders that allows them to 

communicate in emergencies and remote areas where other means 

are not available. 

To address the critical public safety requirement for a direct mode 

broadband technology, as well as new modes of communication and 

discovery, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) began to 

release LTE specifications in 2013 under the label Proximity Services 

(ProSe). Unlike conventional LTE in which transmissions are between 

base stations and devices via downlink or uplink, ProSe enables 

device-to-device (D2D) direct communication via a new channel called 

the ‘sidelink’. ProSe further defines a method to extend network 

communications to out-of-coverage user equipment (UE) via the UEto-network relay. ProSe also includes a ‘direct discovery’ feature that 

can be used to discover other users or devices in proximity. More 

recent specifications have been released to enhance the sidelink to 
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enable vehicle-to-vehicle/vehicle-to-everything (V2V/V2X) 

communications. Like ProSe, V2V/V2X are technologies that could 

potentially be used for public safety D2D communications.

Despite this initial momentum, there are few LTE direct mode enabled 

products in the broadband marketplace that meet the requirements of 

public safety users. With the emergence of 5G New Radio (NR) and 

the popularity of V2X communications, 3GPP introduced NR sidelink in 

Release 16 to enable direct communication between devices. Public 

safety organizations are looking to leverage this new capability being 

introduced in NR ProSe in Release 17 and beyond. Thus, ProSe still 

needs to be studied carefully in conceptual and practical applications 

for DMO, both on-network and off-network. Furthermore, it is expected 

that ProSe/V2V/V2X, along with emerging 3GPP specifications to 

support Internet-of-things (IoT) communication, will enable a first 

responder to contact any and all resources, including people, devices, 

and machines, within their proximity via the broadband network to 

ensure robust communications and augment current-day operations. 

PSCR seeks applications for R&D projects to stimulate commercial 

and technical organizations to create and support a market that will 

accelerate the development and adoption of DMO capabilities in public 

safety broadband devices, networks, applications, and operations. 

Examples (in no particular order) of possible R&D projects in this area 

include, but are not limited to:

1. Studying service continuity, i.e., how to enable seamless 

communications and network access as users and groups 

transition through in-coverage, partial coverage, and out-ofcoverage scenarios using technologies like ProSe direct 

communications and UE-to-network relay. Questions that might 

be considered include:

a. Are there any architecture and design considerations to 

enable service continuity between operational 

environments beyond the reference architecture model 

as identified in 3GPP TS 23.303 and TS 23.304?

b. In providing service continuity, what factors must be 

considered when using scheduled resource allocation 

versus autonomous resource selection? 

c. If automating the transition between network and direct 

mode operation, what factors and key performance 

indicators (KPIs) should be considered by an algorithm 
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that would trigger the changeover? What would be the 

impact on the user experience (e.g., handover delay, 

packet loss)?

2. Implementing a full NR UE stack that includes ProSe on a 

programmable system-on-a-chip that could be integrated in 

public safety devices. 

3. Developing accurate uplink/sidelink coexistence traffic models 

for predicting and verifying network performance, building on 

some of the work documented in 3GPP TR 36.877. 

4. Developing test cases for ProSe that can be used by the 

research community to test performance and conformance and 

be submitted for consideration by 3GPP for inclusion in 

conformance specifications like TS 38.521 and TS 38.523. 

5. Developing methods to measure user quality of service and 

experience in an operational environment while operating in 

direct mode. 

6. Conducting market research on how D2D technologies like 

ProSe might be adopted by consumers for applications like 

wearables, two-way radio, IoT, etc., and leveraged by 

commercial networks for carrier offloading, reduced backhaul, 

etc. Then further evaluating how this new mode of operation 

could be monetized and managed by commercial cellular 

operators, with the end-benefit for public safety being an 

economy of scale that could lower the cost of DMO-enabled 

public safety devices. 

7. Studying how ProSe direct communication, and a related 

capability ProSe discovery, can be utilized to augment LBS 

technologies and public safety analytics.

8. Assessing the benefits, risks, and vulnerabilities of DMO 

technologies from a security perspective. 

9. Developing enhancements to test equipment (e.g., base station 

emulators, load-testers) and software tools (e.g., Wireshark 

dissector, modeling and simulation, software defined radio 

frameworks) to facilitate test and measurement of sidelink and 

DMO technologies in LTE and 5G networks.

10.Evaluating coexistence scenarios where LTE, NR, and sidelink 

operate on the same frequency bands. 

11.Develop best practices to improve user coverage (e.g., higher 

capacity, increased communication range) based on existing 

specifications or new capabilities.

ii. Mission Critical Push-to-Talk 
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First responders use push-to-talk (PTT) technology as their standard 

communications for everyday operations. PTT allows users to push a 

button to (nearly instantaneously) initiate a transmission that can be 

broadcast to other users in a ‘talkgroup’, then release the button when 

done to hear transmissions from other users in the group. Beyond the 

PTT functionality, there are a range of other important capabilities and 

features that a public safety communications system must provide. To 

accommodate mutual aid scenarios these services must also have 

standard interfaces to be interoperable across public safety networks, 

and all these capabilities, features, and interfaces must perform at a 

high level of reliability to support ‘mission critical’ first responder 

operations. 

To address the critical public safety requirement of a mission critical 

broadband PTT capability, the 3GPP began to release LTE 

specifications for public safety PTT in 2016 under the label Mission 

Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT). In addition to providing the essential 

services and features, one of the primary goals of the MCPTT standard 

is to enable nationwide interoperability, a more competitive 

marketplace, and rapid technology migration at a scale not previously 

realized by current public safety networks and organizations. While 

most network operators are now offering 3GPP compliant MCPTT 

services over broadband, there is still a rich industry base supporting 

PTT communications in narrowband land mobile radio (LMR) 

networks. Emerging solutions, including the deployments of 5G NR,

will require significant testing and evaluation to ensure they meet the 

rigorous demands of a mission critical network. 

PSCR seeks applications for R&D projects to accelerate the creation 

and adoption of MCPTT in public safety broadband devices, networks, 

applications, and operations. Examples (in no particular order) of 

possible R&D projects in this area include, but are not limited to: 

1. Creation of data sets/models that represent how public safety 

agencies currently use their LMR and broadband systems for 

MCV and how it will perform in broadband networks under 

similar usage.

2. Developing standards-based MCPTT application servers and 

clients that can be used as reference implementations across 

the public safety industry for prototypes to begin testing and 

evaluation.
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3. Researching and developing standards-based interfaces 

between independent MCPTT application servers that will allow 

first responders in different networks, using different PTT 

applications and devices, to communicate without having to 

download new applications or deploy additional network 

resources. 

4. Developing or enhancing devices and equipment with 

appropriate hardware and software features to enable end-toend MCPTT applications and services. 

5. Participating in the MCPTT plug-tests organized by the 

European Telecommunications Standards Institute.

6. Developing APIs and middleware for MCPTT to enable rapid 

deployment of applications that rely on mission critical services. 

7. Developing KPIs and supporting test methodologies for 

evaluating LTE MCPTT capabilities and technologies against 

similar benchmarks in LMR systems. 

8. Developing a framework and data specification for integrating 

sensors, analytics, and decision thresholds into MCPTT 

applications.

9. Studying and demonstrating the potential benefits and risks to 

public safety operations if adaptive/dynamic call and floor 

controls integrating real-time feedback from devices, sensors, 

and personnel are utilized. 

10.Developing a test plan for expected battery life tailored to the 

operational requirements of first responder devices that includes 

consideration for ProSe, evolved multimedia broadcast/multicast 

services (eMBMS), location-based services, and personal area 

networks. 

11.Developing enhancements to test equipment and software tools 

to facilitate test and measurement of MCPTT technologies in 

LTE and NR networks. 

12.Studying security aspects of MCPTT to include protecting the 

signaling, media, and identity of users. 

13.Investigating conditions leading to undesirable behaviors (e.g., 

multiple arbitrators on the same call) and developing solutions 

to resolve them.

14.Evaluating MCPTT performance over NR and identifying 

enhancements to MCPTT to exploit new capabilities offered by 

NR.

iii. LMR to Broadband
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PSCR is committed to developing and implementing 3GPP-compliant 

technologies that bridge existing LMR systems to public safety 

broadband networks. These systems are required for public safety 

networks until broadband MCV capabilities are adopted widely by 

public safety agencies and their users. PSCR’s main efforts in this area 

through FY22 are focused on:

1. Software Defined Radio (SDR) Interfaces.

2. 3GPP Interworking Function (IWF) Development.

a. Radio Over IP (ROIP)/Bridging System 

Development/Implementation.

In SDR interfacing, PSCR has been developing technology and/or 

infrastructure that allows for the connection of existing legacy public 

safety radios, including analog and non-ISSI P25 radios, directly to 

3GPP compliant interfaces without the use of donor radios or 

proprietary hardware/software.

PSCR has funded development in FY21 of an IWF that will be 

commercial grade and available for sale to encourage interoperability 

using TIA02 and 3GPP standards.

To continue to expand LMR to broadband capabilities, PSCR is 

interested in projects in the following areas:

1. Implementation of open source capabilities to bridge LMR 

radios/repeaters/base stations directly to 3GPP-compliant IWFs 

and MCPTT Application Servers (AS).

2. Affordable products for public safety to use to implement SDRs 

in their LMR radio coverage that directly bridges to 3GPP 

compliant systems.

3. Whole-system console integration of LMR to broadband 

capabilities that allow for dispatch/console solutions across 

domains for public safety agencies.

iv. MCV Measurements/Quality of Experience

PSCR has developed measurement methods and capabilities to 

benchmark the performance of MCV systems for MCPTT relative to 

the users’ Quality of Experience (QoE). These methods and 

capabilities have been developed in a manner that treats the system 

under test as a black box so that all MCV systems, regardless of 
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underlying technology, can be measured against each other. The 

measurements heavily based around intelligibility of speech (whether 

the intended message is understood by the listener), as opposed to 

voice quality (how pleasant the sounds that make up speech are). The 

four key performance indicators (KPIs) are Speech Intelligibility/Voice 

Quality, Mouth-to-Ear Latency, End-to-End Access Time, and 

Probability of Successful Delivery.

In addition to developing measurement methods and capabilities, 

PSCR has also funded financial assistance awards to research how 

different values of these four KPIs affect public safety user job 

performance, and to study the specifics of public safety QoE.

To expand on PSCR’s ongoing research activities, research topics are 

sought under, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Improvement of MCV QoE measurement systems.

2. Additional measurements and analysis of public safety users’ 

job performance related to QoE, expanding upon research 

performed under prior financial assistance awards.

3. Correlation of MCV QoE measurements to radio/system 

performance parameters in non-ideal, operational environments.

4. Extensive performance testing of various MCV technologies, 

deployments, and systems.

5. Comparison of LMR and LTE system performance.

6. Highly intelligible and reliable speech-to-text capabilities for 

public safety users, both generating text from speech and 

generating speech from text.

7. Development and implementation of measurement systems 

related to user QoE.

8. UE time to registration and service measurement. 

b. Goal 2 – Location-Based Services

Emergency responders have a compelling need to understand the physical

environment in which they are working. Where are public safety personnel 

and equipment? What hazards and resources are present in the area? What 

entry and exit routes are available? PSCR refers to the collection of 

technologies and systems that gather, store, disseminate, and act on location 

and located information as Location-Based Services (LBS).

i. Positioning
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The most fundamental component of LBS for public safety is 

positioning: The ability to determine where something or someone is, 

especially the ability to locate public safety personnel and assets that 

are working in highly dynamic, potentially dangerous environments. A 

successful positioning system will be one that can determine personnel 

positions in three dimensions with sufficient precision, accuracy, 

timeliness, and reliability across the widest possible range of 

environments. The definition of “sufficient” will vary between use cases 

and situations, but a minimum level of performance is a sub 3 meter 

error radius with 95% probability and sub 1 second refresh rate (that is, 

at any given time, the most recent estimated position corresponds to 

the true position at a time less than 1 second ago) indoors, including in 

the basement of a large building. Note that this level of performance is 

what is required for first responder operations and should be 

distinguished from the positioning requirements in the Next Generation 

9-1-1 initiative, which are for locating members of the public when 

responding to emergencies. 

PSCR seeks applications for:

1. Developing positioning systems that can determine responder 

locations to sufficient accuracy and timeliness in diverse indoor 

environments regardless of whether the responder is walking, 

running, crawling, etc. These systems may rely on any mix of 

sensors and technologies but must not depend on the location 

where an incident occurs having been prepared in advance, for 

example by installing transmitters or receivers within the 

structure.

2. Developing positioning systems that can determine the location 

of other assets (e.g., equipment brought by emergency 

personnel or pre-installed in the environment), and people (e.g.,

patients or trapped persons) with similar accuracy and under 

similar constraints.

ii. Dissemination

A closely related component of LBS is position dissemination: the 

ability to get position information from the device(s) where it is 

calculated to the people who need to know it. It is frequently necessary 

to know where someone else is, for example to warn a person who is 

in danger, or to rescue a person who is incapacitated. Emergency 

responders frequently work in environments in which communication is 
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impaired; for example, it should not be assumed that infrastructurebased wireless communication is always available, or that there is a 

low-interference, low-attenuation radio path between all pairs of 

responders. A successful position dissemination system will be one 

that delivers sufficiently accurate and timely position information, 

reliably, across the widest possible range of communication 

environments. 

PSCR seeks applications for:

1. System-level research and development on position 

dissemination systems appropriate to public safety use. 

Software defined application architecture optimized based on 

network, device, power and server performance. A strong 

system-level proposal will address objectives of timeliness, 

reliability, accuracy, and security while considering 

communication, networking, and computation challenges.

iii. Data Security, Integration, and Interoperation

The next layer of LBS is data security, integration, and interoperation: 

It is not enough to know locations of individual objects and people in 

some arbitrary coordinate system; it must be possible to integrate and 

derive meaningful information from a variety of data sources. PSCR 

seeks applications to assess, develop, and enhance the following

capabilities:

1. Combining existing indoor and outdoor maps, drawings, 

imagery, and data in a way that is seamless to the user and 

presentable on a range of devices with a variety of form factors 

and display sizes, e.g., smartphones, tablets, and mobile data 

terminals.

2. Integrating data of variable provenance and confidence, for 

example publicly-sourced observations, responder-generated 

real-time updates, maps of varying age and quality, etc. This 

includes tracking the origin of information and enabling users to 

make real-time selections of which sources to trust (and to what 

extent).

3. A framework for protecting the privacy, identity, and integrity of 

metadata related to location of first responders utilizing LBS 

systems, as well as authentication of, and access to, different 
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LBS sources based on identity of users and operational 

scenarios.

iv. Mapping and Visualization

PSCR is interested in data collection (mapping) and data output 

(visualization and other UI modalities). PSCR seeks applications for:

1. Assessing and developing tools and techniques for indoor 

mapping, including automatic visual (or other) SLAM 

(Simultaneous Location and Mapping). Of particular interest are 

approaches for first responder pre-planning (in which response 

plans are developed in advance for known high-risk events / 

locations) as well as “on-demand” mapping in unplanned 

events. Relevant issues include interoperability for large-scale 

indoor/outdoor building mapping, accuracy, error correction, 

user learning curve, and system cost.

2. Developing techniques for mapping and localizing personnel 

within outdoor covered areas in which traditional GPS and 

visual aerial imagery are insufficient. Examples include under 

water or snow, heavily forested areas, and caves. Of particular 

interest are techniques based on (satellite or UAV) aerial 

measurement, including ground-penetrating RF and 

multi/hyperspectral imaging.

3. Addressing visualization of building and integration of vital 

information (e.g., sensors, HVAC and equipment, IoT devices, 

emergency equipment etc.). One example would be to create a 

Building Management Platform app that encourages building 

owners to make their own maps that can be utilized on a daily 

basis for building owners as well as for emergencies and 

requires zero technical expertise to set up or operate.

v. Affordable Localization Reference Environments

PSCR conducts internal research and development, with a heavy 

emphasis on testing and verification. We seek to test new localization 

technologies in realistic indoor scenarios with known “ground truth” 

location, and to accurately attribute location information to (other) 

measurements recorded while responders move around indoor 

environments. Thus, we are interested in ways that a controlled 

environment can be affordably instrumented to create a precise 

localization reference that can then be used to test a variety of LBS 
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technologies and solutions. The reference environment should enable 

precision localization of persons or objects moving freely within the 

space, without requiring them to alter their behavior in order to be 

accurately tracked.

There are two application scenarios of interest, with somewhat 

different requirements. The first is in an “LBS testbed” which will be a 

benign indoor environment. The second is in collecting measurements 

during response training and simulations. In the second case, the more 

robust the system is to adverse environments, the more broadly useful 

it will be.

PSCR seeks applications for:

1. Developing cost-effective reference measurement systems that 

can be installed in controlled indoor environments (i.e. testbeds, 

public safety training facilities, etc.) and used to assess the 

accuracy of LBS solutions in determining the location and 

movement of personnel and their equipment progressing within 

the test environment. While such tools need not be robust 

enough for field use, there is added value in being suitable for 

use in challenging environments such as a fire simulator or 

controlled burn.

c. Goal 3 – First Responder-Machine Interactions

In 2017, stakeholders across industry, academia, and public safety identified 

and prioritized seven key areas for impactful research around future user 

interfaces for public safety. The results were published in the 2018 Public 

Safety User Interface R&D Summit Report. These areas remain critical R&D 

areas for PSCR and public safety. To accelerate the development and 

adoption of these research areas for first responders, applicants can propose 

projects that conduct R&D in support of the following areas: 

i. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) interfaces - AR technology enables users to 

interact with their physical environment through the overlay of digital 

information. The ability to overlay contextual information and background 

knowledge on an AR headset would increase the operator’s awareness 

in the field. This may provide a series of visual cues that alert a 
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responder to hazardous materials or resources within a scene as he or 

she moves between environments.

ii. Voice Command/Audio Intake

Vocal command - Natural voice interaction could streamline access to 

data and information and make data retrieval more intuitive to 

responders in action. Vocal commands could greatly reduce physical 

cognitive requirements for operating communications devices and allow 

responders to focus on the task at hand. Audio intake – auditory cues 

could supplement visual or haptic interfaces to provide alerts or 

directional aids.

iii. Unmanned Vehicles/Human-Machine Interaction

Remote operation of unmanned ground and aerial vehicles - Higher 

prevalence of drones will enable virtualized public safety operations to 

be conducted from remote locations. Remote operations can be thought 

of as a separation between the human operator and the physical 

execution of public safety tasks where control is maintained via a

virtualized interface. 

Human-machine interaction (HMI) and co-participation - Public safety 

may eventually gain the ability to interact with robots as co-participants 

during response. These machines may be able to process commands 

within the context of a scenario’s mood, uncertainty, risk factors, etc. in 

real time and notice deviations from standard operating procedure. 

Responders may interact with robots to retrieve or transmit data onscene.

iv. Biometrics/Wearables/Smart Suit

Biometric Input mediums (heart rate, tongue gesture) - These include 

biometric sensors, heart rate monitors, and subvocal input commands, 

among others. Given the extreme environmental conditions inherent to 

many emergency scenarios, these non-vocal input commands will help 

responders communicate with others on scene or trigger specific support 

services when experiencing high noise, low visibility, limited dexterity, or 

physical impairment. 

Wearables and devices/sensors in clothing - Future public safety users 

may be equipped with wearable interfaces that measure physiological 

factors such as heart rate, electrical activity from muscles, and body 
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temperature. This performance data may lead to more informed 

resource allocation and operational decision making. Other wearables 

such as personal accountability tags may enhance responder situational 

awareness and user experience while yielding more precise location 

tracking and route optimization. 

Smart suit interfaces and cooperative devices/sensors - “Smart Suits” 

present the opportunity for public safety to integrate multiple user 

interface capabilities into an integrated product design. The smart suit 

technology for public safety looks to incorporate data, communications, 

sensors, displays, and cameras supporting improved situational 

awareness with the protective layer of the operational uniform.

v. Haptics

Haptic feedback and responsive physical displays - Touchscreens 

represent one of the most common user interface technologies used 

today and will become more responsive to touch, resistance, and motion 

with and without gloves going forward. Other types of haptic displays 

such as haptic belts and harnesses will provide tactile feedback to help 

responders “feel their way” or navigate through extreme conditions 

during response.

vi. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) systems - VR systems will be used to train public 

safety and conduct controlled equipment and interface testing. The 

ability to completely virtualize the operational environment from the 

safety of a controlled, indoor location will reduce risk to the lives of first 

responders, costs of training staff, and difficulty in testing equipment for 

operational suitability.

vii. Gesture Recognition/Eye-Gaze

Gesture Recognition - Gesture recognition represents an attractive 

alternative to traditional user controls because it would reduce the 

cognition and dexterity required to operate devices such as computer 

interfaces and in-vehicle dashboard controls. Eye-gaze input command 

and Eye Tracking - Many tasks within emergency response scenarios 

require full use of device operators’ hands and cognitive capacity. Eyegaze input commands that automatically track responders’ field of vision 

present a hands-free, potentially subconscious method to operate user 
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interface devices supporting the completion of these physically and 

mentally-demanding tasks.

These research areas account for areas that are deemed to have high 

impact and value for public safety based on feasibility, leverage, impacts 

on processes, results, and uniqueness to the public safety use case. The 

objective of Goal 3 is not to focus solely on the development of the 

underlying technology (e.g., create a drone) but rather to focus on the 

user interaction elements and potential applications for first responder 

training or operations.

Applicants will be able to research, design, and develop technologies 

that will improve first responder-machine interactions (FRMI). The R&D 

should apply a user-centered design approach and must include 

collaborating with a PSO to conduct user studies, assess human factors, 

and ensure potential implementations in the field align with PSO context 

of use. Further activities could include specific research including but not 

limited to: cognitive load and physical strain on performance, developing 

XR usability measurement capabilities, and testing methodologies.

II. Federal Award Information

1. Funding Instrument

The funding instruments that will be used are grants or cooperative 

agreements, as appropriate. Where cooperative agreements are used, the 

nature of NIST’s “substantial involvement” will generally include collaboration 

with the recipient organization in developing and implementing the approved 

scope of work, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.01.

2. Funding Availability

In FY 2022, NIST anticipates funding up to $7,000,000 in new awards. 

Funding is expected to range from $300,000 to $600,000 per year, per award. 

Project performance periods may be up to two (2) years, with the exception of 

proposals submitted by institutions of higher education for the purposes of

supporting research by graduate students as part of a doctoral program, for 

which the period of performance may be up to three (3) years. 

III. Eligibility Information
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1. Eligible Applicants

Eligibility for the program listed in this NOFO is open to all non-Federal 

entities. Eligible applicants include accredited institutions of higher education; 

non-profit organizations; for-profit organizations incorporated in the United 

States; state, local, territorial, and Indian tribal governments; foreign public 

entities; and foreign organizations. Please note that individuals and 

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

are not eligible to apply under this NOFO. Although Federal entities are not 

eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, they may participate as unfunded 

collaborators.

NIST will consider multiple applications per applicant; however, an individual 

researcher may only be listed as the principal investigator on one application. 

In addition, applicants should refrain from submitting multiple applications with 

related subject matter.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching 

Non-federal cost share is not required for awards issued pursuant to this 

NOFO.

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package

The application package is available at Grants.gov under Funding 

Opportunity Number 2022-NIST-PSIAP-2022.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission. Set forth below are the 

required content and form of applications submitted pursuant to this NOFO.

a. Required Forms and Documents. The Application must contain the 

following:

(1) SF-424 (R&R), Application for Federal Assistance. The SF-424 

(R&R) must be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant 

 organization. 

For SF-424 (R&R), Items 5, 14, and 19, use the Zip Code + 4 format 

(##### - ####) when addresses are called for.

For SF-424 (R&R), Item 17, the list of certifications and assurances is 

contained in the SF-424B (item (3) below).
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SF-424 (R&R), Item 18. If the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying 

Activities form (item (4) below) is applicable, attach it to field 18. 

(2) Research & Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed). The budget 

should reflect anticipated expenses for the full term of the project, 

considering all potential cost increases, including cost of living 

adjustments. 

The budget should be detailed in these categories:

A. Senior/Key Person;

B. Other Personnel;

C. Equipment Description;

D. Travel;

E. Participant/Trainee Support Costs;

F. Other Direct Costs;

G. Direct Costs (automatically generated);

H. Indirect Costs;

I. Total Direct and Indirect Costs (automatically generated);

J. Fee (not relevant to this competition);

K. Total Costs and Fee (automatically generated);

L. Budget Narrative and Justification document (item (8) below) 

should be attached to field L.

A separate detailed R&R Budget must be completed for each budget 

period during the proposed award (e.g., annual basis). To add 

additional budget periods (e.g., year 2), click “Add Period” embedded 

at the end of the form. Information regarding the Research & Related 

Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed) is available in the R&R Family Section

of Grants.gov.

(3) CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. Enter “2022-NISTPSIAP-2022-01” in the Award Number field. Enter the title of the 

 application, or an abbreviation of that title, in the Project Name 

 field.

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

(5) Executive Summary and Quad Chart. (This does not count toward 

the page limit.) The executive summary must explicitly state the 

objectives and approaches to meet those objectives, anticipated 

challenges, and benefits and impacts of the proposed project. The 

quad chart must contain a problem statement, the concept of the 
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proposed project, the potential impact of the project, and key 

milestones and/or deliverables. The executive summary and the quad 

chart must not exceed one (1) page each. Any materials provided 

beyond the one (1) page limit for the executive summary and the one 

(1) page limit for the quad chart will be redacted and not provided to 

the reviewers. The executive summary and quad chart are often used 

to inform PSCR webpages and should not contain proprietary or 

confidential information.

(6) Project Narrative. The Project Narrative is a word-processed 

document of no more than twenty (20) pages (double-spaced between 

lines), which is responsive to the program description and the 

evaluation criteria. 

The projective narrative should contain the following information:

a. Cover Page. The cover page should include:

i. The name, address and contact information of the applicant 

institution, partner organizations, and the principal 

investigator;

ii. The project title;

iii. Any statements regarding confidentiality; and

iv. A summary of the project in approximately three to five 

sentences using plain language that can be understood by a 

general, lay audience.

b. Table of Contents.

c. Project Description. This is a detailed description of the proposed 

project and should include:

i. A clear problem statement and well-defined objectives.

ii. A description of how the proposed R&D aligns with and 

meets the relevant goal(s) described in Section I. of this 

NOFO.

iii. A technology assessment that reflects the current state of 

the technology and the projected state of the technology as 

a direct result of successful project completion. This includes 

a description of existing frameworks, data, resources, and 

tools to be leveraged in the research.

iv. Technology-specific key performance indicators and goals, 

as well as measurement techniques.
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v. Drawings, renderings, or diagrams and an explicit 

description of standards-based vs. non-standards-based 

interfaces, if applicable.

vi. Identification of anticipated outputs with a discussion of how 

the research and technology developed will be disseminated 

or made available.

vii. Discussion of potential impacts to first responder 

communications and operations. 

d. Project Execution. This is a detailed description of the plan to 

execute the project and should be contained within the Project 

Narrative. Applicants should note that all information regarding 

costs are to be addressed in the Budget Narrative and Justification 

(see Section IV.2.a.(8) of this NOFO). This section should include: 

i. A summary of the overall approach to executing the award 

and how the schedule, deliverables, milestones, risk 

management, collaboration, and funding spent will maximize 

the applicant's chances of achieving the goals of this NOFO.

ii. A detailed project schedule (Gantt chart or similar) for the 

entire award period.

iii. A deliverable summary table identifying all deliverables, a 

description of each, and due dates.

iv. A milestone summary table identifying all milestones, a 

description of each, due dates, and clear, measurable 

criteria to verify milestone completion.

v. A description of experiments to be conducted and tools and 

prototypes to be developed and tested, if applicable.

vi. A description of the human data that will be used or 

generated in this study, identifying which data will be from or 

about individual humans. All proposals including such data 

will be reviewed as described in Section VI.2.g of this NOFO.

vii. A risk management plan identifying major risks during each 

phase of the award and mitigation strategies. This section 

should address program risk, specifically looking at budget 

and schedule risk, and describe the contingency plans in 

place to maximize the outcomes of the NOFO.

viii. An intellectual property plan that includes a discussion of 

proprietary intellectual property (whether existing or to be 

created) integrated in the R&D and why it would be 

necessary to the project. Applicants should identify any 

potential IP risks and encumbrances and address how IP 

challenges would be overcome in their technical approach.
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e. Qualifications. This is a detailed description of the applicant's 

relevant qualifications, experience, and resources for successfully 

completing the requirements of this NOFO. This section should 

include:

i. Qualifications of the individuals, teams, and organizations 

that will be executing or supporting the proposed project 

relative to the program goals.

ii. Access to the necessary staff, equipment, facilities, support, 

and resources to accomplish the proposed objectives.

(7) Resumes of Key Personnel. Resumes for all key personnel assigned 

to the project must be provided. Resumes must be a maximum of two 

pages each. Additional pages beyond the two pages per resume will 

not be considered during the evaluation of the application. Resumes 

are not included in the page count of the Project Narrative.

(8) Budget Narrative and Justification. There is no set format for the 

Budget Narrative and Justification. The Budget Narrative and 

Justification must be attached to the Research & Related Budget 

(Total Fed + Non-Fed). 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. 

The Budget Narrative does not count against the twenty (20) page 

limit of the Project Narrative.

 This section will be evaluated in accordance with the Budget Narrative

evaluation criteria. It will also be reviewed to determine if all costs are 

reasonable, allocable, and allowable under 2 C.F.R. Part 200 Subpart 

E, Cost Principles.

Information needed for each budget category is as follows:

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

should include the following: 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 personnel charges for each 

identified position on the proposed project, description of the role 
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of the individual on the proposed project and the work to be 

performed.

b) Fringe Benefits– Fringe benefits for each position 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 all travel costs, the budget justification for travel should 

include the following: destination; names or 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.

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. 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 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. Identify the cost 

and describe the services to be provided and the necessity of the 

subaward or contract to the successful performance of the 

proposed project. Contracts are for obtaining goods and services

for the Non-Federal Entity’s own use and creates a procurement 

relationship with the contractor. A subaward is for the purpose of 
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carrying out a portion of a Federal award and creates a Federal 

assistance relationship with the subrecipient. 

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.

i) Indirect Costs- Commonly referred to as Facilities & 

Administrative Costs, Indirect Costs are defined as costs incurred 

by the applicant organization that cannot otherwise be directly 

assigned or attributed to a specific project. The justification should 

include a cost calculation that reflects the applicable indirect cost 

rate. For more details, see Section IV.2.a.(8) of this NOFO.

(9) Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. 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 Section B.06 

of the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms 

and Conditions, dated November 12, 2020.

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

do not have a current negotiated (including provisional) indirect cost 

rate - except for those non-Federal entities described in appendix VII, 

paragraph D.1.b. of 2 CFR 200 - may elect to charge a de minimis 

rate of 10 percent of modified total direct costs (MTDC). 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 portion of the 

application. Please be aware that Foreign applicants will be limited to 

use of the de minimis rate and will not have the opportunity to 

negotiate an indirect cost rate with NIST.
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(10) Subaward Budget Form. The Research & Related Subaward Budget 

Attachment Form is required if sub-recipients and contractors are 

included in the application budget.

Instructions for completing subaward budget forms are available by 

visiting the R & R Family section of the Grants.gov Forms Repository 

and scrolling down to the R & R Subaward Budget Attachment(s) 

Form and selecting “Instructions.”

(11) Letters of Commitment. Letters of commitment must be submitted by 

all funded and unfunded entities that will have an active role in 

executing the activities outlined in the Project Narrative. Letters of 

commitment should address the level of participation, qualifications of 

the personnel who will be actively involved, and the potential impact 

on the field. Letters of commitment must be signed by an individual 

with sufficient authority to legally bind the organization to its 

commitment. Letters of commitment will be evaluated in accordance 

with the Performance evaluation criteria (see Section V.1.b. of this 

NOFO). Letters of commitment do not count against the specified

page limit of the Project Narrative. 

1. Public Safety Organizations: All applications must include 

at least one letter of commitment from a PSO unless the 

applicant organization is a PSO. Applications from non-PSO 

entities that lack a Letter of commitment from a PSO will be 

deemed ineligible and not receive further consideration. 

Letters of commitment from PSO partners must address the 

importance of the proposed work as well as potential impact 

for first responders and public safety in general. Applicants 

must include a detailed description identifying how first 

responders will be actively engaged throughout the 

proposed project. For purposes of this NOFO, PSOs include 

U.S. federal, state, and local EMS, fire services, law 

enforcement, and public safety communications/911 centers. 

Please note that Federal entities are not eligible to receive 

funding under this NOFO, though they may participate as 

unfunded collaborators.
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(12) Data Management Plan. Consistent with NIST Policy 5700.001, 

Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research, 

and NIST Order 5701.002, Managing Public Access to Results of 

Federally Funded Research,” applicants proposing projects that 

include the conduct of research must include a Data Management 

Plan (DMP).

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/or 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).

The DMP 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, including after the end of the award’s 

period of performance; and a plan describing whether and how data 

generated by the identified activities will be reviewed and made 

available to the public.

A template for the DMP, an example DMP, and the rubric against 

which the DMP will be evaluated for sufficiency is available at 

https://www.nist.gov/open. An applicant is not required to use the 

template as long as the DMP contains the required information.

If an application stands a reasonable chance of being funded and the 

DMP is determined during the review process to be insufficient, the 

program office may reach out to the applicant to resolve deficiencies 

in the DMP. If an award is issued prior to the deficiencies being fully 

rectified, the award will include a Specific Award Condition (SAC) 

stating that no research activities shall be initiated or costs incurred 

for those activities under the award until the NIST Grants Officer 

amends the award to indicate the SAC has been satisfied.

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included

in the application. 

1 https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2018/06/19/final_p_5700.pdf 

2 https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2019/11/08/final_o_5701_ver_2.pdf
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(13) Current and Pending Support Form. Any application that includes 

investigators, researchers, and key personnel must identify all 

sources of current and potential funding, including this proposal. Any 

current project support (e.g., Federal, state, local, public or private 

foundations, etc.) must be listed on this form. The proposed project 

and all other projects or activities requiring a portion of time of the 

Principal Investigator (PI), co-PI, and key personnel must be 

included, even if no salary support is received. The total award 

amount for the entire award period covered, including indirect costs, 

must be shown as well as the number of person-months per year to 

be devoted to the project, regardless of the source of support. 

Similar information must be provided for all proposals already 

submitted or that are being submitted concurrently to other potential 

funders. 

Applicants must complete the Current and Pending Support Form, 

using multiple forms as necessary to account for all activity for each 

individual identified in the PI, co-PI and key personnel roles. A 

separate form should be used for each identified individual. 

Applicants must download the Current and Pending Support Form 

from the NIST website at https://www.nist.gov/oaam/grantsmanagement-division/current-and-pending-support and reference the 

guidance provided as it contains information to assist with accurately 

completing the form.

(14) Research and Related Other Project Information. Answer the 

 highlighted questions and use this form to attach the Project

Narrative (item (6) above), the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (item 

(9) above), the Data Management Plan (item (12) above), and the 

Current and Pending Support Form (item (13) above). Instructions 

for completing the Research and Related Other Project Information 

can be found at Instructions R&R Other Project Information.

Please note that the Project Summary/Abstract is not relevant to 

this competition. However, Grants.gov requires an attachment 

to field 7 of the Research and Related Other Project Information 

form to successfully pass through Grants.gov. Please attach a 

document to field 7 stating, “A Project Summary/Abstract is not 

relevant to this competition”.

There are no separate documents required for field 9, “Bibliography 
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& References Cited’; or for field 10, “Facilities & Other Resources;” 

or for field 11, “Equipment”. Any details relating to these topics 

should be included in other documents and forms, if and as specified 

in this NOFO.

b. Attachment of Required Documents

 Items IV.2.a.(1) through IV.2.a.(3) above are part of the standard 

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

download application process.

 Item IV.2.a.(4), the SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form, is 

an optional application form which is part of the standard application 

package in Grants.gov. If item IV.2.a.(4), the SF-LLL, Disclosure of 

Lobbying Activities form is applicable to this proposal, attach it to field 

18 of the SF-424 (R&R), Application for Federal Assistance.

 Item IV.2.a.(6), the Project Narrative, should be attached to field 8 

(Project Narrative) of the Research and Related Other Project 

Information form by clicking on “Add Attachment”.

Item IV.2.a.(8), the Budget Narrative and Justification, should be

attached to field L (Budget Justification) of the Research and Related 

Budget (Total Fed + Total Non-Fed) form by clicking on “Add 

Attachment”.

Items IV.2.a.(9), the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, IV.2.a.(12), the 

Data Management Plan, and IV.2.a.(13), the Current and Pending 

Support Form, must be completed and attached by clicking on “Add 

Attachments” found in item 12 (Other Attachments) of the Research 

and Related Other Project Information form. 

Item IV.2.a.(11), Letters of Commitment, should be attached by clicking 

on “Add Attachments” found in item 12 (Other Attachments) of the 

Research and Related Other Project Information form. 

Item IV.2.a.(10), the Subaward Budget Form(s), if applicable to the 

submission, should be attached to the Research & Related Subaward 

Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed) Attachment(s) Form in the application 

package.

Following these directions will create zip files which permit transmittal 
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of the documents electronically via Grants.gov. 

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions 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 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 Forms and Applications” option to check that their 

application’s required attachments were contained in their submission.

After submitting the application, check the status of your application 

here: CHECK APPLICATION STATUS. 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://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm#t=GetStarted%2FGet

Started.htm 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
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(1) Paper, Email, and Facsimile (fax) Submissions. Will not be

accepted.

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

easily readable or viewable and may be displayed in landscape 

orientation. Any figures, graphs, images, or pictures will count toward 

the page limits for the Project Narrative.

(3) Font. Easy to read font (10-point minimum). Smaller type may be used 

in figures and tables but must be clearly legible.

(4) Page Limit. See the table below:

Section Page Limit Required or Optional

Cover Page 1 Required

Table of Contents 1 Optional

Project Narrative 20 Required

Letter of Commitment 1 page per PSO Required

Executive Summary 1 Required

Quad Chart 1 Required

(5) Page Limit Exclusions:

SF-424 (R&R), Application for Federal Assistance;

CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying;

SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities;

Executive Summary and Quad Chart;

Budget Narrative and Justification;

Research & Related Budget (Total Fed + Non-Fed);

Research and Related Other Project Information;

Indirect Cost Rate Agreement;

Letters of Commitment;

Data Management Plan;

Subaward Budget Form;

Current and Pending Support Form

(6) Page Layout. The Project Narrative must be in portrait orientation.

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

inches).
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(8) Page numbering. Number pages sequentially.

(9) Application language. English. 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. 

(10) Typed document. All applications, including forms, must be typed;

handwritten forms will not be accepted.

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. Pre-applications will not be accepted under 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 e-mail to pscr@nist.gov with “PSIAP-2022” 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.

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

Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. part 25, applicants and recipients 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 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.
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4. Submission Dates and Times

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

Time, January 18, 2022. NIST will consider the date and time recorded by 

Grants.gov as the official submission time. Applications received after this 

deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Paper applications will not be 

accepted.

Applicants should be aware, and factor in their application submission planning, 

that the Grants.gov system closes periodically for routine maintenance. 

Applicants should visit Grants.gov for information on any scheduled closures. 

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

applicants are required to have current registrations in the electronic System for 

Award Management (SAM.gov) and Grants.gov; (2) the free annual registration 

process in the SAM.gov generally takes between three and five business days 

but can take more than three weeks; and applicants will receive e-mail 

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 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

Construction activities are not an allowable cost under this program. In addition, 

a recipient or a subrecipient may not charge profits, fees or other increments 

above cost to an award issued pursuant to this NOFO.

7. Other Submission Requirements

a) Applications must be submitted at Grants.gov. Paper applications 

will not be accepted.

i) 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 
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applying electronically for the 2022-NIST-PSIAP-2022-01

announcement, contact the Grants.gov Help Desk at 800-518-

4726.

ii) 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. The typical registration process 

takes three to five business days. If problems are encountered, the 

registration process can take 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.

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, 

except for Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 

a.m. Eastern Time the day after Federal holidays. For assistance 

using Grants.gov, the applicant may also contact 

support@grants.gov.

iii) To find instructions for submitting an application on Grants.gov, 

applicants should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just 

below the top of the Grants.gov home page. Clicking on the 

“Applicants” tab produces two exceptionally useful sources of 

information, Applicant Actions 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. 
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Applicants should pay close attention to the guidance under 

Grants.gov “Applicant FAQs,” as it contains information important to 

successful submission, including essential details on the naming 

conventions for attachments to 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.

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 ascertain whether 

the application was rejected with errors and the reasons for the 

rejection, 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 the 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 the 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 e-mail or may request copies by e-mail from pscr@nist.gov.

V. Application Review Information

1. Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria that will be used in evaluating applications and their 

assigned weights are as follows (sub criteria will be weighted approximately 

evenly in all categories):

a. Technical Merit (40 points)
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Reviewers will evaluate the:

(1) Strategic alignment:

a) The extent to which the proposed technical approach meets

one or more of the goals the objectives listed in the Program 

Description (see Section I. of this NOFO).

b) The breadth of the responsiveness to the topic area goals. 

c) The likelihood that successful implementation of the 

proposed solution will have a significant real-world impact.

d) The extent to which the outputs will be available, traceable, 

and extendable for the public safety and R&D communities.

(2) Market:

a) The extent to which the proposed solution would easily 

integrate with existing hardware and software platforms.

b) The likelihood that the technology or research outcomes 

could have potential market impact.

b. Performance (40 points)

Reviewers will evaluate the:

(1) Qualifications and Resources Availability:

a) The appropriateness of the qualifications and experience of 

the key staff, leadership, and technical experts.

b) The extent of the applicant’s prior experience and results 

achieved in leading programs similar in nature to the 

purpose, scope, and/or work activities as those described in 

Section I. of this NOFO. 

c) The sufficiency, availability, and appropriateness of 

proposed facilities and resources.

d) Letters of commitment for the appropriateness of the 

partnership to PSIAP-2022, the relevance of the 

organization’s expertise, and their ability to contribute to the 

project.

(2) Project Execution:

a) Extent to which the project management approach is clearly 

described and supports the objectives of this NOFO. 

b) Feasibility, sufficiency, clarity, quality, and appropriateness 

of the schedule, deliverables, milestones, and data for 

achieving the goals of the program. 
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c) Sufficiency of the identified schedule and budget risk and 

mitigation strategies as defined in the risk management plan 

section of the Project Narrative.

d) Appropriateness of potential use and consideration of 

challenges of intellectual property as defined in the 

intellectual property plan section of the Project Narrative. 

(3) Public Safety Mission:

a) Applicant’s demonstrated knowledge of public safety 

requirements, missions, operations, and tasks.

b) The extent of PSO engagement as expressed through letters 

of commitment from PSOs.

c. Budget (20 points)

Reviewers will evaluate the:

(1) The appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of the budget 

regarding the proposed work to be performed, per year for the 

entire project.

(2) The degree to which the budget and budget narrative reflect a clear 

understanding of the objectives and requirements of the NOFO.

2. Selection Factors 

a. The Selection Factors for this competition are:

(1) The results of the merit reviewers’ evaluations. 

(2) The availability of funding.

(3) Whether the project duplicates other projects funded or considered 

for funding by NIST or other federal agencies.

(4) Alignment with NOFO objectives and PSCR priorities.

(5) Diversity within the PSCR R&D portfolio.

(6) Regional diversity.

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, or non-Federal 

personnel who have entered into conflict of interest and confidentiality

agreements covering such information, when applicable.
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a. Initial Administrative Review of Applications.

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. Applications determined to be 

ineligible, incomplete, and/or nonresponsive may 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. Full Review of Eligible, Complete, and Responsive Applications.

Applications that are determined to be eligible, complete, and responsive 

will proceed for full reviews in accordance with the review and selection 

process below: 

1) Merit Review. 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. While every 

application will have at least three (3) reviewers, applications may have 

more than three (3) reviewers if specialized expertise is needed to 

evaluate an application. During the review process, the reviewers may 

discuss the applications with each other, but scores will be determined 

on an individual basis. Applications will be ranked by averaging the 

scores of all reviewers for each application.

2) Evaluation Panel. Following the merit review, an evaluation panel 

consisting of at least three (3) NIST staff and/or other Federal 

employees with the appropriate technical expertise will conduct a panel 

review of the ranked applications. The evaluation panel may contact 

applicants via e-mail to clarify contents of an application. The 

evaluation panel will provide a final adjectival rating and written 

evaluation of the applications to the Selecting Official for further 

consideration, considering:

i. All application materials

ii. Results of the merit reviewers’ evaluations, including scores and 

written assessments

iii. Any relevant publicly available information

iv. Any clarifying information obtained from the applicants 
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The adjectival ratings are: 

i. Outstanding

ii. Very Good

iii. Average

iv. Deficient

For decision-making purposes, applications receiving the same 

adjectival rating will be considered to have an equivalent ranking, 

although their review scores may not necessarily be the same.

3) Selection. The Selecting Official, the PSCR Division Chief or 

designee, 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 upon the 

adjectival rating of the applications and one or more of the Selection 

Factors. 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 the budget costs with any 

applicant selected to receive an award, which may include requesting 

that the applicant removes certain costs. Additionally, NIST may 

request that successful applicants 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 application. 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 with 2 C.F.R. § 200.206, 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. 
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In addition, prior to making an award where the total Federal share is 

expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently 

$250,000), 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 discretion, 

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 award 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 to complete its review, selection of initial successful 

applicants, and award processing by April 2022. NIST expects the earliest 

start date for awards under this NOFO to be May 2022. Depending on the 

availability of funds, NIST may issue additional awards in multiple batches 

through the end of September 2022. All awards in this program will be 

issued prior to September 30, 2022. 

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. Unsuccessful applicants will 

be notified by e-mail and will have the opportunity to receive a debriefing 

after the opportunity is officially closed. Applicants must request within 10 

business days of the email notification to receive a debrief from the 

program office. The program office will then work with the unsuccessful 

applicant in arranging a date and time of the debrief.

c. Retention of Unsuccessful Applications. Unsuccessful applications will 

be retained in accordance with the General Record Schedule 1.2/021.
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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. Department of Commerce 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 November 12, 

2020, is accessible at Department of Commerce Financial Assistance 

Standard Terms and Conditions. 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, for 

more information.

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

program listed in this NOFO is contingent upon the availability of 

appropriations. NIST or the Department of Commerce will not be 

responsible for application preparation costs, including but not limited to 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.

NIST issues this Notice subject to the appropriations made available 

under the current continuing resolution funding the Department of 

Commerce: Section 101 of Division A of the Extending Government 
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Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 117-43 

(Sept. 30, 2021). NIST anticipates making awards for the program listed in 

this notice provided that funding for Fiscal Year 2022 is continued beyond 

December 3, 2021, the expiration of the current continuing resolution.

e. Collaborations with NIST Employees. 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 Federal Government-Owned Intellectual Property. If the 

applicant anticipates using any Federal Government-owned intellectual 

property, in the custody of NIST or another Federal agency, to carry out 

the work proposed, the applicant should clearly identify such intellectual 

property in the proposal. This information will be used to ensure that no 

Federal 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 the Federal Government-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 C.03 of the Department of Commerce Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, dated November 12, 2020. 

Questions about these requirements may be directed to the Chief Counsel 

for NIST, (301) 975-2803, nistcounsel@nist.gov.

Any use of Federal Government-owned intellectual property by a recipient 

of an award under this announcement is at the sole discretion of the 

Federal Government and will need to be negotiated on a case-by-case 

basis by the recipient and the Federal agency having custody of the 

intellectual property 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 a 

license from the applicable Federal agency.
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If any inventions made in whole or in part by a NIST employee arise in the 

course of an award made pursuant to this NOFO, the United States 

Government may retain its ownership rights in any such invention. 

Licensing or other disposition of the Federal Government’s rights in such 

inventions will be determined solely by the Federal Government, through 

NIST as custodian of such inventions, and include the possibility of the 

Federal Government putting the intellectual property into the public 

domain.

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 

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

professional or student) conducting research: (i) Obtains information or 

biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and 

uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (ii) Obtains, 

uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or 

identifiable biospecimens. 

(1) Intervention includes both physical procedures by which information 

or biospecimens 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 that 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. 

(4) Identifiable biospecimen includes a biospecimen for which the 

identity of the subject is or may readily be ascertained by the 

investigator or associated with the biospecimen.

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 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 exempt 

research requiring limited IRB review or non-exempt research activities 

involving human subjects will be required to have protocols approved 

by a cognizant, 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 
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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. See 15 C.F.R. § 

27.103. NIST relies only on OHRP-issued 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 Research Protections Office (RPO) 

reserves the right to conduct an administrative review3 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 RPO) under 15 C.F.R. § 27.112 

(Review by Institution). If the NIST RPO 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 RPO. 

Please note that the NIST IRB is unable to serve as the IRB for 

financial assistance recipients. Proposers must describe their plan for 

when and how they will obtain IRB review.

3) Required documents for proposal review. All applications 

involving human subjects research must clearly indicate, by 

3 Conducting an “administrative review” means that the NIST RPO will review and verify the performing 

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

In addition, for exempt research requiring limited IRB review and non-exempt human subjects research, 

the NIST RPO will review and confirm that the research and performing institution(s) are in compliance 

with 15 C.F.R. Part 27, which means RPO 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 a continuing review 

at least annually, as appropriate.
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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 following information may be 

requested for that activity/task:

(1) 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. 

(2) 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:

(1) 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. 

(2) 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 
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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 that do not 

meet the criteria for requiring a limited IRB review, and the 

performer of the activity or the supplier and/or the receiver of the 

information or biospecimens 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. § 27.104(b) and (d)):

(1) The name(s) of the institution(s) where the exempt research will 

be conducted.

(2) The name(s) of the institution(s) providing the biospecimens or 

information from human subjects.

(3) A copy of the protocol for the research to be conducted; and/or 

the biospecimens or information from human subjects to be 

collected/provided, not pre-existing samples (i.e., will proposed 

research collect only information without personal identifiable 

information, will biospecimens or information be de-identified 

and when and by whom was the de-identification performed, 

how were the materials or data originally collected).

(4) For pre-existing biospecimens or information from human 

subjects, provide copies of the consent forms used for collection 

and a description of how the biospecimens or information were 

originally collected and stripped of personal identifiers. If copies 

of consent forms are not available, explain.

(5) Any additional clarifying documentation that NIST may deem

necessary in order to make a determination whether the 

activity/task or use of biospecimens or information 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, proposed performer of the activity must have a 

relationship with a cognizant IRB registered with OHRP, and linked 

to their Federalwide Assurance. The following information may be 

requested during the review process:
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(1) The name(s) of the institution(s) where the research will be 

conducted.

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

IRB registration number(s).

(3) The FWA number of the applicant linked to the cognizant 

IRB(s).

(4) The FWAs associated with all organizations engaged in the 

planned research activity/task, linked to the cognizant IRB.

(5) If the IRB review(s) is pending, the estimated start date for 

research involving human subjects.

(6) The IRB approval date (if currently approved for exempt or nonexempt research).

(7) 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: 

(1) A copy of each applicable final IRB-approved protocol.

(2) 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 and end dates for the approval of the 

research activities, and any IRB-required interim reporting or 

continuing review requirements.

(3) 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.

(4) A brief description of which 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-of-funding letter 

indicating that no other federal funds will be used to support the 

tasks proposed under the proposed research or ongoing project.

(5) If a new protocol will only be submitted to an IRB if an award 

from NIST is issued, a draft of the proposed protocol.
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(6) 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 Research Protections 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 

proposes research activities involving live vertebrate animals that are to be 

cared for, euthanized, or used by award recipients 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 Nonclinical 

Laboratory Studies (21 C.F.R. Part 58). In addition, such research activities 

should be in compliance with the “U.S. Government Principles for Utilization 

and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training” 

(Principles). 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-oflaboratory-animals-eighth. 

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

administrative review4 of all applications that potentially include 

4 Conducting an “administrative review” means that the NIST RPO 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. RPO will 1) confirm the engaged institution(s) possess, or are covered under an applicable 
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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 prereview 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.

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

vertebrate animals, NIST requires that the proposer provide 

documentation or the 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.). Custom samples 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 freeliving 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 
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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 four 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;

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; and

iv. Letter of Assurance of compliance with the Animal 

Welfare Act, the U.S. Government Principles, and 

National Marine Fisheries Service (NFMS) IACUC policy 

that is valid for five years and provided by a NMFS 

Regional IACUC for activities with marine mammals or 

sea turtles (NMFS Policy Directive 04-112).

(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:

1. The name(s) of the institution(s) where the research 

involving live vertebrate animals will be conducted and/or 

custom samples collected.

2. 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.]
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3. The IACUC approval date for the Animal Study Protocol 

(ASP) (if currently approved).

4. If the review by the cognizant IACUC is pending, the 

estimated start date for research involving vertebrate 

animals.

5. If any assurances or IACUCs need to be obtained or 

established, that should be clearly stated.

6. 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:

1. A copy of the IACUC approved ASP.

2. Documentation of the IACUC approval indicating the 

approval and expiration dates of the ASP.

3. If applicable, a non-duplication-of-funding letter if the 

ASP is funded from several sources.

4. 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.

5. 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.
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For more information regarding research projects involving live vertebrate 

animals, contact Anne Andrews, Director, NIST Research Protections 

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

3. Reporting

a. Reporting Requirements. The following reporting requirements described in 

Sections A.01, Reporting Requirements, of the Department of Commerce 

Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, dated November 12,

2020, 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 quarterly basis for the periods 

ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31 of each 

year. Reports will be due within 30 days after the end of the reporting 

period to the NIST Federal Program Officer, Grants Officer and Grants 

Specialist named in the award documents. A final financial report is 

due within 120 days after the end of the project period.

(2) Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). Each award 

recipient will be required to submit a RPPR to the Federal Program 

Officer, NIST Grants Officer and Grants Specialist named in the award 

documents on a quarterly basis for the periods ending March 31, June 

30, September 30, and December 31 of each year. Reports will be due 

within 30 days after the end of the reporting period. The RPPR 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.

A final technical progress report is due within 120 days after the end of 

the project period.

(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 need 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 
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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, 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 (i.e., 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 submit to the Grants Officer either: (i) a financial 

related audit of each DOC award or subaward in accordance with Generally 

Accepted Government Auditing Standards; or (ii) a project specific audit for 

each award or subaward in accordance with the requirements contained in 2 

C.F.R. § 200.507. 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.

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.

VII.Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

Questions should be directed to the following:
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Subject Area Point of Contact

Programmatic and Technical Questions E-mail: pscr@nist.gov with ‘PSIAP-2022 in 

subject line

Technical Assistance with Grants.gov 

Submissions

grants.gov

Phone: 800-518-4726

E-mail: support@grants.gov 

Grant Rules and Regulations Grants Officer: Scott McNichol 

Phone: 303-497-3444

E-mail: scott.mcnichol@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 non-Federal 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 Federal Funding Opportunity 

may be subject to requests for release under the Act. If an application contains 
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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 disclosure confidential business 

information contained in financial assistance applications and other 

documentation provided by applicants to the extent permitted by law.

2. Public Website and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

NIST PSCR has a public website that provides information pertaining to this 

Funding Opportunity5. 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 pscr@nist.gov with ‘PSIAP-2022 in the subject line. Questions 

submitted to NIST may be posted on the public website. Alternatively, applicants 

may ask questions during the informational public.

3. Webinar Information Session:

NIST will host a webinar to provide general information regarding this NOFO, 

offer general guidance on preparing applications, and answer questions. 

Scheduling details about the webinar will be available at pscr.gov. Proprietary 

technical discussions about specific project ideas will not be permitted during the 

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

ideas while they are being developed by an applicant, brought forth during the 

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

questions about the funding opportunity, eligibility requirements, evaluation and 

award criteria, selection process, and the general characteristics of a competitive 

application will be addressed at the webinar. 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.

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

Questions, if more information is needed.