Preliminary inquiry should be made to the appropriate program before preparing a proposal for submission. Many NSF programs accept proposals at any time. The deadline date only will be waived in extenuating circumstances. Inquiry about submission also may be made to the appropriate program. In addition, proposers should be aware that the NSF Division of Grants and Agreements generally makes awards to academic institutions within 30 days after the program division makes its recommendation.
Every effort is made to reach a decision and inform the proposer promptly.
Until an award is made, NSF is not responsible for any costs incurred by the proposing organization. Important Notice 123 describes NSF s vision for the future in electronic business and outlines the schedule for implementation. For proposers who cannot submit electronically, a deviation must be approved in advance of submission of the paper proposal in accordance with GPG Chapter II, Section A . Upon receipt of the proposal by NSF, proposals are generally converted to hard copy for distribution to the reviewer community. The rationale for this step is that the wide variance of equipment available to reviewers may not, at this time, assure that an all-electronic review process would be successful or totally fair to proposers.