Policy Office

HEAD: Jean Feldman

The Policy Office is responsible for developing, implementing and issuing proposal and award policy for the programs of the National Science Foundation and is available to assist you with questions involving policy related issues. Questions related to specific awards should be directed to the Division of Grants and Agreements.

Grants & Cooperative Agreements:

• Policy & Guidance (including the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide(PAPPG), which incorporates the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Award & Administration Guide (AAG))


• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)


• Proposal Preparation and Award Administration


• FastLane-Related FAQs on Proposal Preparation and Award Administration


• Project Outcomes Report for the General Public (POR)
• Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals


• FAQs on Automated Compliance Checking of Required Proposal Sections
• Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)


• NSF's Career-Life-Balance Initiative
• FAQs Related to Career-Life Balance
• NSF Scientific Integrity Policy


• NSF Data Management Policy


• NSF Merit Review


• NSF Cost Sharing Policy
  • Overarching Policies on Cost Sharing
  • FAQs on on Cost Sharing - updated January 2013
  • Pre-award
  • Post-award
  • NSF Programs with Mandatory Cost Sharing
  • Research Experiences for Undergraduates (where applicable)
  • Innovation Corps Program (I-Corps)
  • Major Research Instrumentation Program
  • Robert Noyce Scholarship Program
  • Engineering Research Centers
  • Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers
  • Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
• Award Conditions


• NSF Outreach


• Human Subjects


• Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR)
• Grants.gov


• Grants.gov Application Guide