The document outlines the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) requirements for disclosing current and pending support in research proposals, as mandated by the Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide effective June 1, 2020, with full compliance required for applications submitted or due on or after October 5, 2020. It emphasizes that each individual identified as senior personnel must report all resources available to them for research efforts, regardless of monetary value or direct institutional compensation. This comprehensive reporting allows NSF to assess both the research capacity of applicants and identify potential overlaps or duplications across projects. Importantly, the report notes that the metric of "person months" for current and pending support may differ from those used in proposal budgets due to differences in scale and reporting purposes.
The guidance differentiates between what must and need not be reported. Resources requiring disclosure include grants, contracts, cooperative agreements from any source (regardless of the channel through which they are provided), in-kind contributions with associated time commitments, external start-up packages, and any effort or resources related to mentoring or support of research personnel funded by NSF. Exceptions—where reporting is not required—include gifts with no time commitment, unrelated in-kind contributions, internal organizational start-up packages, standard mentoring as part of regular appointments, unrelated independent research by others, and professional services not involving research. The document concludes with a table summarizing these distinctions and provides additional clarifications, pointing institutional representatives to relevant FAQs and support contacts.
