-
Funding proposals will be accepted from principal investigators or co-investigators who are employed at U.S. institutions.
Investigators employed by NRAO are ineligible to receive funding; their participation in an observing program does not
affect the eligibility of other investigators in that program. The support program is intended to assist students who are
enrolled at U.S. universities and colleges; the status as a student of an intended recipient will be confirmed by the
investigator(s).
-
Preliminary Funding Proposals must accompany observing proposals. An observing proposal is a
proposal to use the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the
High Sensitivity Array (HSA), or the Very Large Array (VLA) for some scientific investigation.
Each observing proposal is limited to one Preliminary Funding Proposal, from the investigator
designated by the observing team. The deadlines for submitting a proposal are February 1,
June 1, and October 1 each year.
-
Funding will be awarded by the Student Observing Support Committee. Factors considered in making awards through this program
include, but are not limited to, the referee ratings of the related observing proposal; a work assignment that clearly
outlines the student's contributions to the research; the importance of the work to the student's professional
development (e.g., whether or not the research will be included in the student's dissertation); and a responsible
request for funds, given the number of hours allocated to the observing proposal and the availability of other funds to
support the research. The referees are predominantly external scientists who evaluate the scientific merit of the
observing proposals. Awards will be subject to the availability of funds from the NSF. A funding cap of $45,000 in
active awards will be imposed per investigator.
-
If funds are requested for a student's stipend or travel to domestic meetings, the requesting investigator must also be
the student's advisor. If the work assignment also involves data from related observing proposals, it should cite
those proposals by their codes, if known, or titles. If the work is building upon results from a prior award to the
advisor under this program, the new observing proposal should demonstrate progress made under that prior award.
Investigators who have requested funding will receive notification from the Student Observing Support Coordinator concerning
the status of their funding requests. Notifications regarding funding requests will be issued shortly following
notifications regarding time requests. The Student Observing Support Coordinator, normally a scientist on the NRAO staff,
will be given assistance on business issues by the Student Observing Support Administrator from the Observatory Business
Services.
-
If funding is awarded, a Final Funding Proposal, with a detailed budget and budget narrative, must be received by the
Student Observing Support Coordinator within thirty days of being notified of the award. The detailed budget should
be an elaboration of the Preliminary Funding Proposal. The data archived during observations are subject to the
standard NRAO proprietary policy, namely: data are reserved for the exclusive use of the observing team for a period of
twelve months, after which the data are available to any astronomer.
-
Funding will normally be awarded for a period of one year. The Student Observing Support Administrator will coordinate award
activation, disbursement, and deactivation with the awardee institution. An award may be activated any time after the
observations have been scheduled, provided a Final Funding Proposal has been received. One request for an advance of a
portion of the funding may be made to assist with the preparation of the observations in the period between award
notification and observation start. One request for a six month, no cost extension may also be made. Although this
initial program is oriented toward a one year program, a request for support of a two year program of observations for
a dissertation may be considered. Such a request should be accompanied by a more detailed description of the observing
program, and should include the dissertation plan. A report summarizing the progress achieved during the first year
must be submitted for evaluation by the Student Observing Support Coordinator before the funding for the second year will be
released.
-
The funding cap for student stipends (undergraduate and/or graduate) is $32,000 with an additional amount of up to
$3,000 for miscellaneous expenses (computer hardware for student use and/or student travel to domestic meetings to
present acquired data). Administrative costs may be attached to the student stipends to offset the costs of
administering the award by the investigator's institution. If the funding cap of $32,000 is being requested for student
stipends, no more than $3,000 of that cap may be used for administrative costs. If less than the funding cap is being
requested for student stipends, the administrative costs may be no more than 10 percent of the stipends. Tuition costs
are not allowed. Fringe benefits are allowed. Domestic meeting locations include those within the U.S. and its
territories, within Canada, or within Mexico. Tickets for air travel must be purchased from U.S. flag carriers, defined
as those holding certificates under section 401 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. 1371).
-
Those receiving funding through the NRAO Student Observing Support Program remain eligible for the standard NRAO user support
programs, including travel to the NRAO for observing and data reduction, and page charges. The standard publication
acknowledgment must be augmented by the sentence "Support for this work was provided by the NSF through award GSSP id
from the NRAO". The Student Observing Support Coordinator will assign an identification code to replace "id".
-
A close out report to the Student Observing Support Administrator must be submitted within six months of expiration of the
award. The investigator will provide a letter of appointment for the student(s) supported by the award, a statement of
expenditure of time by the student(s), and documentation of all expenditures for travel and equipment, including
original receipts. A refund check for any balance of advanced unexpended funds must accompany the close out
report.
-
The director of the NRAO, the director of the NSF, and the Comptroller General of the U.S. (or any of their duly
authorized representatives) shall have access to any books, documents, papers, and records pertinent to the award to
make audits, examinations, excerpts, and transcripts. Financial records pertinent to the award must be retained by the
awardee institution for a period of three years after deactivation of the award.
-
By accepting an award, the awardee institution certifies that it is in compliance with and will continue to act in
accordance with the national policies against discrimination:
- on the basis of race, color, or national origin, as set forth in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(Public Law 88 352 and 42 U.S.C. 2000 d) and the regulations issued pursuant thereto by the NSF; and
- on the basis of sex, as set forth in Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 as amended (Public
Law 318 and 20 U.S.C. 1680 to 1681) and the regulations issued pursuant thereto by the NSF; and
- on the basis of handicap, as set forth in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended (29
U.S.C. 794) and the regulations issued pursuant thereto by the NSF; and
- on the basis of age, as set forth in the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 as amended at 45 CFR 90 and the
regulations issued pursuant thereto by the NSF.
-
By accepting an award, the awardee institution certifies that it will comply with all applicable standards and
requirements as set forth in the OMB Circulars and the Federal Acquisition Regulation:
- OMB Circular A 21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions; and
- OMB Circular A 122, Cost Principles for Non Profit Organizations; and
- FAR Subpart 31.2 (48 CFR 31.2), Awards with Commercial Organizations and those Non Profit Organizations
specifically exempted in OMB Circular A 122, Attachment C; and
- MB Circular A 110, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher
Education, Hospitals, and other Non Profit Organizations; and
- OMB Circular A 133, Audits of States, Local Governments and Non Profit Organizations.
-
The determination of the rights of ownership and disposition of inventions resulting from the work funded under an
award shall be in accordance with 37 CFR part 401 and the regulations issued pursuant thereto by the
NSF.
-
The investigator, author, or awardee institution may copyright any book, publication, or other copyrightable
material developed as a result of the work funded under an award, although the NRAO and the NSF reserve a royalty
free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, prepare derivative works, or otherwise use and
authorize others to use the work for their purposes.
|