I probably am a lonely voice crying in the wilderness, but I argue that the new biosketch format with its personal statement completely replaces the collaboration letter.  If a letter is included then I would expect it to re-state what is in the personal statement, and I would not encourage statements about fiscal obligations.

Doug Mounce, Grants & Contracts Manager, 206-839-1787
________________________________
From: Research Administration List [xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org] on behalf of Anastasia Lenfest [xxxxxx@WMICH.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2015 8:41 AM
To: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] NSF CAREER

Hi Karen,

I have many faculty applying for this as well, and all have included letters of collaboration that specifically follow this format with no deviation.

Best,

Annie Lenfest, MRA
Research Officer
Western Michigan University

On Jul 16, 2015, at 11:35 AM, Davis, Karen <xxxxxx@WICHITA.EDU<mailto:xxxxxx@WICHITA.EDU>> wrote:

We have several faculty submitting NSF CAREER proposals and have had some push back regarding the updated instructions on Letters of Collaboration which state:

Letters of Collaboration – Letters of support should not be submitted, as they are not a standard component of an NSF proposal.  On the other hand, letters of collaboration, limited to stating the intent to collaborate and not containing endorsements or evaluation of the proposed project, are allowed. Letters of collaboration should follow the single-sentence format:

“If the proposal submitted by Dr. [insert the full name of the Principal Investigator] entitled [insert the proposal title] is selected for funding by the NSF, it is my intent to collaborate and/or commit resources as detailed in the Project Description.”

Departure from this format may result in the proposal being returned without review. The Project Description should document the need for and nature of collaborations, such as intellectual contributions to the project, permission to access a site, an instrument, or a facility, offer of samples and materials for research, logistical support to the research and education program, or mentoring of U.S. students at a foreign site. Requests for letters should be made by the PI well in advance of the proposal submission deadline, because they must be included at the time of submission. Please note that letters of recommendation for the PI are not permitted.

We are recommending that faculty strictly follow the single-sentence format and include only that information but were wondering if anyone had interpreted the instruction differently……i.e.  that as long as that specific sentence/format was included, additional information could be included as well.

Thank you in advance – it has been a long (and hot) week here in Wichita!

Karen J. Davis, MBA, CRA
Director, Pre-Award
Wichita State University
1845 Fairmount
Wichita, KS  67260-0007
316-978-6808
xxxxxx@wichita.edu<mailto:xxxxxx@wichita.edu>

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======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.healthresearch.org (click on the
 "LISTSERV" link in the upper right corner)

 A link directly to helpful tips:  http://tinyurl.com/resadm-l-help
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