Hello Group -

I thought it might be helpful for me to provide some guidance on this issue,
as I am an employee of the National Science Foundation, and moreover
involved with the FastLane System.  I've inserted my comments within the
text below.  Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any
additional questions.

Cheers,
Florence Rabanal
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
FastLane Project Coordinator

-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Prudhomme [ mailto:xxxxxx@UNO.EDU <mailto:xxxxxx@UNO.EDU> ]
Sent: Friday, July 16, 1999 10:28 AM
To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
Subject: NSF Fastlane - "Collaborative Proposals"

Hi Everyone:
Does anyone out there have recent experience with simultaneous Fastlane
submissions submitted under the "Collaborative" guidelines (see p. 14 of the
GPG)?

Recall, these have to be treated as two separate but equal submissions (or
however many institutions are involved) where each institution has their own
Cover Form, PI info, budget, etc. but the SAME narrative.  It's clear how
this is handled via paper, just not so clear how these proposals would be
linked electronically.  I guess to be precise, when they are submitted
electronically they are more "parallel" than simultaneous, since it's
technically impossible for them to be submitted at

t h e same moment. [:->

[Collaborative proposals can be submitted in two different ways:  1)  lead
institution with subcontracts OR 2) simultaneous submission of the same
proposal.  The program officer should be informed about the submission so
that he/she can decide on the desired submission approach.  Assuming that
the process will be done electronically, here is guidance on submitting a
collaborative proposal so the NSF:

Case 1:  The lead institution is responsible for coordinating the activities
of the subcontracts, including the receipt of the signed certification page.
The submission of the proposal is done by the sponsored program office (or
equivalent) at the lead institutions.  The NSF only needs the original
signed certification page from the lead institution. We do NOT need any
additional paper.

Case 2:  If the program officer has requested that the proposals needs to be
submitted as simultaneous submissions, each institution should submit a
separate proposal.  The participating P.I.s should remember to include the
words "Collaborative Research" in the proposal title.  One institution
should take the lead and obtain the NSF proposal numbers from the other
participating agencies.  This list of proposal numbers should be summarized
and sent to the NSF, along with the signed certification page for the lead
institutions.  The other non-lead institution should submit their proposals
via FastLane as they normally would, and submit their originial signed
certifiation page.  There is no need to send a hardcopy of the proposals in
any case.]

 I see the button on the Fastlane Forms list that says "Collaborative".
When you press this, what happens?  Will there be a linking by Proposal ID
No or what?     Also does anyone really understand what is the difference
between a Proposal PIN and a Proposal ID  and under what conditions you need
one or the other or both? [:->

[At the current time the radio button is not active and will not invoke a
computer program (in the background).  In the very near future, the radio
button for linking proposals will trigger a computer action to alert the
system that the submission is collaborative.  The details of this program
are not yet finalized, but should be clarified for the upcoming revision of
the GPG.  W.r.t. the proposal PIN and Proposal ID, the proposal ID is the
official NSF number that is assigned to the proposal.  The proposal PIN is
assigned to the proposal by the P.I. so that others (i.e. non-Co-P.I.) can
also work on the proposals without having to distribute the P.I.s PIN (i.e.
this is a security issue).  One should never distribute your person PIN, as
it will provide other access to personal information, as well as the ability
to access and alter any pending proposal.]

We did submit a "collaborative" proposal this spring under the "Wireless
Communication" competition, but that was handled a little differently as I
recall.  Because it was mandatory that it should be collaborative, I think
something was done on the front end of Fastlane to more easily prompt t  he
user as to how the two proposals should be "linked".

[The directions provided above should help you in preparing your
collaborative proposal.  You should first contact your program officer as
they are the person who makes the decision on submission procedures (i.e.
subcontract vs. simultaneous submissions.]

Any suggestions would be helpful & if it's easier to explain over the phone,
send me your name & no. & I'll get in touch with you.

Thanks for you help!

***************************************
 Jane E. Prudhomme, M.A., M.S.
 Asst. Vice Chancellor,
 Research and Sponsored Programs
 University of New Orleans
 2000 Lakeshore Drive
 New Orleans, LA 70148
 Phone: 504 - 280-7154
 FAX:       504-280- 3896
 E-Mail: xxxxxx@uno.edu
 http://www.uno.edu/~orsp <http://www.uno.edu/~orsp>
*****************************************

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