NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG)

Administrative Contacts

General Overview
Obtaining a FastLane Login
Instructions for Preparing & Submitting DDIG
Other Important Information
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Susan Gardner sgardner@berkeley.edu, 461-1132
Sonia Garcia soniagarcia@berkeley.edu, 642-5381

General Overview

The NSF 2009 DDIG proposal deadline is 5:00 pm on Friday, November 20th. However, SPO must receive a complete copy of your proposal with signed UCB forms for their review by 8:00 am on November 16th in order for your proposal to be submitted by that deadline (see below).

A copy of the DDIG proposal announcement can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08564/nsf08564.htm

Unless otherwise specified in the DDIG program announcement, proposals should be prepared and submitted using the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (see newest version of the Grant Proposal Guide at the following url: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf0929&org=NSF

All DDIG proposals will need to be reviewed by the UC Berkeley Sponsored Projects Office (SPO).

Susan and/or Sonia need to send a hard copy of your proposal with the signed PRF and PRF addendum to SPO no later than 8:00 am on November 16th, 2009. Therefore you should give your PRF and PRF Addendum forms containing your signature and you Faculty Advisor’s signature to Susan or Sonia by November 11th. Susan and/or Sonia will then obtain the Department Chair signature on the PRF in time for SPO’s November 16th deadline.

Although you can load a draft version of the proposal into FastLane for the November 16th deadline, the draft version must be complete (containing all sections required by NSF) and the changes made after that date should be simply to polish the draft (so be sure to have your Faculty Advisor provide feedback in time to incorporate their changes before November 16th). 

You will need to upload your final version into FastLane no later than 7:30 am on November 18th. The only changes you should make between 7:30 am on November 18th and the deadline should be those required by SPO.

If Susan and/or Sonia do not receive your PRF and PRF addendum with the necessary signatures, or if the draft copy of your proposal is not loaded into FastLane by midnight on Sunday, November 15th, your proposal will not be submitted in time for the NSF deadline.

Susan and/or Sonia will:

  • Create a proposal in FastLane listing your Faculty Advisor as the PI and link you up as the Co-PI.
  • Provide a PRF and PRF addendum which you will need to complete, sign and return to them.
  • Check your proposal in FastLane and alert you to any obvious errors or omissions that you should correct prior to submission before sending it to SPO for review.
  • Print the hard copy of your proposal from FastLane, and deliver it to SPO along with your UCB signed forms by the November 16th deadline (provided that you have turned in your forms and loaded the proposal into FastLane by midnight on November 15th).
  • Act as liaison to SPO and help guide you through the SPO review process.

Your Faculty Advisor:

  • should review and provide guidance on your draft summary and project description before it goes to SPO on November 1st;
  • should approve the final wording of your project summary and project description;
  • he or she will need to sign PRF and PRF Addendum forms—take into consideration your Faculty Advisor’s travel plans when preparing your proposal.

The IB Department Chair:

  • needs to sign the PRFs before SPO will review your proposal.  Susan and/or Sonia will work with the Chair to obtain those signatures. 
  • provide a letter stating that you have advanced to candidacy (which can be done only if proof of advancement to candidacy has been provided by Grad Division). It is your responsibility to make certain that Grad Division has all the paperwork needed from you and that you have received a copy of the candidacy advancement letter from them. Susan and/or Sonia will prepare the letter for NSF, obtain a Dept. Chair signature and load a scanned copy into FastLane for you.

SPO will:

  • review your proposal to make sure that it complies with UCB restrictions and requirements;
  • let you know if they notice any incomplete portions of the proposal;
  • forward your PRF requiring ACUC and/or Human Subjects protocol to the proper campus offices for follow up;
  • “Push the Button” for submission of your proposal via FastLane;
  • make occasional formatting suggestions where possible (however, it is ultimately your responsibility to make certain you have observed all NSF formatting requirements).

 

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How to Obtain a FastLane “Login”

Before you can begin using the NSF FastLane system, you must be given a FastLane login.

If you have submitted a non-GRFP FastLane proposal through UCB before, you already have a login and can begin working on your proposal. However, you must first contact Susan to obtain a PRF, PRF addendum and have her log in and create the proposal in FastLane under Faculty Advisor’s login ID. They will name you as Co-PI, giving you access to the proposal via FastLane by putting your NSF ID number or email address into the proposal cover page.

To be added into FastLane as a new user, send an email to Susan Gardner and/or Sonia Garcia with the following information:

  • Your full name as it appears on your Social Security card
  • Your Social Security number
  • The name of your Faculty Advisor
  • Your highest academic degree obtained (not in progress, but earned)
  • The date that you obtained that degree
  • A phone number where you can receive messages
  • The email address you use/check most frequently

Once your information is in the FastLane system, you will receive an email giving you a temporary FastLane password and a permanent NSF ID number. You will need to go into FastLane and change that temporary password to a permanent one. 

Susan will create your proposal in FastLane under your Faculty Advisor’s login ID and will give you access by listing you as the Co-PI. This can only be done after Susan receives notice that SPO has entered your information into FastLane.

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Instructions for preparing and submitting the DDIG proposal

1. Cover Sheet:

  • Susan will create a proposal in FastLane for you by entering the system as your faculty advisor. They will then enter your social security, NSF ID number, or email address into the “Co-PI” section of the FastLane cover sheet. Once that has been done, you can begin editing the proposal by entering FastLane with your Social Security number, and password. The NSF url where you log into FastLane is: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/jsp/homepage/proposals.jsp
  • Check all parts of the cover sheet as Susan or Sonia has entered them in FastLane.
  • Provide your proposal title under the "Remainder of Cover Sheet" section. Make sure your proposal title begins with the words: “DISSERTATION RESEARCH.”
  • Check the Directorate choices in the 2nd "GO" of the cover sheet page. Susan and/or Sonia will have selected a Directorate for you but it is your responsibility to make sure the correct one has been selected once you begin working on the proposal.  
  • The dollar amount is automatically filled in by FastLane on your cover sheet once you put your budget in the budget section.

2. Table of Contents:

N/A, FastLane fills it out for you as you enter the proposal.

3. References Cited:

Note that this section is separate from the project description. Although there is no page limit for the references section, you are not allowed to use it to provide parenthetical information that you didn't have room for in your project description. Please see II-8 and II-0, item e. of the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide GPG for more directions.

4. Budget:

  • Enter your budget into FastLane and create a budget justification that Susan can edit for you (if editing is needed). Make sure to explain why and how the requested funds are supplemental to funding from the university or other sources.
  • The zero overhead rate shown in the DDIG announcement is correct so do not include overhead (A.K.A. indirect costs), in budget.
  • Make sure that you do not put in any numbers under the “NSF Funded Person-months” section of the budget next to your name as this applies only to months of time for which you are requesting pay from NSF (which is not allowed under the DDIG program).

5. Facilities:

It is not necessary to fill in every section of the facilities form but it is helpful to fill in any information that you have. Most useful would be to let NSF know if you have use of a lab facility for your dissertation research.

6 . Proposal Classification:

You will need to either enter your choices via FastLane or give your completed hard copy of the form to Susan and/or Sonia for assistance with completing it in FastLane.

7. Project Summary: Must be limited to 1 page.

Make sure to include:
a. the intellectual merit of the proposed activity and
b. the broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity.

8. Project Description:

The DDIG announcement is pretty clear about the 8 page project description. Make sure to address the same items (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), in both the summary and the project description and use the information about pagination, margins and font size provided below.

9. Bio Sketch:

  • Susan and/or Sonia will obtain a bio for your Faculty Advisor from the last proposal submitted into FastLane and will put a copy of it into your proposal. If your Faculty Advisor is available, you may ask him or her to look at that bio and let you know if they want to update it for this proposal.
  • You should create a one to two page bio for yourself using your Faculty Advisor's bio as an example and load it into FastLane.

10. Current and Pending:

  • Susan and/or Sonia will provide the Faculty Advisor's current and pending information from the last proposal submitted via FastLane. It doesn't hurt to check with your Faculty Advisor to make sure that any non Integrative Biology, research funding and proposals are included (i.e. Museum funds are only known to IB unless they were submitted via FastLane).
  • You will need to provide your own current and pending support information. Include any fellowships or other research funding.  Do not fill in any “Person-Months Committed to the Project” in the Current and Pending Support section unless you are receiving payroll from that funding source to perform that research.
  • GSI funding is not needed but GSR funding should be shown, especially if your GSR funding is on a NSF project.
  • Remember to add this years DDIG proposal as "pending." Any funding that expired prior to submission of this proposal does not have to be listed.

11. Supplementary Docs:

  • You are not allowed to include general letters of recommendation in supplementary docs for this proposal (see page 5, item 4 under the third bullet).
  • DO include your "Context for Improvement" document.
  • Susan will obtain your letter proving that you have advanced to candidacy. She will scan and put it into FastLane for you.
  • Those who have copies of their letters should give Susan a copy. Students who have not officially advanced to candidacy may not submit a DDIG proposal. So, make sure to submit your advancement to candidacy paperwork to Grad Division in a timely manner.

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Important General Information

  • Use one of the following typefaces identified below:
    • Arial, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at a font size of 10 points or larger
    • Times New Roman at a font size of 11 points or larger
    • Computer Modern family of fonts at a font size of 11 points or larger
  • A font size of less than 10 points may be used for mathematical formulas or equations, figure, table or diagram captions
    and when using a Symbol font to insert Greek letters or special characters. PIs are cautioned, however, that the text must still be readable.
  • No more than 6 lines of type within a vertical space of 1 inch.
  • Margins should not be smaller than 1 inch in any direction.
  • Pagination of your document should be done prior to loading into FastLane since FastLane does not paginate it for you.
  • MOST IMPORTANT: CONTACT SUSAN GARDNER and/or SONIA GARCIA IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Are electronic signatures okay on the PRF forms?

Sorry, SPO does not accept electronic signatures. However, they will accept a faxed copy of a signed PRF. The copy with an original signature should be provided to SPO for their files. This is in response to NSF and NIH audit requirements.

2. Can non-US citizens apply for a DDIG?

Yes, on page 2 of the NSF announcement, under the “PI Eligibility Limit:” it states that you only need to be a graduate student who is enrolled at a US institution, and advanced to candidacy in order for your proposal to be considered for funding.

3. My faculty advisor is out of town, can I still submit a DDIG? 

Yes, you’ll just need to work more closely with Susan and/or Sonia and your Faculty advisor in order to get PRF signatures (see Q&A above regarding PRF signatures via Fax).

4. If I have more than one Faculty Advisor, can they both be listed on the proposal?

Yes. However, you will need to let Susan and/or Sonia know which one to list as PI and which one to list as the Co-PI. Then, both Faculty Advisors will need to sign the PRF and both names need to be included on the PRF addendum.

5. If I have an NSF login from a previous DDIG proposal, can I begin putting my proposal into FastLane without having to work with Susan?

You will first need to have Susan and/or Sonia create a new proposal in FastLane under your Faculty Advisor’s identity. Susan and/or Sonia will then link you up to the Proposal as Co-PI and you may begin working on your proposal in FastLane without assistance from Susan and/or Sonia.  You will also need to get partially completed PRF and PRF addendum forms from Susan and/or Sonia, complete those forms, obtain your Faculty Advisor’s signature on them and give them back to Susan and/or Sonia so your proposal can be reviewed by SPO.

6. Do I need to do a PRF and PRF addendum again if I’m just resubmitting an updated proposal that was submitted last year?

Yes, SPO will not allow the proposal to be submitted (even if it’s a resubmission), without receiving a new, signed PRF and PRF addendum.

7. What if I don’t feel comfortable sending my Social Security number via email?

You can give your information to Susan and/or Sonia via hard copy if you are uncomfortable sending it via email.  However, NSF does require that you provide it and we will need it to get you started. We are aware of the fact that this is sensitive information and will only share it with those individuals who need it in order to establish a FastLane login for you.

8. What if I can’t remember my NSF password that I used last year?

Go to the login screen in FastLane and put in your last name and social security number in the appropriate boxes.  Then, select the “Forgot Password?” link below the password box and follow the directions.  FastLane will then email you a temporary password that you will need to change to a permanent one once you’ve used it to log into FastLane. If this doesn't work for you, Susan will ask SPO for assistance. If this doesn't work for you, talk to Susan and/or Sonia and she will either help you obtain access or ask SPO for assistance in helping you obtain access.

9. I thought I was supposed to be listed as the Co-PI.  Why does it say that I’m the PI when I log into FastLane? 

Everyone who logs into FastLane shows as the PI on the screen. However, if you had Susan and/or Sonia create the proposal and link you up as Co-PI, you will show as the Co-PI on the cover page when it is printed out.

10. Who loads all the pieces of the proposal in FastLane (Do I load it or does someone else do it for me)?

You load everything except the 2 page bio and Current and Pending Support for your Faculty Advisor, and the letter stating that you have advanced to candidacy.

11. Can I request more than $15,000 in my DDIG proposal?

The students who tried this last year were contacted by NSF administrators shortly after proposal submission. They then had to revise their budgets to $15,000 or less before they were sent to reviewers for funding consideration.

12.  If I’ve submitted an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GFRP), proposall and obtained an NSF login for that, can I use that to submit the DDIG proposal?

No. The GRFP proposals are submitted via the NSF FastLane Graduate Research Fellowship Program Application Module and the DDIG proposals are submitted via the NSF FastLane PI/Co-PI Log In site.

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Last updated 10/16/09