NSF Doctoral Disertation Improvement Grant (DDIG)

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

 

General Overview

A copy of the DDIG proposal announcement can be found at:  http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf05607

Unless otherwise specified in the DDIG program announcement, proposals should be prepared and submitted using the NSF Grant Proposal Guide.

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

Susan Gardner, IB Grants Administrator, will send a hard copy of your proposal with the PRF and PRF addendum to SPO on November 1, 2007.  A draft version of the proposal is acceptable for this purpose but the draft version must be complete (containing all sections required by NSF). Your final version must be loaded into FastLane no later than November 12th.  Your final version must be loaded into FastLane no later than November 12th.

Susan will:

  • guide you through the SPO review process;
  • provide a PRF and PRF addendum which you will need to complete, sign and return to her. 

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 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 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 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, you must be added to the FastLane System.

If you have submitted a 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. She will name you as Co-PI, giving you access to the proposal via FastLane by putting your Social Security number into the proposal cover page.

To be added into FastLane as a new user, send an email to Susan Gardner 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
  • Your email address

Once your information is in the FastLane system, you will receive an email giving you a temporary FastLane password.  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.  She will then enter your social security 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 and password.
  • Check all parts of the cover sheet as Susan 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 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 page 23, item e. of the 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.

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 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 (as stated on page 22 and again on page 39 of the GPG) and use the information about pagination, margins and font size provided below.

9. Bio Sketch:

  • Susan will obtain a bio for your Faculty advisor from the last proposal showing for him or her in 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 to 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 will provide the Faculty Advisor's current and pending information that she has obtained from the last proposal submitted via FastLane for each. It doesn't hurt to check with your Faculty advisor to make sure that any non Integrative Biology, non IB 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.
  • GSI funding is not needed but GSR funding should be shown (especially if your GSR funding is on a NSF project because your PI may have shown that your support came from that fund on their annual report).
  • 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

  • New Font requirements have been established by NSF this year. Please review the notice at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=fontadvise707 to see what fonts NSF allows. Font sizes are addressed on page II-1 and II-2 of the GPG.
    • The smallest font size currently allowed is 10 point.
    • NSF will now only accept Arial, Helvetica, Palatino (for Macintosh), Palatino Linotype (for Windows), Computer Modern (TeX only), or Georgia typeface, a black font color and a font size of 10 points or larger must be used.  (A Symbol font may be used to insert Greek letters or special characters; however the font size requirement still applies.)
  • No more than 6 lines of type within a vertical space of 1 inch.
  • Margins should 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 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. 

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 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 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 can enter all of the pieces into FastLane but you will first need to have Susan create a new proposal in FastLane under your Faculty Advisor’s identity.  Then Susan will link you up to the Proposal as Co-PI and you may begin working on your proposal in FastLane without assistance from Susan.  You will also need to get partially completed PRF and PRF addendum forms from Susan, complete those forms, obtain your Faculty Advisor’s signature on them and give them back to Susan 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 via hard copy or you can request that a “dummy” social security number be issued by NSF.  If you decide to have NSF create a fake social security number for you, you will need to keep track of it in order to track the status of your proposal, to submit you annual NSF report on your awarded proposal and for future proposal submissions. 

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.

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 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.

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Last updated 9/25/07