The Office of General Counsel at Boston University has issued a memorandum and related attachment to all NIH Investigators regarding the NIH Public Access Policy.

The NIH has announced that its Public Access Policy, which had been voluntary, is now mandatory. The Policy requires that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central (PMC) an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication. The manuscript must be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. PubMed Central (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/) is the NIH digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles. Its content is publicly accessible and integrated with other databases.Please see OSP FYI# 08-026 for details.

The NIH has announced that all paper PHS 398 applications submitted for May 25, 2008 and subsequent due dates must provide appendix material on CD only, and include five identical CDs in the same package with the application. Paper applications submitted for due dates prior to May 25, 2008 may voluntarily provide the appendix on five identical CDs; if submitting CDs it is not necessary to include a paper appendix. Paper appendices will no longer be accepted for applications submitted for May 25, 2008 and subsequent due dates. Please see OSP FYI# 08-022 for details.

The NIH has announced that revised versions of the PHS 398 application kit and the PHS 2590 Noncompeting Continuation Progress Report form are now available. Please see OSP FYI# 08-020 for details.

The NSF has published a revised version of the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 08-1, which will be effective for proposals received on or after January 5, 2008. Please see OSP FYI# 07-253 for details.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published the new NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 07-140) . One of the important changes contained in the new guidelines is the use of designated fonts in proposals submitted to NSF.  Proposers are cautioned that proposals not in conformance with the following guidance may be returned without review:

1. Use of only the approved typefaces identified below, a black font color, and a font size of 10 points or larger must be used:
   
   
   • For Windows users: Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia
   • For Macintosh users: Arial, Helvetica, Palatino, or Georgia
   • For TeX users: Computer Modern
     
     

   A Symbol font may be used to insert Greek letters or special characters; however, the font size requirement still applies;
   

2. No more than 6 lines within a vertical space of 1 inch; and
   
   
3. Margins, in all directions, must be at least an inch

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that all applications to the Research Project Grant (R01) funding mechanism must be submitted through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) for the February 2007 receipt date and beyond. Paper applications will no longer be accepted. For further information please see OSP FYI #06-281 at http://www.bu.edu/osp/funding/fundingOpps/FO06-281.htm.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that applications to the Small Research Grants (R03), Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21), Phased Innovation Award (R21/R33), and the NIH Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34) mechanisms must now be submitted through the Grants.gov system (http://www.grants.gov). For further information please see OSP FYI #06-049 at http://www.bu.edu/osp/funding/fundingOpps/FO06-049.htm .

The Office of Sponsored Programs has issued a memorandum outlining the Federal grantmaking agencies' transition to the Grants.gov system for the submission of new grant proposals. Additional information about the use of Grants.gov can be found in the Electronic Research Administration section of this site.

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) has issued a memorandum providing a brief discussion of current export control regulations and the exclusions from the regulations that are relevant to university-based research. Also included is a checklist to assist PIs in determining whether the research they are proposing may be subject to export controls. All engineering and science faculty must complete this checklist for every research project submitted to OSP for authorization.