Proposal Withdrawal

A Principal Investigator (PI) or authorized individual from the organization’s sponsored projects office may withdraw a proposal at any time before the cognizant NSF Program Officer makes a funding recommendation. Proposals must be electronically withdrawn via Research.gov. In cases where NSF has already made a funding decision, proposals will not be permitted to be withdrawn via the electronic proposal withdrawal system. For additional information, see PAPPG Chapter IV.A, Proposal Withdrawal.

Proposals Not Accepted or Returned Without Review

If the proposal does not adhere to the instructions in the PAPPG (or the program solicitation, if applicable), NSF may not accept a proposal or may return it without review. There are eleven reasons for returning a proposal without review. See PAPPG Chapter IV.B, Proposals Not Accepted or Returned Without Review for the complete list of reasons.

Declination

A PI whose proposal for NSF support has been declined will receive information and an explanation of the reason(s) for declination along with copies of the reviews considered in making the decision. If that explanation does not satisfy the PI, he/she may request additional information from the cognizant NSF Program Officer or Division Director. See Step VII, Division Director Review of Recommendation, for information released electronically to the PI.

Reconsideration

A PI whose proposal for NSF support has been declined will receive information and an explanation of the reason(s) for declination. The PI will also receive copies of the reviews that were considered in making the decision. If the PI is not satified that the proposal was fairly handled and reasonably reviewed, they may request reconsideration by the cognizant Assistant Director (AD) or Office Head. See PAPPG Chapter IV.D, Reconsideration.

Resubmission

A declined proposal may be resubmitted after it has undergone substantial revision. See PAPPG Chapter IV.E. Resubmission.