Instructions for completing your EPSCoR LA-SiGMA Annual Report

Transcription

1 Instructions for completing your EPSCoR LA-SiGMA Annual Report NSF has established reporting guidelines for Annual and Final reports for the EPSCoR program. The NSF guidelines are attached to these instructions as an appendix. When the word guidelines is mentioned in the instructions below, you should refer to the attached NSF guidelines. The guidelines also contain a listing of definitions and examples that are useful in completing the report. The report is due in the Louisiana EPSCoR office on June 15, Your report should cover the period from October 1, 2011 through September 30, In your report, you should mention planned or projected activities that will occur during the three-month period (July through September) after the report is submitted to NSF. Much of the data and statistics needed for the report are being gathered through the Online Advancing Science Information System (OASIS) ( with which everyone associated with the project should be familiar. OASIS data entry should be completed by May 11, Because the project involves many individuals at multiple institutions, the PET will be responsible for compiling the narrative section of the report with input from all senior investigators. The narrative section of the Annual Report consists of the Executive Summary and the Detailed Report. The Annual Report needs to demonstrate to NSF a unified, coherent effort toward achieving the goals of the LA-SiGMA project. I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: For this section, each Science Driver Lead should provide a brief description of the efforts in research, diversity, workforce development, cyberinfrastructure, external engagement, and sustainability. As noted in the guidelines, the entire Executive Summary cannot exceed five pages; therefore, the information provided by each Science Lead must necessarily be brief. [Responsibility: To be compiled by the PET using input from Science Driver Leads]. II. DETAILED REPORT: See guidelines for detailed instructions. We have been advised by NSF EPSCoR that the entire Detailed Report (compiled from all Science Lead reports) should not be more than 25 pages in total. A. RII Participants and Participating Institutions: The information needed for FastLane will be provided through OASIS and input into FastLane by LA EPSCoR staff. B. Program/Project Description: This section should briefly describe the major accomplishments of the project during the reporting period and their impact in the areas listed below. The NSF EPSCoR office staff has informed us that they are NOT interested in seeing equations, highly technical descriptions, etc. It is anticipated that PET will start a Google docs document for Section B, to be shared with the various team leaders who will be responsible for contributing material. 1

2 1. RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PLANS: This should be brief and in largely non-technical language. [Responsibility: Each Science Driver leader 1 should solicit input from focus areas and contribute paragraphs to this section.] 2. DIVERSITY AND BROADENING PARTICIPATION, INCLUDING INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATIONS: [Responsibility: EEWD leaders] see guidelines. The information needed for Templates B and C will be provided through your input into OASIS. 3. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: [Responsibility: EEWD leaders] see guidelines; if not applicable, state not applicable. 4. CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE: [Responsibility: Mark Jarrell, Ram Ramanujam] see guidelines. 5. EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT: [Responsibility: EEWD leaders] see guidelines. The information needed for Template D will be provided through your input into OASIS. 6. EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. 7. SUSTAINABILITY AND PROJECT OUTPUTS: (and the associated subheadings): see guidelines. The narrative part of this section should contain any qualitative information you can provide. [Responsibility: Science Driver leaders] The quantitative output information for this section will be provided through your input into OASIS and will be summarized in Template E. C. Management Structure: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. D. Jurisdictional and Other Support: see guidelines. E. Planning Updates: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. F. Unobligated Funds: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. G. Progress with Respect to the RII Strategic Plan: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. H. Jurisdiction Specific Terms and Conditions: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. I. Reverse Site Visit (RSV) Recommendations: The EPSCoR Office will complete this section. J. Experimental Facilities: see guidelines. K. Publications and Patents: This information will be entered by LA EPSCoR staff using information provided through your input into OASIS. 1 SD1 Mark Jarrell, John Perdew; SD2 Lawrence Pratt; Collin Wick; SD3 Hank Ashbaugh; Dorel Moldovan 2

3 L. Honors and Awards: see guidelines. III. HIGHLIGHTS: see guidelines. Provide highlights to us. DO NOT send highlights directly to the NSF EPSCoR Officer. You will also note that a completed NSF Form 1515 is required for each highlight. This form gives NSF the right to reproduce and disseminate the images contained in your highlights. Instructions on completing the REPORT TEMPLATES: An Excel file accompanying these instructions contains the Report Templates (each Template is a separate sheet in the file.) Template A (Salary Support): will need to be completed by each faculty member or faculty equivalent. Please note that the 'Salary Funding for Group Members' columns include not only the salary of the faculty member, but also support for students and post-docs under the faculty member, plus fringe benefits and overhead (aka 'indirect costs' or 'facilities and administrative costs'). Detailed notes and examples for this Template are included in the Excel file. Campus PI s should establish internal mechanisms to collect and compile this information. Templates B, C, D, and E will be compiled by EPSCoR staff using data provided through your input into OASIS. Template F (Expenditures Including Obligations) must be completed for each participating institution. NSF wants the budget broken down into expenditure categories that are not readily apparent from each institution s LA-SiGMA budget. Each campus PI should complete this template according to the notes provided below, using the information provided in the Excel file entitled LA-SiGMA-participant-list-Y2 that accompanies these instructions. The comments in red to the right of the columns indicate how to fill out this template, using the information provided in the attached Excel file, which shows how the team members effort is divided up among the Science Drivers and CTCI. You need to go through the year two budget for your institution and assign amounts into the appropriate categories on Template F. (You will be ed a copy of your year two budget.) These figures should go into the Current Reporting Period column. Don't worry about calculating percentages of the annual budget or the cumulative columns. Not all categories will apply to your project. Because your contract is considered an obligation from NSF's standpoint, the entire amount of your second-year NSF funding must be accounted for, not just what you've expended. We need ONE spreadsheet returned from each institution. Please complete Template F at your earliest convenience and return to jim.gershey@la.gov so they can be compiled into a single file for uploading into the annual report. Templates G and H will be completed by EPSCoR staff. 3

4 FOLLOWING PAGES: Report Guidelines for 2012 provided by NSF 4

5 Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 Awards ANNUAL and FINAL REPORT GUIDELINES February 14, 2012 Over the past three years, the EPSCoR Office staff at NSF has updated the Report Guidelines to enable the extraction of information needed for use in various internal and external reports. All jurisdictions are requested to adhere closely to these guidelines in preparing the Project Reports. Annual updates to the Report Guidelines are based on the EPSCoR Program Officers observations on Reports submitted in the prior year, and feedback from the EPSCoR community. Changes are intended to improve the clarity of the reporting expectations and to comply with legislation regulating NSF. The only major changes in this document relative to the 2011 version are the addition of a column in Appendix Template B, to list participants who are new investigators, 1 and a revised numbering system for the report. Annual progress reports are due at NSF 90 days before the anniversary date of the Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) award. The reports should be approved within the 90-day window prior to the award s anniversary date. Late reports can delay approval of and jeopardize all pending actions within NSF in which the PI and the CoPIs are associated as PIs or CoPIs. It is the responsibility of the PI to submit the report in time to allow for approval before the anniversary date of the award. These guidelines provide a standard format for Annual and Final Reports for the RII Track-1 awards. 2 Annual Reports should address activities covering the full reporting period. Final reports are due to NSF no later than 90 days after the expiration date of the RII award. Final reports should address the final 12 months of the project in detail and highlight overall results of the project. Evaluation of Annual and Final Reports focuses on comparing what was to be done in the project year, as detailed in the project's strategic plan, and what was actually accomplished in the project year. In Final Reports, the project's outcomes are compared against the original goals of the project as outlined in the proposal. Annual and Final Reports are submitted through the NSF FastLane Reports System. 3 In the FastLane Annual and Final Reports modules, the project s participants, 1 This change was driven by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of Please note that these guidelines reflect the structure of the most recent RII Track-1 solicitations (NSF and ) and not necessarily the solicitation under which your current RII award was made. The inclusion of sections of annual and final reports that were not required by the solicitation under which your RII award was made is nonetheless strongly encouraged even though they may be optional for you. 3 FastLane questions should be referred to the FastLane Help Desk ( ). 1

6 publications, and web pages should be entered using the FastLane interface. The remainder of the material described here, including the templates required by the NSF EPSCoR Program and the Highlights, should be entered as a single portable document format (pdf) file attached to the FastLane Annual or Final Report. Additionally, the templates (in Excel format) and the Highlights (in MS PowerPoint and Word forms with jpg or gif graphics, and including completed NSF Form 1515 granting NSF permission to use the graphics) should be submitted separately to the cognizant EPSCoR Program Officer by . This standard format will facilitate EPSCoR Office assessment of progress and response to ad hoc requests for information. In the Annual and Final reports, please provide: I. Executive Summary (maximum 5 pages) A. State the vision, mission, and goals of the RII project. B. Focusing on the year of the reporting period, briefly describe efforts in research, diversity, workforce development, cyberinfrastructure, external engagement, evaluation and assessment, and sustainability. Also, describe the management structure. C. Provide an overview of the reporting period s Key Accomplishments, addressing the NSF criteria of intellectual merit and broader impacts in distinct paragraphs. The key accomplishments should be described in language understandable to scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines. D. Describe briefly the progress toward meeting the goals and milestones outlined in the Strategic plan for this reporting year. E. Comment on any actions taken in response to recommendations from recent site visits, reverse site visits, evaluation and assessment reports, and/or advisory committee visits. Briefly note any changes in long range plans or priorities; note also any unusual circumstances that are pertinent to continuation of the award. II. Detailed Report The Detailed Report contains the narrative and tabular material described below. While the length of the Detailed Report is not restricted, clear, concise writing is required. A. RII participants and participating institutions. Provide the required information in FastLane for RII participants at the faculty level and equivalent. Additionally, complete the Salary Support template in Appendix A for the same faculty members, indicating the time expended on the RII project as well as their financial support from the sources indicated. This table assists in identifying the multi-institutional and multidisciplinary nature of the project and distribution of funding, as well as the breadth of financial support for participants. All non-university salary support should 2

7 be included in this table, either directly for the faculty level and equivalent participants, or for member(s) of their group (on the right hand side of the table). B. Program/Project Description. Briefly describe the major accomplishments of the RII project during the reporting period and their impact in the following areas: 1. Research Accomplishments and Plans. In the context of the RII project as a whole (not by individual participants), describe significant accomplishments during the reporting period and specific plans for the next year. Research work should be written in such a way that the full section is understandable to all researchers on the project. 2. Diversity and Broadening Participation, including Institutional Collaborations. a. Broadening Participation. In narrative form, report on accomplishments relative to the work proposed for the reporting period. Using the RII Participants template in Appendix B, provide the total number and demographics of participants in the activities funded by this award, including faculty, staff, students, and members of the external advisory boards. The data should be reported for each participating institution as shown in the table and also reported in aggregate for the project. Additionally, using the last year of the previous RII as a baseline, provide a table showing the relative changes in the numbers of faculty, staff, postdocs, graduate students, undergraduate students, the RII Leadership Team and Advisory Board participants in the current project year. Discuss the results of efforts to increase the participation of women and members of groups underrepresented in STEM fields in terms of your current year data relative to the baseline year. Future funding will be based, in part, on the progress in increasing the number of women and members of groups underrepresented in STEM fields in activities funded by the award. i. As part of the narrative, describe, as appropriate, outreach connections with NSF programs focused specifically on increasing diversity of science and engineering students and faculty through the involvement of women and underrepresented minorities. These may include, but are not limited to, connections with the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP), Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED), and other ongoing NSF programs serving underrepresented groups. ii. Describe, as appropriate, long-term partnerships with predominantly female colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and two-year and other non-doctoral institutions. 3

8 iii. Describe activities and programs for broadening other types of participation, e.g., geographic, racial, ethnic, disciplinary, institutional. b. Institutional Collaborations. In narrative form, provide evidence of broadened engagement of institutions in RII-supported activities of the jurisdiction. The report must also include evidence of enhanced collaboration among all the jurisdiction s universities and colleges, including primarily undergraduate and minority serving institutions, and utilization of human and other resources residing therein. Use the Collaborations template in Appendix C to supply current data on collaborations, including the number of organizations and number of individuals from the organizations. 3. Workforce Development. Describe current and planned activities (do not repeat programs mentioned earlier). Include a brief narrative of educational programs, including the participant selection process, and the range of activities; outreach to schools; cyber-based educational activities; and others specifically focused on workforce development. Describe efforts to measure the impact of the activities and programs. 4. Cyberinfrastructure. Report progress relative to the project plan, including the hardware and software development, purchases, and data sharing. 5. External Engagement. Describe activities in outreach and communication to public audiences. Using the External Engagement template in Appendix D, indicate the numbers of women and groups underrepresented in STEM fields that participated in outreach activities. Describe how the impacts of outreach activities were measured. 6. Evaluation and Assessment. Describe relevant activities and their results. The report should detail metrics and associated results that indicate progress towards developing intra- and inter-jurisdictional collaborations to address scientific issues of regional relevance and national importance. The feedback loop from recommendation to incorporation within the project should also be commented on. Note that review and evaluation of RII activities must be by a diverse group of independent, external experts. If evaluation reports or responses were produced during the reporting period, the narrative should include a brief summary of the results, and a copy of the report (or response) should be included as an appendix. 7. Sustainability and Project Outputs. The report must include both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data (e.g., numbers of new hires recruited and retained, proposal submissions, award success rates, students involved in research) should be provided using the Outputs template in Appendix E. Qualitative information may include a description of efforts, accomplishments, commitments, and plans to ensure that the positive outcomes of the project will be sustained beyond the duration of the award, e.g., descriptions of policies or programs proposed or implemented to enhance research competitiveness, 4

9 integrate research and education, and promote partnerships and alliances that increase research capacity and support. Describe efforts aimed to enhance longterm sustainability of the proposed activities in the RII project. Indicate clearly, with milestones, the strategy for sustaining the impacts and achievements in the science and technology enterprise. Include appropriate comments on the three topics below. a. Seed Funding and Emerging Areas (as appropriate). Report on seed funding activities and other mechanisms, which you use to respond quickly and effectively to new opportunities, to pursue high risk/high impact and transformative research, and to attract new faculty to the jurisdiction s institution. These may include (but are not limited to): seed support for junior faculty and for investigators changing fields; emerging areas of interdisciplinary research; experimental programs to link the jurisdiction's activities in research with industry and other sectors; the development of tools for remote access to instrumentation; and innovative educational and workforce development ventures. b. Human Resources Development. Describe progress towards the proposed human resources development goals, in accordance with the project milestones and timelines. Briefly describe how the goals integrate strategically with the research and organizational/partnership opportunities of the jurisdiction. Outline outcomes of faculty recruitment and retention activities, conferences, summer schools and related activities, as appropriate. Describe any additional educational programs not included in other sections of the proposal, such as discovery based learning activities for K-12 teachers and undergraduate students. Comments on the employment of students who graduated during the period of the report should be included in this section. c. Leveraging NSF Programs. Describe linkages, coordination, and collaboration with other NSF-funded programs. Include the jurisdiction s participation in NSF programs that support research and infrastructure (human, physical, cyber, and other) development beyond RII. Describe how leveraging these programs enhance research and education competitiveness. C. Management Structure. Briefly describe the EPSCoR RII management structure and mechanisms, any advisory committees and boards, outcomes of their meetings and recommendations, as well as any changes in scope that were made based on those recommendations, including but not limited to: 1. EPSCoR governing committee meetings and relevant actions; 2. EPSCoR management team meetings and actions; 3. Any major changes in personnel and/or succession plans for key personnel; 5

10 4. The institutional affiliation and demographics for each committee and team associated with the RII project; and 5. Technical assistance by other outside agents, e.g. consultants. D. Jurisdictional and Other Support. Outline existing resources available to the project, including but not limited to space, faculty and staff positions, capital equipment, access to existing facilities, collaborations, and outreach programs. E. Planning updates. Discuss any updates to the RII Track-1 Strategic Plan documents that occurred during the reporting cycle. If the updates are significant, include a copy of the current document as an appendix. Also discuss any updates to the State Science and Technology (S&T) plan and how the project is adapting to those efforts. Include a webpage link to the State S&T plan. If the State S&T plan is under revision, include a status report. F. Unobligated Funds. Include an estimate of the funds expected to remain unobligated at the end of the current support period. Obligated funds are those which have in place a contract or purchase order when the report is submitted. All other funds are considered unobligated. In this section do not refer to encumbered or unencumbered funds, only obligated and unobligated as defined. If the estimated remaining unobligated funds are more than 20% of the current year award amount, the Project Director also must include a plan and timeline for expenditure of those funds in the "Special Requirements" section of the FastLane portion of the report. 1. If more than 20% of the current year award amount continues to remain unobligated by the yearly anniversary date of the award, approval to carry that amount forward must be obtained from the NSF Office. The awardee s Sponsored Projects Office should prepare the request, which must include a plan and timeline for expenditure of the funds, and submit the request via to the cognizant NSF Program Officer. 2. Use templates in Appendices F, G, and H to report details of the expenditures. Please note that these templates should include only obligated expenditures and not projected expenditures. Comments on these Appendices may be made here. G. Progress with respect to the RII Track-1 Strategic Plan. Summarize the Strategic Plan s goals, milestones and metrics for the project year, and the project s progress against those parameters. H. Jurisdiction Specific Terms and Conditions. Briefly address each jurisdictionspecific condition, as appropriate to the specific reporting period. It is permissible to not address those conditions that were satisfied early in the project's implementation. I. Reverse Site Visit (RSV) Recommendations (where applicable). Briefly address each RSV recommendation. 6

11 J. Experimental Facilities. Describe what equipment was acquired; describe the current and planned use of shared facilities, including accessibility, supervision, cost recovery, and planned acquisitions. Also, describe other NSF-funded shared facilities and networks that were used by the jurisdictions researchers, and indicate whether usage fees were paid with RII award funds. Do not include computational equipment or other equipment that could be defined as cyberinfrastructure in this section. That equipment should be discussed in the section on cyberinfrastructure. K. Publications and patents. Using the FastLane entry screens, list publications and patents covering the current award period. In the narrative report, also list the published papers by focused research areas, alphabetically by first author's last name, using the format required by the NSF Grant Proposal Guide. List papers only once, even if they report research results of more than one research area. Use bold face to designate each author that is a RII faculty participant (or faculty equivalent if from industry or a national laboratory). Include only those papers actually published since the last annual report that are fully or partly supported by this award. Partly supported could include publications resulting from use of equipment purchased using funds from the current award. Do not include submitted, in-press, or accepted items. L. Honors and Awards. List and briefly describe significant honors and awards given to RII participants during the funding period. III. Highlights A Research and Education Highlight is a crisp one page summary with an interesting and informative image highlighting the NSF-funded work. Include a title, a list of authors with affiliation(s), an appropriate color image (avoid graphs), and an acknowledgement of support with award number(s) for each highlight. Also provide an address of the person who provided the image. We plan to use these highlights to illustrate the work that EPSCoR supports. They might be used in NSF documents and presentations or posted on NSF web pages, for example. The text and graphics should capture the essence of the activity you wish to highlight. The graphics are particularly important and can include images or photographs. The text and graphics should be at the level of a press release, explaining briefly and in non-technical language what has been accomplished and why it is significant. Please see the description from the NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA), at the end of this document, for additional information. EPSCoR highlights may be made available to the public through NSF media outlets. 4 By sending us a highlight, you grant NSF the right to reproduce and disseminate the 4 The NSF Highlights you submit may be featured on the public website "Science, Engineering, and Education Innovation" (SEE Innovation) at Highlights are also featured in the NSF Current newsletter 7

12 images for various possible uses; however, the completed NSF form 1515 is required. If there are plans to patent the work presented, it is the responsibility of participant to consult with the appropriate person at their institution to ensure that sending NSF the requested material does not jeopardize the intellectual property rights. Observe the following guidelines: Provide one or two science highlights; Provide one or two education-related highlights; Provide one to two other highlights on activities you would like to emphasize; In addition to inclusion of the highlights in the report as part of the single pdf file, send all highlights in MS Word and PowerPoint formats to the cognizant EPSCoR Program Officer. For each highlight, the highest resolution graphic available should be provided, both within the MS Word and PowerPoint files, and as a separate file in jpg or gif form. Be sure to send NSF form 1515, granting NSF permission to use the images. The annual report will not be approved until the highlights are received at NSF. IV. Report Appendices Please complete these as precisely as possible. Consult with the NSF EPSCoR office if you have any questions. A. SALARY SUPPORT B. PARTICIPANTS C. COLLABORATORS D. EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT E. OUTPUTS F. EXPENDITURES INCLUDING OBLIGATIONS G. COST SHARING and COST CONTRIBUTIONS H. LEVERAGED SUPPORT ( on the NSF Twitter feed ( and other places. 8

13 Definitions and Examples Collaborator An RII collaborator is an individual affiliated with the RII program that does not meet the involvement level of a RII participant. External Collaborator An external collaborator refers to a member of an institution or organization outside of the jurisdiction that is involved with RII activities and events but that has no contractual relationship. Education, or more specifically, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, includes those activities performed by the RII faculty, staff, and students with the objective of increasing the knowledge and understanding of science and engineering among students or other audiences. Educational Activities may be directed toward various audiences, including kindergarten, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, or post doctoral students as well as the general public. These populations, in turn, may be interested in scientific career preparation, general knowledge of scientific principles, or more general educational objectives. Educational activities oriented toward graduate and undergraduate education can take many different forms. Graduate education activities may include new required or elective graduate courses, new graduate degree programs, mentoring programs, or graduate student internships in industrial, Federal, foreign or other collaborating laboratories. Undergraduate education may include new required or elective major undergraduate courses, new general education courses for non-majors, new undergraduate degree programs, NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs, or mentoring programs. General educational activities may include science fairs, collaborations with teachers, museum exhibits, Web pages, development of text books, software, and science kits, as well as special programs for underrepresented groups or the general public. Human Resource Development Various activities within an RII project can enhance or further develop human resources at the technician, college student, graduate student, and/or professional levels. Examples include recruitment for training in technical careers, recruitment to a RII research focus area, retention of students at multiple levels in a scientific training pathway, general support for academic achievement, support and enhancement for family-friendly recruitment and retention, organization of grant-writing seminars and workshops, support for training and classes to gain cross-disciplinary expertise or change research fields, and other similar activities. Impacts refer to the total consequences of the program, including the influence of research activities on science and technology advancement or creation of a stronger science and engineering workforce. Impacts are typically longer-term and larger scale effects that relate to project outcomes, and may be the result of several causal factors. 9

14 Knowledge Transfer refers to the exchange of scientific information, in either direction, between the RII project and industry, Federal, State or independent agencies and/or laboratories, with the objective of applying the knowledge to the operations or activities of the institution receiving the information. Technology transfer is one type of knowledge transfer. Knowledge Transfer Activities may be accomplished in various ways, including the involvement of industrial or other non-academic specialists on the RII advisory committee, partnership with institutions, faculty consulting relationships with industry, visiting instructorships by industrial scientists, and other approaches. The following illustrate various approaches that an RII project might undertake: Domestic research collaborations may include work with individual companies, industrial consortia, Federal laboratories, independent laboratories, other universities, or other scientific organizations. International research collaborations may include work with individual foreign companies, international industrial consortia, foreign government laboratories, foreign independent laboratories, foreign universities, or other international scientific organizations. Industrial development activities may include the creation of spin-off companies, participation in jurisdictional industrial development initiatives, or various types of cooperative agreements. Leadership exchanges may include industrial representation on the RII s Advisory Committee or participation of RII faculty and staff on industrial boards, advisory committees, Federal laboratory advisory associations, or international organization advisory associations. Personnel exchanges may take place through RII faculty or staff working in industrial laboratories, industrial staff working in RII labs, RII faculty or staff working in Federal labs, or Federal Laboratory staff working in RII labs. Continuing education for technical professionals may include seminars or lecture series on current research, short courses, workshops, or semester-length courses. Public policy outreach can include participation in advisory committees to government or other advisory groups. Professional activities such as participation in the development of industrial or technical standards, presentations at professional meetings, and representation at industrial conventions or trade shows may qualify as knowledge transfer activities. 10

15 Professional publications and information dissemination, including articles in scientific journals, RII working papers series, RII technical reports, regular RII newsletter, books and monographs, and Internet professional activities may qualify as knowledge transfer activities. Outreach The term outreach is distinguished from education in the RII program. Outreach involves the active efforts undertaken by the staff of the RII project to make other institutions and individuals aware of the activities of the EPSCoR RII project and to inform them as to how they might participate in or cooperate with the RII project and EPSCoR in general. As such, outreach is a process or an activity, independent of subject matter, and may apply to research, education, knowledge transfer, and other activities equally. Outreach Activities may be directed toward scientists and students within or beyond the universities involved in the RII project, institutions and teachers who provide instruction in science or engineering, whether conducted in elementary or secondary education systems, institutions of higher education, museums, or other learning settings, private firms, Federal, State, or independent laboratories, and/or the general public. The mechanisms can be quite diverse, and examples include: Collaboration with teachers may include in-service courses, workshops, and symposia for K-12 teachers, pre-service teacher training, lab and field research experiences for teachers, and long-term support for professional development. Development of educational tools for teachers and students may be part of outreach, including but not limited to new curricula, science kits, software, and videos. Another example is the use of RII equipment by K-12 teachers. Development of student programs may be part of outreach, including interactive programs and field trips, science fairs, research experiences for high school students, talks from prominent scientists, or mentoring programs. Collaboration on K-12 education projects may include work with statewide, regional, rural, and urban educational initiatives, local education improvement projects, and projects with other universities, local or regional science education associations, and school districts. Outreach to underrepresented groups may include targeting graduate, undergraduate, high school, middle school, or elementary school students to participate in a variety of activities. Work with larger science education initiatives may involve statewide, urban, and rural initiatives, local improvement projects, and liaison activities with other universities, local or regional science education associations, and school districts. 11

16 Community initiatives for the general public may include exhibits or shows at museums, planetariums, aquariums, or zoos, public lectures, publications, online information, radio or TV programming, and other social media, such as YouTube or Facebook. Outcomes refer to the results for which a program is designed to contribute, such as strengthened collaborative research, effective transfer of scientific principles and methods, increased participation of diverse groups of students, faculty, and general public, and other similar results. Outputs refer to the immediate, observable products of research, education, knowledge transfer, and outreach activities of the individual and/or institution, including publications or patent submissions, licenses, degrees conferred, resulting appointments, and other similar products. Participant An RII participant is an individual in the RII jurisdiction who is strongly involved in the project, whether or not they receive funding. All project members who receive funding are by definition participants, although not all participants are funded. External Participant An external RII participant is an individual outside the RII jurisdiction who is strongly involved in the project. Publications are journal articles, text books, monographs, chapters in books, conference proceedings, technical reports, abstracts, or other formal written documents, in both print and electronic media. Research refers to the scholarly or scientific investigation conducted with the objective of increasing knowledge about a phenomenon. The term includes theoretical, experimental, empirical, or simulation activities conducted by the scientists, engineers, and technical support staff. RII Faculty or Equivalent RII faculty or equivalent are defined as faculty or senior staff members at any participating university, college, or community college who devote part of their professional activities to one or more of the research areas of the RII project, or to tasks related to the RII project s education, outreach, or knowledge transfer missions. This may include senior professional or research staff as appropriate. RII Graduate Student RII graduate students are defined as students enrolled in a graduate degree program at one of the RII project s participating universities or colleges, who devote part of their research and educational activities to one or more of the research areas at the RII program under the supervision of an RII faculty or staff member. This category can include both students who are and those are not financially supported by the RII funds. 12

17 RII Support Primary RII Support Primary RII support means that RII funds were largely used to support the project and related outcomes and are within or closely related to the intellectual scope of research areas proposed in the RII proposal. Partial RII Support Partial RII support may include projects and related outcomes, use of equipment acquired by RII award, or other similar activities that are related to the intellectual scope of RII research areas that were primarily supported through other funds. RII Undergraduate Student RII undergraduate students are defined as students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at one of the RII project s participating universities, colleges, or community colleges, who are participating in one or more of the research areas of the RII project under the supervision of a RII faculty member. This category includes both students who are and those who are not financially supported by RII funds. Underrepresented Minorities Underrepresented minorities are individuals whose representation in science and engineering is less than their representation in the population: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, including American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities. Specific reporting templates may have more precise definitions as needed in their notes. Workforce Development Workforce development may include activities targeted to students at all levels, teachers, and the general public to increase the jurisdiction workforce capacity in STEM fields, and especially in the research focus areas of the RII project. Examples of professional workforce development include student participation in conferences, internships, entrepreneurship courses, intellectual development activities outside of the students main research area, teacher training, and other activities. 13

18 Highlight Guidelines from the NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (9/14/2011) A highlight shows an exciting outcome of an NSFsupported project transformative results impacts of this outcome, especially benefits to society, economy, industry, nation, region, science & engineering Audiences include Congress, other federal and state policymakers business and industry general public all viewers of NSF's "Science, Engineering and Education Innovation" (SEE Innovation) website at NSF speeches, reports and other websites A good highlight describes the outcome in a sentence or two describes the impact and benefits in a sentence or two provides additional explanation of the outcome and its impact uses language anyone can understand includes illustrations anyone can understand When writing a highlight DO write short, straightforward sentences that articulate a single point. DON T use long sentences with multiple clauses. DO use simple language. DON T use complicated scientific terminology. DO write for a public audience. DON T write the way you do when publishing in science journals. The public is interested in high-level impacts/benefits, not deep science. Illustrations should show research in action must include a brief caption describing the action, and a credit (name of owner/copyright holder & institution) should be high-resolution, NOT thumbnail on a slide; ideal (not required) resolution and dimensions: 300 dpi or greater, 1500 pixels wide x 1000 pixels high can be uploaded or ed; up to 6 can be used if permission is granted can include self-explanatory video, up to 3 minutes long in AVI or MPEG format; submit directly to NSF Office of Legislative & Public Affairs Illustrations require Highest resolution possible Permission from the owner/copyright holder for NSF to publish them externally on SEE Innovation, other websites, speeches or reports Completed Form 1515 (Multimedia Permission & Use) or comparable written/ ed statement from owner/copyright holder; submit with highlight Contact Your NSF program officer about identifying outcomes and their impacts/benefits Amber Jones, NSF Office of Legislative & Public Affairs, aljones@nsf.gov, , about writing style, image quality, image permissions, or to submit video Jackie Conciatore, NSF Office of Legislative & Public Affairs, jconciat@nsf.gov, , about OLPA selecting, editing, and approving highlights for SEE Innovation 14