Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 16-1

The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) is comprised of documents relating to the Foundation's proposal and award process. It has been designed for use by both our customer community and NSF staff and consists of two parts:

  • Part I, the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) contains NSF’s proposal preparation and submission guidelines. The GPG provides guidance for the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF. Some NSF programs have program solicitations that modify the general provisions of the GPG, and, in such cases, the guidelines provided in the solicitation must be followed.

    The policy and procedural guidance contained in the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide should be followed when preparing and submitting proposals to NSF via Grants.gov.

  • Part II, the NSF Award and Administration Guide (AAG), contains guidance on managing and monitoring the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the Foundation. Coverage includes the NSF award process, from issuance and administration of an NSF award through closeout. Guidance regarding other grant requirements or considerations that either is not universally applicable or which do not follow the award cycle also is provided. When NSF Grant General Conditions or an award notice reference a particular section of the AAG, then that section becomes part of the award requirements through incorporation by reference.