Digital Libraries Program

Digital Libraries Program is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). This program supports research on new forms of information environments and new methods of access to and use of digital collections.

NSF 03-530: National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Archived funding opportunity This solicitation is archived.

Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements . All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects.

NSF 03-530: National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) Download the solicitation (PDF, 0.

2mb) National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) Replaces Document NSF 02-054 National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources Division of Undergraduate Education Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (optional): Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.

m proposer's local time): Summary Of Program Requirements National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) Building on work supported under the multi-agency Digital Libraries Initiative, this program aims to establish a national digital library that will constitute an online network of learning environments and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels.

In FY2003, the program will accept proposals in three tracks: (1) Collections projects are expected to aggregate and manage a subset of the library's content within a coherent theme or specialty. (2) Services projects are expected to develop services which support users, collection providers, and the Core Integration effort and which enhance the impact, efficiency, and value of the library.

(3) Targeted Research projects are expected to explore specific topics that have immediate applicability to collections, services, and other aspects of the development of the digital library. Cognizant Program Officer(s): Dr. Lee L. Zia, Division of Undergraduate Education, telephone: 703-292-8671, email: lzia@nsf.

gov Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 47. 076 --- Education and Human Resources An individual may serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on no more than one proposal submitted in the FY2003 competition, but may serve as a co-PI on multiple proposals.

Limit on Number of Proposals: Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Estimated Number of Awards: 30 Anticipated Funding Amount: $24,000,000 subject to the availability of funds Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions Letters of Intent: Submission of Letters of Intent is optional. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: This solicitation contains information that supplements the standard Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) proposal preparation guidelines. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required.

Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable. Other Budgetary Limitations: Other budgetary limitations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Letters of Intent (optional) : Full Proposal Deadline Date(s) (due by 5 p. m proposer's local Proposal Review Information Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply.

Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Award Administration Information Award Conditions: Standard NSF award conditions apply.

Reporting Requirements: Standard NSF reporting requirements The National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) program seeks to create, develop, and sustain a national digital library supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. The program funds projects in three tracks: Collections, Services, and Targeted Research.

Collectively, these projects form a network of learning environments and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The resulting digital library is intended to meet the needs of students and teachers at all levels -- pre-K to 12, undergraduate, graduate, and lifelong learning. It will also serve learners in both individual and collaborative settings, as well as formal and informal modes.

The NSDL ( http://www. nsdl. org ) will provide the premier path to a rich array of current and future high-quality educational content and services, and also function as a forum where resource users may become resource providers.

For example, users might contribute their expertise to produce new teaching modules from resources such as real-time experimental data or visualization software available through the network. Or they might evaluate and report on the efficacy of specific digital learning objects (such as Java applets or interactive electronic notebooks) and their impact on student learning.

In addition to services such as the intelligent retrieval of relevant information, indexing and online annotation of resources, and archiving of materials, the digital library will offer users access to virtual collaborative work areas, tools for analysis and visualization, remote instruments, large databases of real-time or archived data, simulated or virtual environments, and other new capabilities as they emerge.

The digital library will also enable the dynamic use of materials and tools for learning supplied by cooperating providers of resource collections and services.

For example, a case study at one site of how climate-change scientists employ satellite imagery to determine surface water chemistry could be combined with computational and visualization tools from another collection, and used to analyze and display archived data housed in yet another collection.

Finally, library services will increase the impact and accessibility of all resources, by giving users tools to search for and discover content, to assemble curricular and learning modules from component pieces in a flexible manner, and to communicate and collaborate with others. Through its distributed digital library building strategy, the NSDL program is fostering the creation and development of a comprehensive infrastructure.

Features include practices and policies for community-based review and other mechanisms that assure the quality and usability of resources. Likewise, practices and policies are under development for collections management issues such as archiving, preservation, and deaccessioning.

Other aspects of this infrastructure address: i) digital rights management systems, ii) effective ways to handle intellectual property issues that focus on maximizing the value of content, iii) the articulation of standards that promote stability, interoperability, and reusability of a wide variety of learning objects, and iv) login and authentication systems. For a list of all NSDL projects with links to abstracts see http://www. ehr.

nsf. gov/ehr/due/awards/nsdl. xls .

Each abstract also has contact information for the project's principal investigators. To follow the current state of collaborations within the growing NSDL community and to join the ongoing exploration and discussion of key issues, see the NSDL Communications portal for developers at Under the list of workspaces at this site, note in particular the sections on Activities/Committees and Library Building.

Covered areas include: Community Services, Content, Educational Impact, Technology, Sustainability, Services & Tools, and Standards & Metadata. This program builds on work supported previously and currently under the multi-agency Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI) Phase I and Phase II (see http://www. dli2.

nsf. gov ). The program is intended to multiply the impact of efforts supported by NSF and sister government agencies, the private sector, professional societies, and others working to improve education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics nationwide.

New NSDL projects are expected to coordinate their work with those of current NSDL projects and other educational digital library projects, such as the U.S. Department of Education's Gateway to Educational Materials ( http://www. thegateway.

org ) or projects supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services The impact of the NSDL program will depend largely on how well funded projects can leverage related efforts and to achieve sustainability after the period of NSF funding. The concept of a national digital library for educational resources in STEM disciplines has been developed through a series of workshops and related publications supported by NSF.

These include: Information Technology: Its Impact on Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology , April 1996, NSF 98-82 ( https://www. nsf. gov/cgi-bin/getpub?

nsf9882 ); Developing a Digital National Library for Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education , August 1997, National Research Council, Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education ( http://www. nap. edu/readingroom/enter2.

cgi? 0309059771. html ); Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Library Workshop , July 1998, NSF 99-112 ( http://www.

dlib. org/smete/public/report. html ); Serving the Needs of Pre-College Science and Mathematics Education: Impact of a Digital National Library on Teacher Education and Practice , September 1998, National Research Council, Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education ( http://www.

nap. edu/books/NI000781/html/ ); Digital Libraries and Education Working Meeting , January 1999 ( http://www. dli2.

nsf. gov/dljanmtg. pdf ); Portal to the Future: A Digital Library for Earth System Education , August 1999 ( http://www.

dlese. org/documents/reports/panelreports/reports. html ).

Further information may be found at http://www. ehr. nsf.

gov/ehr/due/programs/nsdl/ , including links to abstracts of current and previous projects. It is important that new NSDL proposals be well informed about relevant activities already funded under DLI and the NSDL program. Although the purpose of the NSDL program is to support improvements in STEM education in the United States, the impact of the program has an increasingly important international dimension.

Conversely, international digital library efforts may help achieve the goals of the NSDL program. Consequently, proposals to this program may be part of a larger effort that includes international elements funded by sources in this or other countries. (See http://www.

dli2. nsf. gov/intl.

html for further reference to potential international aspects.) In recent years, innovative projects supported by NSF and many other organizations have developed numerous examples of rich, learner-centered educational materials and environments.

Features include the use of primary resources; computational tools for modeling, simulation, and visualization; remote access to scientific equipment; analysis of large, real-time or archived data sets; and network-supported collaboration. During this time the World Wide Web has shown great potential for supporting and enabling access to the very best of these new learning materials and environments.

The highly linked, dynamic information architecture of the Web mirrors the interconnected nature of knowledge, promotes the integration of research and education, enables the inclusion of new high-quality materials and practices, and encourages learners to become active participants in expanding their educational experience. However, the many Web-based collections of resources and other educational material do exhibit shortcomings.

For example, from a lengthy list of links it is often difficult to determine how appropriate an individual item is for a particular learner's needs. When resources are located, they can exhibit uneven reliability or stability particularly if they incorporate additional software elements for animations, audio, or video.

Furthermore, interoperability and reusability of learning resources are more promise than reality; and the construction of new learning objects with executable content from "building block" component pieces (e.g., Java applets or application software macros) demands additional coordination requirements for seamless performance.

Through the NSDL program, NSF seeks to enable the discovery, collection, organization, and delivery of quality teaching and learning resources appropriate for educators and learners at all levels. The resulting network of learning environments and resources will be managed actively to promote reliable "anytime, anywhere" access to content and services.

In particular, the digital library should provide reusable, shareable, and interoperable resources that enable learners at all levels to access and use reviewed materials both within and across traditional STEM disciplinary boundaries. Such materials should also include assessment and evaluation tools and findings, and should harness new pedagogical content knowledge founded on a solid research base.

The collections, digital rights management, and services of the library will facilitate the development and dissemination of both new and tested materials and methods, thereby promoting continual improvements in STEM education at all levels. To realize this vision, the NSDL program is currently supporting nearly 90 projects across three tracks: Collections, Services, and Targeted Research.

In addition, the program supports a Core Integration activity that coordinates distributed resource collection and service providers to ensure reliable and extensible access to and usability of the resulting network of learning environments and resources. For more details about this work and that of the current community of NSDL collection and service developers, see the NSDL Communication Portal at http://comm. nsdlib.

org . A list of all projects funded by the NSDL program with links to abstracts is available in spreadsheet form at http://www. ehr.

nsf. gov/ehr/due/awards/nsdl. xls .

Each abstract also has contact information for the project's principal In FY2003, the NSDL program will accept proposals in three tracks: (1) Collections , (2) Services , and (3) Targeted Research . These tracks are described below. Projects may have features that address more than one track.

Awards for projects of up to 24 months in duration will be made. For expected award amounts and anticipated numbers of awards in the three tracks, see Section IV ("AWARD INFORMATION") below.

Partnerships or collaborations are strongly encouraged among digital library stakeholders, such as pre-K to 12 schools, two-year colleges, four-year colleges, universities, professional societies, public or community libraries, museums, industrial and business concerns (including commercial publishers), and other non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Sustainability of projects beyond the period of NSF funding is expected, and proposals for collections and services should include a long-term management plan and other evidence of prospects for sustainability. Cost recovery and for profit models are welcome. Proposed projects should have a tangible, long-term commitment from a stable institution.

Sustainability is also often fostered through partnerships involving academic, business, government, and other organizations. The evaluation of a project's long-term management plan will be strongly informed by the goal of making the full library's resources available to potential users at a cost that will not limit their use.

The success of the NSDL program will depend, to a large extent, on the development of a collective sense of identity and common cause by all the projects. New awardees are expected to collaborate with one another and with previously funded projects, particularly the Core Integration effort.

Likewise, the Core Integration effort has been charged to work with new and existing projects to cooperatively develop technical standards and organizational processes for including resource collections and services in the network.

NSF expects that the results and approaches of projects in the Collections, Services, and Targeted Research tracks will influence the tasks of the Core Integration effort and how they are accomplished throughout the duration of the NSDL program and beyond. To facilitate interaction and establish linkages, regular Principal Investigator (PI) meetings and workshops are held throughout the course of the NSDL program.

Representatives of related projects not funded by the NSDL program may also be invited to these meetings. Prospective proposers are strongly encouraged to follow the current state of collaborations within the growing NSDL community and to join the ongoing exploration and discussion of key issues. The NSDL Communications portal for developers ( http://comm.

nsdlib. org ) contains numerous publicly available workspaces, see in particular the sections on Activities/Committees and Library Building. Covered areas include: Community Services, Content, Educational Impact, Technology, Sustainability, Services & Tools, and Standards & Metadata.

Threaded and archived mailing lists are provided along with links to relevant technical documents and white papers. An early stage, operational digital library is also now available for use ( http://www. nsdl.

org ). A series of new releases and updates is planned throughout the next year to expand and enhance the evolving digital library's collections, services, and technology. This cycle will continue as collections and services projects supported by NSDL and others mature.

A project supported in this track is expected to aggregate and actively manage a subset of the digital library's content within a coherent theme or specialty. Responsibilities include the identification of relevant content, the provision of user services, classification and cataloguing, acquisition and/or linking, and referencing.

While disciplinary-based themes or areas could define a natural corpus of content, other possibilities are encouraged as well.

For example, collections could provide access to massive, real-time or archived data sets from a variety of areas of scientific inquiry; software tools for analysis, modeling, simulation, or visualization; remotely accessible experimental facilities; commentary by scientists, teachers, and experts in learning theory and pedagogy; or resources aimed at professional development for K-12 teachers.

Other collections might specialize in providing rapid access to educational resources based on recent scientific advances or other current events, while still others might emphasize class-tested resources focusing broadly on science literacy.

Linkages among different collections are particularly Collection providers are expected to exploit the potential of information technologies and digital library research to create and support rich learning environments.

Proposals should indicate clearly why there is a need for the resources, what is the collection's primary and/or secondary audience, how the collection is expected to be used, whether the setting for use is informal or formal, and what is the intended educational level of the resources.

Furthermore, evidence should be provided that the proposed aggregation of resources will support the very best STEM education that is inquiry-driven, active, and engaging. Proposals should also address criteria and mechanisms for acquiring and selecting high-quality content; for active archiving that maintains the usability of content as the underlying hardware, operating systems, and software evolve; and for maintaining currency.

If current NSDL projects seek additional support, such proposals must clearly indicate how the existing collection is being expanded and what new services or enhancements will be provided. Impacts of the existing collection must also be demonstrated. All proposals should include a management plan that addresses long-term sustainability.

Collection development assumes that materials, resources, modules, and other digital learning objects are largely already in existence. The task of the collection provider is to identify, select, tag, annotate, and aggregate this content for the learner. Collection development may necessitate some modification of materials.

However, these efforts are distinct from original content development supported by other NSF programs such as the Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program, the Instructional Materials Development program, and other curriculum and materials development programs funded by NSF or other agencies. Similarly, proposals that are primarily digitization or conversion projects are not appropriate for the NSDL program.

Prospective proposers who have questions are encouraged to contact the NSDL program at due-nsdl-program@nsf. gov . Collection providers are expected to participate with other NSDL projects in the development and adoption of minimal standards for interoperability, reusability, reliability, and stability of resources and services.

In particular, basic metadata requirements are needed to support flexible browsing and targeted searches across distributed collections. In this regard, projects in this track are expected to establish and maintain close interaction with each other and with the Core Integration effort. To follow the current state of this activity, see the NSDL Communications portal for developers at http://comm.

nsdlib. org . Under the list of workspaces at this site, note in particular the sections on Activities/Committees and Library Building.

Relevant areas include: Collection Development, Educational Impact, Technology, and Standards & Metadata. A list of NSDL collections projects with links to abstracts may be found within a spreadsheet of all current awards available at http://www. ehr.

nsf. gov/ehr/due/awards/nsdl. xls .

A number of metadata record formats are supported in the NSDL architecture, and collections projects are expected to supply records for harvesting. At a minimum the use of Dublin Core is recommended (see http://dublincore. org/ ).

Furthermore, collections should make their metadata available for harvesting either via the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) protocol ( http://www. openarchives. org/OAI/openarchivesprotocol.

html ) or a lower-barrier OAI static repository specification currently under development. Proposers are encouraged to consult the NSDL Metadata Primer ( http://metamanagement. comm.

nsdlib. org/outline. html ) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services document, "A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections," ( http://www.

imls. gov/pubs/forumframework. htm ).

Because it is anticipated that projects developed in this track will be included in the alliance of resource collection providers comprising the digital library, the projects are expected to cooperate closely, both among themselves and with the Core Integration effort. Nonetheless, they may pursue a variety of approaches to collection selection or development, and their coverage may have different areas of strength.

Collections not supported by the NSDL program are also encouraged to work with the Projects supported in this track are expected to develop services to increase the impact, reach, efficiency, and value of the digital library in its fully operational form. Services that will have a broad impact across an array of other NSDL projects are particularly encouraged.

Although some examples are given below, many valuable services may be unanticipated. Since there are natural synergies to exploit between digital library collections and services, projects are strongly encouraged to collaborate with appropriate projects in the Collections track, if not at the proposal stage, then certainly during the course of funding.

To understand the present state and level of NSDL services, prospective service developers should review the current set of NSDL Services projects at http://www. ehr. nsf.

gov/ehr/due/awards/nsdl. xls .

Services supporting users might include: help services such as 800 numbers, frequently asked questions (FAQs), rapid response e-mail, etc.; targeted assistance to students and teachers at K-12 schools or colleges having limited computer capability and technical support; methods to increase the library's usability for special populations such as young children or other users having limited experience with synchronous and asynchronous mechanisms to exploit collaborative learning environments using shared resources; mechanisms to help content developers combine resources by different authors and from different collections; and "push" or "pull" processes that present users with specialized content.

Services supporting collection providers might include: reliability testing for Java applets or other software-based resources; certification that resources are interoperable across platforms; high-volume servers to handle periods of peak demand; "middleware" to support acquisition and incorporation of content audio, image, and video search capabilities; mechanisms to associate commentary and other annotations with resources; methods to determine usage patterns to inform design and evaluation Services supporting the Core Integration effort might include: maintainance of an editorial "help desk" presence on the network; specialized content-based searching; metadata system translation or crosswalking; maintenance of personal user profile systems that respect privacy provision of user reports and other commentary associated with content; community feedback mechanisms; classification and organization; and development and analysis of digital library evaluation metrics.

Proposals submitted to the Services track should also include a management plan that addresses long-term sustainability. As with projects in the Collections track, service providers are expected to cooperate closely, both among themselves and with the Core Integration effort.

Proposers should also demonstrate awareness of currently funded projects and their current state of service development, so as to place their proposed efforts within the needs of the larger NSDL community of users ( http://www. nsdl. org ).

Projects supported in this track should have direct applicability to one or both of the other two tracks or to the Core Integration effort. Additionally, they may explore other aspects of NSDL including its impact on educational practice, changes in user behavior, and development of new learning environments.

Examples include, but are not limited to: digital library usage studies; research on building and sustaining user communities within the context of the digital library; automated annotation of audio, image, or video resources; user interface implementation issues; identification and usage of principles of information architecture rendering expertise embedded in high-quality but static paper-based educational resources into interactive, digital formats; use of expert system principles to capture human librarians' experience, research on hybrid systems that marry human and automated expertise to provide user services; applications of simulation or virtual world technology for virtual research on uses of digital libraries to improve learning by students Proposals for basic digital library research or basic research in the use of technology in education may be supported by the multi-agency Digital Libraries Initiative ( http://www.

dli2. nsf. gov ), the Information Technology Research (ITR) program ( http://www.

itr. nsf. gov ), or other programs.

Prospective proposers are encouraged to contact the NSDL program at due-nsdl-program@nsf. gov if they have questions about the match between their interests and the goals of NSDL versus these related programs. III.

Eligibility Information of proposers identified in the Grant Proposal Guide (see Chapter I, Section C ) are eligible to submit proposals under this program solicitation. An individual may serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on no more than one proposal submitted in the FY2003 competition, but may serve as a co-PI on multiple proposals. NSF anticipates that approximately $24 million will be available for this program in FY2003.

The program expects to make approximately 30 awards, depending on the quality of proposals received. The anticipated distribution of awards in the program's three Collections: 12 to 15 new awards, up to $1,000,000 each; Services: 8 to 10 new awards, up to $500,000 each; Targeted Research: 6 to 8 new awards, up to $500,000 each. Awards may have a duration of up to 24 months.

The estimated program budget, number of awards, and average award size and duration are subject to the V. Proposal Preparation And Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions Letters of Intent (optional): A brief letter of intent (sent via e-mail to due-nsdl-program@nsf.

gov ) is requested, but not required, by March 12, 2003. Please use "NSDL Letter of Intent" as the Subject line. Please indicate clearly the track of the program that the prospective proposal will address.

Full Proposal Instructions: submitted in response to this program announcement/solicitation should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the general guidelines contained in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG). The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF Website at: https://www. nsf.

gov/cgi-bin/getpub? gpg . Paper copies of the GPG may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone (301) 947-2722 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.

gov . FastLane ( http://www. fastlane.

nsf. gov ), NSF's system for conducting business over the Internet, must be used to prepare and submit proposals. Paper proposals will not be accepted.

Proposers should carefully follow the detailed instructions ( http://www. fastlane. nsf.

gov/a1/newstan. htm ) on the FastLane Web site. PIs who have not used FastLane before are reminded to make sure that their institution is a registered FastLane institution (see http://www.

fastlane. nsf. gov/a0/about/registration.

htm ) and to contact the institution's Sponsored Research Office (SRO) to be added to the NSF PI database. (All co-PIs listed in the proposal must also be in the NSF PI database.) PIs who intend to use subawards in their proposal (see GPG, Chapter II, Section C.

2. g. vi(e) ) are reminded that the subawardee organization(s) must also have an NSF Institution ID Number (or be a registered FastLane institution) before FastLane can be used to prepare the subaward budget(s).

New FastLane users should acquaint themselves with the system as early as possible--well before the proposal deadline. For full information about the NSF Proposal Review process including a discussion of the two NSF merit review criteria, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts , see section VI of this solicitation.

Proposers are reminded that they must address both merit review criteria in separate statements within the one-page Project Summary in accordance with Chapter II, Section The Project Description contains most of the information that determines whether or not a proposal is funded. Project descriptions should include: Statement of Need .

Describe why the content of the collection is needed, or what the demand for the proposed service is, or what problems or issues are being researched. Target Audience . Identify the primary and/or secondary audience for the collected resources or the services.

How is the collection or service expected to be used? For targeted research what is the context, and what users will be affected and how? What is the setting of the project: informal or formal education, life-long learning?

Project Goals . State the overall goals and objectives for the project and how progress towards these goals and objectives will be Project Design . Describe the overall approach and components of the project.

How will the intended learners use the resources or services? How will the understanding gained from targeted research enhance the digital library's operation or its impact on learners? Where appropriate, proposers are strongly encouraged to provide links to prototype examples.

Key Staff . Provide a description of the roles, responsibilities, and qualifications of key personnel, consultants, and/or advisors. These should be tied to major project goals and objectives.

Timeline . Where appropriate, include a timeline for development indicating major points of progress that are expected. Dissemination .

Describe, as appropriate, how the outcomes and lessons learned from the project will be communicated broadly. Evaluation . Describe, as appropriate, the plans for evaluation, including the name and qualifications of any evaluator(s).

Information about the evaluation strategy, process, and methods should also be provided. Sustainability . For Collections and Services projects, describe the plans to promote and sustain the project beyond the grant period.

In preparing this narrative, proposers should ensure that both the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the project are addressed equally. Project Data Form must be submitted (via FastLane) as part of all proposals. The information on this form is used to direct proposals to appropriate reviewers and to determine the characteristics of projects supported by the Division of Undergraduate Education.

In FastLane, this form will show up in the list of forms for your proposal only after you have (1) selected the correct Program Announcement/Solicitation No. on the Cover Sheet and (2) saved the Cover Sheet. Take special care to identify the proper track for your proposal in Item 1 of the form. A Budget Justification of up to three pages must accompany the budget forms and provide details about budget line items.

Proposals that involve subawards should include a Budget Justification of up to three pages for each subawardee organization. If Special Information or Supplementary Documentation is included with the proposal (see GPG, Chapter II, Section C. 2.

j ), this section should be submitted as one or more PDF files using FastLane's "Supplementary Documents" function. (Paper documents should be electronically scanned and converted to PDF.) This optional section may include only the sorts of items listed in the GPG.

Organizations intending to submit simultaneous Collaborative Proposals (as described in GPG, Chapter II, Section D. 3 ) must alert an NSDL program officer by e-mail ( due-nsdl-program@nsf. gov ) prior to the submission and must follow the instructions for electronic submission specified in GPG, Chapter II, Section D.

3. b . The project titles of the related proposals must be identical and must begin with the words "Collaborative Project," and the combined budgets of the related proposals should conform to the anticipated individual award sizes specified for the program's three tracks in Section IV ("AWARD INFORMATION") above.

These simultaneous Collaborative Proposals will be treated as a single proposal (with a single Project Summary, Project Description, and References Cited) during the review process. Proposers are reminded to identify the program announcement/solicitation number ((03-530)) in the program announcement/solicitation block