Billy C. Covington, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Research and Federal Relations
The primary commitment of the Office of the Associate Vice President for Research (AVPR) and Federal Relations is to support and promote the research and scholarship needs of the faculty and staff while promoting shared responsibility, compliance and scholarly integrity. Toward that end, the AVPR assists faculty members in their research endeavors, encourages interdisciplinary activities across campus and provides matching funds to support new programs and initiatives. In addition, this office provides administrative support for research activities through the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Office of Research Compliance and the Office of Electronic Research Administration. Six multidisciplinary centers and institutes also report to the AVPR.
Beginning March 18, 2013, the NSF will enhance the FastLane system to begin automated compliance checking of all required sections of proposals. This will bring NSF systems in line with long-standing proposal preparation requirements as outlined in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) ( Chapter II.C.1 of the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)).
The GPG-required sections of a proposal include:
| Project Summary * | Budget Justification |
| Project Description | Current and Pending Support |
| References Cited | Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources |
| Biographical Sketch(es) | Data Management Plan * |
| Budget | Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan (if applicable)* |
* These proposal sections are already being auto-compliance checked by FastLane.
Proposal submission instructions for conferences, symposia or workshops; international travel grants; or program solicitations may deviate from the GPG instructions. If the submission instructions do not require one of the above sections to be provided, proposers will need to insert text or upload a document in that section of the proposal that states, “Not Applicable.” Doing so will enable FastLane to accept the proposal.
Additionally, proposers providing Biographical Sketches and/or Current and Pending Support information for Principal Investigators (PIs), co-PI(s) or Senior Personnel in a single PDF file associated with the PI, must insert text or upload a document in that section of the proposal that states, “Not Applicable,” for any co-PI or Senior Personnel so that FastLane will accept the proposal.
PIs will receive a warning message if any of the GPG-required sections is missing, however, the PI will still be able to submit the proposal to the organization’s Sponsored Project Office (SPO). If the SPO attempts to submit proposal that is missing any of the GPG required sections, they will receive an error message identifying the missing section(s), and FastLane will prevent submission to NSF. After obtaining all required sections, the SPO may submit the proposal to NSF in accordance with the established deadline date policy.
Proposals submitted through Grants.gov must include all GPG required sections or include a document stating that the section is “Not Applicable.”
We encourage you to share this information with your respective communities so that they are aware of this system enhancement. Additional information will be posted on the NSF website at:
www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/autocompliance.jsp
Please contact policy@nsf.gov for any further questions.
| Project Name | Sponsor | Award Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic Diversity of Comal Spring Riggle Beetle | US Fish & Wildlife Service | $12,500.00 |
| Development of Low-Carbon Low-Cost Asphalt Pavement: Evaluation of New Additions | Korea Institute of Construction Tech | $19,671.00 |
| Research and Development Activities Grant | Sematech | $45,000.00 |
| University Construction Department Improvements for Construction Programs | TEXO Education and Research | $3,000.00 |
| Paper Microfluidic Platform Detect Viral Gastroenteritis | UT Medical Branch Galveston | $200,673.00 |
| HCP: San Marcos Texas Wild Rice Enhancement/Restoration | University of Houston | $498,587.51 |
| ALERRT Valor Project | Institute for Inter-Governmental Research | $764,000.00 |
| Assembly Tolerance Analysis for Wheel Stack | KEPCO Plant Services & Engineering | $45,000.00 |
| Houston Toad Management and Research During Drainage Restoration and Recovery | Bastrop County | $30,000.00 |
| WQPP Scope of Services: Dr. Thomas Hardy | John Gleason, LLC | $25,862.00 |
| Project Great | Harris County Department of Education | $375,316.00 |
| STTR Phase I: Rhenium Recovery | CHEMTOR, LP | $19,206.00 |
| Testing and Data Recovery at the Long View Site, Roberts County | TX Department of Transportation Research | $17,016.89 |
| Southern Border Training and Technical Assistance Project | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | $25,000.00 |
| Houston Toad Management and Research During Roadway Restoration and Recovery | Bastrop County | $97,000.00 |
| Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Responses Training | US Department of Justice | $110,000.00 |
| 2012 Bulletproof Vest Program | Office of the Governor | $8,8750.00 |
| A Cultural Perspective on Southeast for Educators | Humanities Texas State University - San Marcos | $3,765.00 |
| Comparative Expression of PAX6 as a Mediator of Ocular Development | Southwestern Association of Naturalists | $1,000.00 |
| Jon Richey: Reconstructing Changes in pC02 | National Science Foundation | $42,000.00 |
| Pedestrian Bicycle and Resources: Mega-Regions Project | University of New Orleans | $9,000.00 |
| Juvenile Registration Notification Policy Effects: A Multistate Evaluation Project | John Hopkins University | $38,004.00 |
| Caminos: Pathways to Success | Austin ISD | $175,735.00 |
A team of students from Texas State University-San Marcos and South China University of Technology has been named one of 15 college teams nationally to receive the prestigious P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Following an initial peer review process, this year’s winners were selected from 45 competing teams after two days of judging by a panel of national experts convened in Washington, D.C., April 21-23 to provide recommendations to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
EPA selected the award-winning projects from the most competitive pool of teams ever, basing its decisions on the potential to provide innovative, cutting-edge sustainable solutions to worldwide environmental problems.
“The competition and expo are not only about EPA’s prestigious P3 Award, but also about supporting the next generation of this country’s innovators and entrepreneurs who are entering the environmental and public health field with passion to make a difference,” said Lek Kadeli, acting assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Research and Development. “The P3 program gives these students the opportunity to bring those ideas to realization and many have the potential to make significant impacts on our nation’s sustainable future and development of environmental technologies.”
Each P3 award-winning team will receive a grant of up to $90,000 to further develop their design, apply it to real world applications or move it to the marketplace. Previous P3 award winners have started successful businesses and are marketing the technologies in the U.S. and around the world.
Texas State’s team was honored for its project that converts rice husks, a byproduct of agriculture, into a starter material called lignocellulose for producing fabrics, biofuel and silica nanoparticles.
Other teams receiving the P3 Award represented Appalachian State Universiy, Butte College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Gonzaga University, Oregon State University, Princeton University, Santa Clara University, Southern Illinois University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of California-Riverside, University of Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, University of Oklahoma and Vanderbilt University.
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