2015-Grin-FON.docx

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Fire and Aviation Directorate National Interagency Fire Center Lead Agency for the Joint Fire Science Program

Joint Fire Science Program The Joint Fire Science Program provides funding for scientific studies to address problems associated with managing wildland fuels, fires, and fire-impacted ecosystems.

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for FY 1998 and subsequent years (P.L. 105-83; H.R. Report 105-163)

PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT No. FA-FON0015-0002 GRIN Announcement (1 Task Statement)

CFDA No. 15.232 ISSUE DATE: September 12, 2014

JFSP Funding Opportunity Notice (FON) 2015-2

CLOSING DATE & TIME

November 21, 2014 5:00 p.m. MDT

New for 2015:

· Changes in salary policy and equipment policy - see section SECTION IV Application and submission information for further information

· Changes in Budget and Budget Narrative requirements - see templates for changes

· Changes in review process - see SECTION V Application and Review Process for further information

Contact Information:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Legislative Authority: Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for FY 1998 and subsequent years (P.L. 05-83; H.R. Report 105-163).

B. Project Background Information: The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) is a partnership of six federal wildland management and research agencies with a need to address problems associated with managing wildland fuels, fires, and fire-impacted ecosystems. The partnering agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and five bureaus in the U.S. Department of the Interior: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Geological Survey.

For further background on the JFSP, those considering submitting proposals are encouraged to visit our website at www.firescience.gov C. Program/Project Objective: The U.S. Congress directed the Department of the Interior and the USDA Forest Service to develop a Joint Fire Science Program and Plan to prioritize and provide sound scientific studies to support land management agencies. Current priorities are identified as task statements in the Funding Opportunity Notice (FON).

D. Statement of Joint Objectives/Project Management Plan: The JFSP Governing Board and Program Manager will establish an oversight relationship with the Principal Investigator on each funded project. Projects will be required, at a minimum, to provide a written progress report annually.

E. Period of Project: The JFSP Governing Board generally anticipates that individual projects can be accomplished within three years or less.

SECTION II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Expected Number of Awards: Approximately 3-6 B. Estimated Total Program Funding: Approximately $150,000 C. Award Ceiling: $25,000 D. Assistance Instrument: To be determined at a later date by the JFSP

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants: The JFSP encourages proposals from all interested parties. All selected awardees must provide a valid Dun & Bradstreet number (D&B) http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform and have a current registration with the federal System for Award Management (SAM) www.SAM.gov.

B. Funding Cooperator: JFSP will enter into only one agreement per project with the PI institution or the funding cooperator institution. The PI institution or funding cooperator institution will be responsible for entering into sub-agreements with collaborating institutions. Budgets must be reviewed and approved by your Budget contact and your Agreements contact prior to proposal submission. JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover budget errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

Funds will be awarded through a federal agency, a university, or a non-governmental organization (NGO). Proposals that included budgeted funds to be spent by a federal agency and that do not have a federal PI must list a funding cooperator from the federal agency requesting funds. Similarly, proposals with a university or NGO PI that do not include funding for federal agencies do not need a funding cooperator and funds will route through the PI’s institution.

All proposals with a PI from other organizations, e.g., states or private business, or have any international funding, must also identify a funding cooperator from the United States to receive and process the funds. If the funding cooperator is from the Forest Service, the cooperator must be from a Forest Service research station. The Agreements contact and Budget contact must be from the funding cooperator’s institution.

Proposals where the PI or funding cooperator is an employee of a university or NGO will be funded directly by an award document (e.g., a cooperative agreement) between JFSP and the PI’s institution. The institution will be required to respond to a second non-competitive posting on grants.gov to initiate funding.

Upon receipt of a fully executed award document, the institution receiving funds from JFSP will be responsible for all sub-award transactions to cooperators or contractors related to the project. The end date and indirect costs for all sub-awards must match the end date and indirect costs in the original funding award document.

(See funding cooperator flowchart below)

C. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program has no matching requirements. However, contributed costs are desired and are an evaluation factor.

SECTION IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Proposal Submission and Agency Contact All proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. MST November 21, 2014, using the electronic submission process provided on the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov). Proposals should not be submitted in Grants.gov. There will be no exceptions to this closing date and time.

All proposals must meet all requirements in this FON (see especially Section IV. E below). Proposals that do not meet all requirements in this section will not be considered for funding.

Questions should be directed to:

B. Steps to Create and Complete a JFSP Proposal There are multiple steps necessary to create a JFSP proposal, some of which are dependent on prior steps. We recommend that investigators plan ahead, start early, and use the following process to create a proposal:

Step 1 – PI establishes profile, updates password

Step 2 – PI initiates proposal (select task, receive proposal #, enter proposal title)

Step 3 – Enter contacts (all contacts establish profiles, update passwords; PI assigns roles)

Step 4 – Investigators develop proposal (templates, requirements)

Step 5 – Complete budget (template, narrative)

Step 6 – Attach all documents (proposal, budget, budget narrative, data management plan, CVs, support letters (optional), salary justification (if needed))

Step 7 – PI enters final details (project location, budget summary, start/end dates, abstract, project category)

Step 8 – Budget Contact and Agreements Contact certify review of budget and budget narrative

Step 9 – PI submits proposal (convert to Final Draft status first if not previously done)

Notes

· Many steps can be in progress concurrently

· All information, including attachments, can be saved as Draft and edited later

C. Task Statement

1. Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Award In partnership with the Association for Fire Ecology, the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) invites current MS and PhD graduate students enrolled in US colleges or universities in the fields of wildland fire and related human dimensions and ecological sciences to apply for a Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) award. The purpose of these awards is to enhance graduate student’s exposure to and interaction with fire and fuels managers, to develop appreciation and understanding of fire and fuels managers information and research needs, and to augment already planned research to develop information and/or products useful to managers. JFSP recognizes that graduate students of today are the managers, scientists, and leaders of tomorrow. These awards allow graduate students to conduct research that will supplement and enhance the quality, scope, or applicability of their thesis or dissertation, and to build skills needed for independent inquiry. Proposals must demonstrate relevance to fire, fuels or resource managers and include means to directly communicate with managers regarding project outcomes.

Proposals must be directly related to the mission and goals of JFSP to be considered. Applicants are encouraged to search the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov) to learn more about the scope of JFSP activities. In addition, proposals must directly address one of the following topics:

· Climate change and fire (e.g., fire behavior, fire effects, fire regime)

· Post-fire recovery (e.g., effects of burn severity, treatment effectiveness)

· Smoke or emissions assessments

· Fire weather

· Social issues and fire (e.g., community preparation, transfer and use of science, public perceptions, fire-adapted communities)

Proposals on other topics will not be reviewed.

Proposals must describe new, unfunded work that extends ongoing or planned research that is the subject of a thesis or dissertation that has been approved by the graduate student’s advisory committee. For example, GRIN funding might allow a graduate student to add an additional chapter to an already planned thesis project. Proposals that are unconnected to ongoing or planned research, or that appear to describe an entire thesis project rather than an add-on, will not be funded.

Proposals must be authored by the student and must be reviewed and submitted by the student’s advisor, who acts as the formal Principal Investigator (PI) for the project. A letter of recommendation from the student’s advisor is required, and MUST indicate that student’s thesis/dissertation topic has been approved by the student’s advisory committee. If the student cannot complete the project, the student’s advisor (project PI) must return unspent funds to JFSP. The student must be listed as a Student Investigator on the proposal.

In addition, letters of support from managers are encouraged.

Funds are intended for student use and support. Funds cannot be used for faculty salary. Funding can be used to conduct a significant field or laboratory data collection campaign; a comprehensive synthesis, modeling, or data analysis; or to develop an appropriate application or tool for fire and fuels managers. Appropriate budget items include: graduate student stipend, field or laboratory assistance, research equipment or materials, and travel. Funds cannot be used for student tuition. Each award is capped at $25,000, including university indirect costs as limited in the proposal instructions.

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis student qualifications, scientific merit, relevance to managers, the extent to which the proposed work extends or enhances an approved thesis or dissertation, and the feasibility of the proposed work. Review may be conducted in two stages. If so, applicants may not receive detailed review comments if their proposal is not forwarded for a second-stage review.

Recipients of the GRIN award are expected to produce at least one management-oriented tool or summary based on the funded project. Awardees are expected to present their work at one regional, national, or international fire conference or workshop. The awardee is also expected to write a final report for the JFSP prior to the project end date. These are one-time awards, and no supplemental funds will be granted.

D. Budget and Funding Policy

1. Funding Cooperator Proposal may require a funding cooperator. See Section III.B above.

2. Indirect Costs The JFSP Governing Board recognizes the need of agencies and organizations participating in the program to recover reasonable indirect costs. However, cost effectiveness of the individual projects is a determining factor in the final selection process. Indirect rates for JFSP proposals are limited to a maximum of twenty (20) percent of the direct costs for each institution. The maximum indirect rate that a funding cooperating institution may charge for pass-through costs is ten (10) percent. Proposals requesting funds for indirect rates higher than twenty (20) percent will not be considered. Proposal funding through a federal funding cooperator must reflect either the prevailing indirect rate for the cooperating federal agency or the JFSP maximum limit of twenty (20) percent, whichever is less. Unrecovered indirect costs can be used as contributed funds in the budget.

Pass-through costs are charged only by the PI institution or funding cooperator institution for administrative costs associated with managing sub-agreements. Pass-through costs are limited to ten (10) percent of the sub-agreement direct charges.

(See indirect cost example below) Indirect costs example

Scenario

· The PI is from a university or federal agency (lead institution)

· Co-PI is from a cooperating university or NGO (cooperating institution)

· The calculated expenses in the Budget for the lead institution are $200,000 (salary, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, etc.)

· The calculated expenses in the Budget for the cooperating institution are $40,000

Calculation of indirect costs

1. Cooperating institution

Note: If there are multiple cooperating institutions this calculation would be performed for each institution.

2. Lead institution

3. Total Budget = $244,800 + $48,000 = $292,800

Points of emphasis

· Lead institutions can include pass-through costs for each cooperating institution in their Budget

· Pass-through costs are calculated based on the total Budget for each cooperating institution, including the indirect costs calculated by the cooperating institution

· Cooperating institutions do not include pass-through costs in their Budgets

· Institutions should use their negotiated indirect cost rates with their cooperating institutions, but cannot exceed JFSP maximums

3. SBIR Costs Certain proposals may be required to pay a percentage of the project’s costs into the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Proposals where the funds are transferred to a Forest Service institution and subsequently award a portion of the total budget to a non-federal entity through a sub-agreement or sub-contract may be required to pay the prevailing rate of the total funds awarded externally to the SBIR program. Check with your Agreements contact to determine if this applies to your proposal and to determine the current rate.

4. Equipment Policy Investigators are encouraged to contribute equipment to conduct studies funded by JFSP from existing equipment inventories. Contributed equipment should be included as “contributed costs” in JFSP budget spreadsheets and on the budget tab.

If necessary equipment is not available, JFSP will partially or fully fund equipment needed to conduct research funded by JFSP. If newly purchased equipment has an expected lifespan extending beyond the life of the project, the owner of the equipment is expected to contribute a portion of the purchased equipment costs in approximate proportion to the remaining lifespan. E.g., if a needed piece of equipment costs $1,000 and will have a 50% lifespan at the end of the project, then the owner of the equipment is expected to contribute $500.

In no case will JFSP pay more than $5,000 for a piece of equipment. If a new piece of equipment costing more than $5,000 is needed for the proposed project, proposal investigators are expected to contribute the remaining costs in excess of $5,000.

This criterion is to be applied for each and every piece of equipment.

5. Salary Policy Salaries of permanent full-time employees are not covered by JFSP and must be provided by your institution. This includes university faculty on 12-month tenure-track appointments.

JFSP will provide funding for part-time, temporary, term employees, post-doctoral employees, graduate, or undergraduate students. JFSP will cover salary for employees on a 9-month appointment, but only for the months they are not funded by their institution and only for the time focused on their JFSP project. JFSP will not pay salary for other personnel to fill in for employees working on a JFSP project.

Stipends are normally funded, but tuition and other university fees will not be funded.

6. Budget Budget spreadsheet and narrative must be reviewed by your Budget contact and your Agreements contact to ensure all costs have been included and the budget is correct including indirect charges. JFSP will not provide additional funds to cover errors discovered after the proposal submission deadline.

Budget spreadsheet must use the provided template and have a separate worksheet for each institution requesting or contributing funds including contracts. Budget narratives must detail all costs in the budget spreadsheet. Funded proposals will be closely scrutinized for allowable and reasonable costs before award is issued.

The Budget contact and Agreements contact must sign in to the JFSP system and certify the budget is correct and they understand their role in receiving funds and facilitating agreements. Proposals cannot be submitted by the PI if both contacts have not completed this task in the database. (See screen print below)

Proposals will be funded via Inter-agency agreement, cooperative agreement, or budget transfer. Please talk to your Budget contact and Agreements contact to ensure your budget has the correct indirect rates for your circumstances.

The JFSP Governing Board does not fund projects that are, or should be, funded internally from existing accounts (such as routine agency monitoring) or operational portions (such as the installation of fuels treatments or development of fire management plans) of other projects.

Funding is usually distributed in late summer; please plan budgets accordingly (See proposal timeline below).

E. Data Management Plan (DMP) It is the intent of JFSP that all data collected or generated through JFSP funds are of high quality and made freely available to others within a reasonable time period. JFSP recognizes that preparation of data and metadata for publication is a time consuming process. Adequate funds to support this work should be included in proposal budgets.

DMPs must be attached as a separate document and are limited to two pages maximum. DMPs will be considered in the proposal review process.

DMPs must contain the following (see DMP template and instructions for further detail):

· Description of data type, scale, resolution, and format for all data to be submitted to a data repository

· Steps used to process and quality assure the data

· Specific data repository intended for long-term data storage

· Metadata language used to describe the data

· Provisions for data access and necessary limitations to protect sensitive data

· For modeling studies, only data generated for model input should be included in the DMP.

All collected or generated data should be evaluated for errors, and subjected to data proofing and validation procedures.

Investigators must select a data repository well suited for long-term archival, publication, and data sharing of data collected or generated through JFSP funding. JFSP recommends use of the Forest Service R&D data archive (http://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/). If you would like to discuss the archive’s services, please contact archivist Dave Rugg (drugg@fs.fed.us) or associate archivist Laurie Porth (lporth@fs.fed.us).

Submission of data sets and metadata will be required at the time of final report submission. JFSP will review the data and metadata to ensure that all required information is provided (including a pointer in the metadata to the location of the data). After successful review, the metadata will be provided to the Forest Service R&D data archive (http://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/), which will provide the central metadata catalog for all JFSP projects. The PI is responsible for keeping the metadata in the official catalog current over time.

PIs can limit release of data sets for up to two years following submission of the final report. At the end of this period, all data sets will be made publicly available. All extensions of this deadline require extenuating circumstances and approval by the JFSP Program Manager.

F. Additional Application Requirements Proposals must meet all of the following requirements to be considered. Incomplete proposals will not be considered. There will be no exceptions to either the submission deadline or other submission requirements. If you have questions about these requirements, please contact the JFSP Program Office for clarification (Becky Jenison 208-387-5958, or John Cissel 208-387-5349).

1. Proposal Submission Proposals must be submitted electronically via the JFSP website (www.firescience.gov). Proposals should not be submitted in Grants.gov. Hard copy, email, or facsimile proposals will not be accepted. Proposals can be created in the database at any time and saved for submission any time prior to the closing date & time.

· Proposers must have a JFSP database login and password to submit a proposal. Requests for access will be processed in approximately 24 hours.

· The Budget contact must sign into the system and certify the budget is correct before proposal can be submitted. Note that the PI will not be able to complete this task for the Budget contact. PI must assign this contact on the contact tab before the Budget contact can sign in to complete this process.

· The Agreements contact must sign into the system and certify the budget is correct before proposal can be submitted. Note that the PI will not be able to complete this task for the Agreements contact. PI must assign this contact on the contact tab before the Agreements contact can sign in to complete this process.

· Only the PI can submit the proposal.

· Proposals can be saved in the JFSP system and submitted prior to the closing date and time. Submitted proposals can be reverted back to final draft by the PI prior to the closing date. If you revert a proposal back to draft you must resubmit the proposal before the closing date and time.

· The JFSP proposal submittal system will not allow proposals to be submitted after the closing date and time.

2. Profiles

· All contacts must have a profile in the JFSP database and must be entered on the contacts tab.

· Proposals cannot be submitted if all required contacts (see Contacts below) are not entered on the contacts tab by the PI.

· It can take up to 24 hours to get a profile created. It is advisable to request profiles early in the process.

· To request a profile or password resets go to the JFSP website and click on the sign in link. Use the appropriate link for requesting a password reset or requesting a new user registration.

3. Contacts Proposals may be required to have the following contacts (see Section VI. Definitions to understand the role of each contact) assigned to a proposal:

· Principal Investigator (required, only one Principal Investigator can be assigned)

· Student Investigator

· Funding Cooperator (may be required, see Section III.B. funding cooperator)

· Budget Contact (required) in some cases this may be the same as the Agreements contact

· Agreements Contact (required) in some cases this may be the same as the Budget Contact

· Co-PIs and Collaborators (options) It is the PI’s responsibility to ensure all correct contacts are entered into the proposal database. Please read Section VI. Definitions carefully to ensure you have the correct contact from the correct institution listed.

4. Confirmation Page When you submit your proposal you will receive a confirmation page. We highly recommend that you save or print this page for your records. If you do not receive this confirmation page you have not submitted your proposal correctly.

You should receive an email from the JFSP Program Office letting you know that your proposal has either been forwarded for review, or rejected for not meeting administrative requirements. If you do not receive this email by the end of December, you should fax or email your confirmation to Becky Jenison at bjenison@blm.gov or fax: 208-387-5960.

5. Attachments All required documents and templates must be attached before the proposal can be submitted. All attachments except the budget must be attached as a pdf document; the budget template is in an Excel format. Attachments over the page limit cannot be submitted. All information in a template must be included as part of that attachment and must be within the page limit. Extraneous materials (e.g., extra graphs and text) are not permitted and will not be reviewed.

Required attachments for all proposals must use templates provided to be considered:

· Proposal body

· C.V.s (PI: two-page maximum, Co-PI(s): one-page maximum)

· Budget spreadsheet (Excel spreadsheet, includes a separate worksheet for each institution requesting funding)

· Budget narrative (explanation of specific budget assumptions and costs)

· Data Management Plan (see below)

Additional attachments:

· Letter(s) of support (optional, but recommended)

· Letter from student’s advisor (see task description)

6. Data Management Plan All proposals are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) using the instructions, template, and example provided (See Section IV. D above).

7. Budget Budget summary numbers summarized by institution type requesting funds must be input in the JFSP database on the Budget tab. The budget spreadsheet must be attached on the attachments tab using the spreadsheet template provided. Proposals cannot be submitted without completing these required fields and attachments. Do not edit spreadsheet formulas and formatting without contacting Becky Jenison first (bjenison@blm.gov).

8. Task Statement Intent Proposals that do not clearly and directly meet the intent of the GRIN task statement selected will not be reviewed or considered for funding.

9. Format Proposals not following the required template(s) will not be considered. Proposals must use an 11 point font or larger. Additional guidance is included in the beginning of each template.

10. Page Limits Attachments exceeding the page limit cannot be submitted. Page limits may vary by task statement and attachment; check the page limit in the template and JFSP database for each specific task statement. Everything in the template is included in the page limit.

11. Project Location Project location fields must be completed on the location tab for a proposal to be successfully submitted. Instructions are listed on the project location tab.

12. Signatures Handwritten signatures are not required. When Principal Investigators (PIs) submit proposals they will be prompted to input their password. By typing in the password and submitting a proposal, PIs are certifying that all contacts on the proposal have reviewed the proposal and understand what their role requires.

13. Indirect Costs Proposals must follow JFSP indirect cost guidelines. (See Section III. B above)

14. Contributed Costs See Section III. C above.

15. Support Letters Support letters are encouraged, but not required. Support letters are useful if they show understanding of the proposed work and the author articulates how the work will benefit them. Support letters that appear to be ghost-written by the PI or are form letters are much less useful. If submitted, letters must be combined into one pdf document and attached on the attachments tab. Support letters sent by hard copy or email directly to JFSP will not be considered.

16. Past-Due Projects No proposals will be considered if the work includes a PI or Co-PI who is a PI or Co-PI on a JFSP project that is past due as of the closing date of this announcement. See the JFSP website for the complete JFSP past-due and extension request policy.

SECTION V. APPLICATION REVIEW AND EVALUATION

Overview Proposals will be reviewed in four stages:

1. JFSP Program Office – Administrative requirements and task statement intent

2. Peer Review – Relevancy, student qualifications, technical merit, products, and feasibility

3. Governing Board Review – Funding decisions

4. Statistical Review (optional) – Adequacy of study design and analysis methods

Note: All proposals are expected to be directly and clearly responsive to the task statement questions. Proposals that are not sufficiently responsive, as judged by the Joint Fire Science Program, will not be reviewed.

Student Qualifications

· Academic (Note: undergraduate and graduate GPA must be on the student’s C.V.)

· Work experience

· Research experience

Scientific Merit

· Potential contribution to scientific understanding

· Merit of hypothesis, question, or objective

· Well described and appropriate methods

· Creativity

Management Relevance

· Utility of results to managers

· Communication with managers

Linkage to Ongoing or Planned Thesis or Dissertation

· Ongoing or planned thesis or dissertation clearly described

· Proposed work extends and enhances thesis/dissertation

Feasibility

· Administrative adequacy

· Budget

· Skills and qualifications

· Probability of success

· Barriers

· NEPA

· Collaboration

· Manager/scientist and scientist/scientist partnerships

· Local management commitment

SECTION VI. DEFINITIONS

Funding Opportunity Notice (FON): The official label for the Joint Fire Science Program method of requesting project proposals. The FON includes task statements for which proposals are sought, instructions for proposal submission, and related information.

Principal Investigator (PI): The individual identified in a proposal who is the research lead for the project. This individual is responsible for coordinating all research related activities and will be the primary science contact for the project. In addition the PI is responsible for communicating and coordinating with Co-PIs and others on the research team. The PI is responsible to JFSP for completion of the project.

Funding Cooperator: The funding cooperator receives funds from JFSP and is responsible for distributing funds to other cooperators. A funding cooperator is only required if the PI is non-federal and a federal institution is requesting funding, or if the work is being completed through a private business, or requests international funding. The funding cooperator is responsible for coordinating with the PI, the Agreements contact, and the Budget contact on administrative activities for this project. The funding cooperator will be one of the primary contacts for the project and should stay informed and involved in project activities. If a federal agency is requesting funds the funding cooperator must be from the federal cooperating agency.

Budget Contact: Budget contact must be from the institution receiving funds from JFSP. This person is responsible for ensuring the budget details are correct prior to proposal being submitted and agrees to receive funds and facilitate the transfer of funds, if necessary. Budget contact must be from the institution receiving funds from JFSP. If a federal agency is requesting funds the Budget contact must be from the federal cooperating agency.

Agreements Contact: Person from institution receiving funds from JFSP that is responsible for facilitating the receipt of funds and the execution of any agreements or contracts necessary for a proposal if it is selected for funding. If a federal agency is requesting funds the Agreements contact must be from the federal cooperating agency.

Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI): The individual(s) identified in a proposal who will work with the research lead on the project and makes a substantial contribution to the project. Co-PIs are responsible for communicating and coordinating with the PI.

Collaborator/Contributor: An individual that advises investigators, but is not involved at a level expected of a Co-Principal Investigator. For example, a collaborator may make recommendations on how best to involve fire and fuels managers in a project, or consult regarding the statistical design of a study. Individuals that serve as an author or co-author of a manuscript for a scientific journal are normally a Co-Principal Investigator.

Student Investigator (relevant to the GRIN announcement only): A current student with an approved dissertation or thesis plan responsible for leading and delivering the research proposed in a GRIN proposal.

Indirect Costs: Those costs used to pay for overhead/administrative costs attributable to a specific research project. Examples include the costs of operations and maintenance such as janitorial, phone, and clerical services. The Joint Fire Science Program recognizes two types of indirect costs: 1) “in-house” costs incurred by the agency, institution, or unit requesting funds; and 2) Pass-through costs are charged only by the PI institution or funding cooperator institution for administrative costs associated with managing sub-agreements. Pass-through costs are limited to ten (10) percent of the sub-agreement direct charges.

Joint Fire Science Program Governing Board: An appointed 12-person Board representing the JFSP partnering agencies. The Board provides strategic direction and oversight to JFSP, identifies important research questions, selects proposals for funding, supervises the JFSP Program Manager, and conducts related business.

Science Exchange and Application: The exchange of information, materials, models and other research deliverables to end users, along with adequate information and training to apply the deliverables. Examples of active methods include workshops, training sessions, guided field tours, conferences, meetings, and symposia. Examples of passive methods include published papers and websites. A combination of active and passive methods is preferred. Collaboration with the regional JFSP Fire Exchange Network is recommended.

Task Statement: A specific area of interest identified in the FON, for which project applications are sought.

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