APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS for 2017-NIST-MEP-CAP-01.pdf

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS for

2017-NIST-MEP-CAP-01

Applicants are strongly urged to use Grants.gov’s Download Submitted Applications option for checking that their application’s required attachments (see pages 2 through 10 of this document, and Section IV.2.a. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document) were contained in their submission.

After submitting the application, follow the directions found in the Grants.gov Online Users Guide (http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh). Click first on Applicants; then click on Applicant Actions; go then to the “Check My Application Status” option, and choose Download Submitted Applications.

If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the submission, follow the attachment directions found on pages 13 and 14 of this document and in Section IV.2.b. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the required attachments.

This document consists of seven important sections:

1. Overview;

2. Required Application Forms and Documents;

3. Application Format;

4. Application Submission Process;

5. Attachment of Required Documents;

6. Verifying the Submission and Tracking the Application; and

7. Submission Date and Time.

1) Overview

We strongly recommend that applicants do not wait until the last minute to submit an application. Allowances will not make for any late submissions. To avoid any potential processing backlogs due to last minute Grants.gov registrations, applicants are highly encouraged to begin their Grants.gov registration process early.

When developing a submission timeline, please keep in mind that (1) all applicants are required to have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov);

(2) the free annual registration process in the electronic System for Award Management (SAM.gov) may take between three and five business days or as long as more than two weeks; and (3) electronic applicants are required to have a current registration in Grants.gov; and (4) applicants using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application.

Please note that a federal assistance award cannot be issued if the designated recipient’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is not current at the time of the award.

Applicants will find instructions on registering with SAM.gov as part of the Grants.gov process at:

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html .

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into an applicant’s schedule for delivery of the application.

Submitters are advised that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy leading up to the deadline date.

2) Required Application Forms and Documents

The Application must contain the following:

(1) SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. The SF-424 must be certified through www.grants.gov by an authorized representative of the applicant organization.

SF-424, Item 12, should list the NOFO number as 2017-NIST-MEP-CAP-01.

SF-424, Item 18, should list the total budget information for the full duration of the project.

The list of certifications and assurances referenced in Item 21 of the SF-424 is contained in the SF-424B.

(2) SF-424A, Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs. The budget should reflect anticipated expenses for each year of the project, considering all potential cost increases, including cost of living adjustments. The budget should also include staff, travel and other costs associated with the Award Kick-off Meeting and the NIST/MEP National Network meetings for the MEP Center and the primary Manufacturing USA Institute as described in Sections II.4. and II.5., respectively, of the Full Announcement/NOFO document.

The applicant should reflect each year of the project, up to three (3) years, on the SF-424A form. Please carefully follow the directions found at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/form-instructions/sf-424a- instructions.html when filling out this form.

The Grant Program Function or Activity on Line 1 under Column (a) should be entered as “Manufacturing Extension Partnership”. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number in on Line 1 under Column (b) should be entered as “11.611”.

These sections of the SF-424A should reflect funds for only the first year of the award: Section A; Section B; Section C; and Section D. The budget estimate for the second year of the award should be entered in Section E, field 16, column (b). Section E, field 16, column (c) should reflect the third year’s budget estimate.

(3) SF-424B, Assurances - Non-Construction Programs.

(4) CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying. For the Award Number, enter

“2017-NIST-MEP-CAP-01”. In the Project Name filed, use the “Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project” from field 15 of the SF-424, or an abbreviation thereof.

(5) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities. (if applicable)

(6) Technical Proposal. The Technical Proposal, with a period of performance of up to three (3) years, is a word- processed document not exceeding 20 pages that is responsive to the program description (see Section I. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document) and the evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document). The following is a suggested format that applicants may use for the technical proposal.

a) Table of Contents. (Does not count toward the page limit).

b) Executive Summary. The executive summary should briefly (usually no longer than two pages) describe the proposed project, consistent with the evaluation criteria (see Section V.1. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document).

Please note, if an applicant’s proposal is selected for funding, NIST may use all or a portion of the Executive Summary as part of a press release issued by NIST, or for other public information and outreach purposes. Applicants are advised not to incorporate information that concerns business trade secrets or other confidential commercial or financial information as part of the Executive Summary. See also 15 C.F.R. § 4.9(c) concerning the designation of business information by the applicant. (Does not count towards page limit).

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/form-instructions/sf-424a-instructions.html http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/form-instructions/sf-424a-instructions.html

c) Project Narrative. This section should provide a description of the proposed approach, sufficient to permit evaluation of the proposal, in accordance with details included in the proposal Evaluation Criteria (see Section V.1. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document).

The project narrative should clearly explain how the applicant’s approaches will accomplish one or more of the program priorities as identified in Section I.2. of this NOFO:

• Improve the competitiveness of industries in the region in which the

Center or Centers are located.

• Create jobs or train newly hired employees.

• Promote the transfer and commercialization of research and technology from institutions of higher education, national laboratories or other federally funded research programs, and nonprofit research institutes.

• Recruit a diverse manufacturing workforce, including through outreach to underrepresented populations, including individuals identified in section 33 or section 34 of the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a, 1885b).

The project narrative must identify tasks, measurable milestones, and outcomes resulting from the proposed project.

The project narrative should clearly indicate how the proposed technologies, training, tool(s), technique(s), practice(s) or service(s) add capabilities to the MEP Program, and the narrative should detail how the approach solves new or emerging manufacturing problems of small U.S. manufacturers. Specifically, the project narrative should clearly articulate:

1) Technical Needs & Benefits.

a) How the proposed project will meet the needs of technical assistance providers and/or manufacturers in the target population. The target population must be clearly defined and the applicant must demonstrate that it understands that population's technology, training, tool, technique, practice and/or service needs within the proposed project area. The applicant should show that the efforts being proposed meet the needs identified.

b) How the proposed approach will enhance the impact of the efforts of the participating MEP Center(s) and their partners/collaborators for the benefit of small U.S.

manufacturers, particularly in terms of measures such as, but not limited to, job creation, employee training, technology transfer and commercialization, and improved manufacturer and supply chain competitiveness.

2) The development/deployment methodology to be used and use of appropriate technology and information sources. The applicant must include a technical plan for the technologies, training, tool(s), technique(s), practice(s), service(s) and/or analyses including the project activities to be used in the development/deployment and the sources of technologies and/or information which will be used to create or deploy the outcomes of the project. Sources may include those internal to the applicant or from other organizations.

3) The delivery and implementation mechanisms to be used for getting results/outcomes/services to the target population. The applicant must set forth clearly defined, effective mechanisms for delivery and/or implementation of proposed outcomes to the target population.

The applicant also must demonstrate that the activities will be integrated into and will be of service to the NIST MEP National Network and its Centers.

4) Coordination with other relevant organizations. Wherever possible the applicant should coordinate with and leverage other organizations which are developing or have expertise with similar projects and outcomes. If no such organizations exist, the applicant should describe the search process used to look for such organizations and explain why existing technologies, tools, or training do not meet the needs of the target population.

5) Project evaluation. The applicant must specify plans for evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed project and for ensuring continuous improvement of the technologies, training, tool(s), technique(s), practice(s), service(s) and/or analyses outcomes of the project.

6) Management and organizational experience and plans. The applicant must specify plans for proper organization, staffing (including but not limited to the key personnel, see Section IV.2.a.(11), and management of the development and implementation processes.

7) Financial plan. Applicants must show the relevance and cost effectiveness of the financial plan for meeting the objectives of the project;

the firmness and level of the applicant's total financial support for the project; and a plan to maintain the program after the cooperative agreement has expired.

8) Best Practices and Knowledge Sharing. Applicants must also provide details about approaches for sharing lessons learned and best practices resulting from the conduct of the project. This should include plans for sharing with the MEP National Network and other organizations and entities involved with U.S. manufacturing, including but not limited to NIST, U.S. manufacturers, manufacturing trade associations, economic development organizations, and others.

The proposals must articulate the details of the administrative, financial, and other business parameters associated with the project.

d) Budget Tables and Budget Narratives. (Do not count toward the page limit). In addition to the SF-424A form (see Section IV.2.a.(2). of this NOFO), applicants must provide a detailed budget table and budget narrative for the proposed period of performance, fully explaining and justifying all proposed project funding (both revenue and expenses) in accordance with applicable federal cost principles.

In the budget narrative, the recipient should provide adequate information to support the costs identified in each category of the budget table. For example, providing the annual salary and the percentage of time dedicated to the project by personnel to demonstrate the total cost of that individual; providing the airfare, lodging, per diem, number of days and number of travelers for each proposed trip; and identifying anticipated subaward/contract amounts, the subawardees/contractors, to the extent known at the time of application, and a detailed description of the purpose of each subaward/contract. Applicants must also include staff, travel and related expenses for any anticipated Award Kick-Off and System-Wide meetings described in Sections II.4. and II.5. of this NOFO in the budget tables and budget narratives. A suggested budget table and budget narrative template are available on the MEP website www.nist.gov/mep/rolling-competitive-awards-program-round-one.

When preparing project budgets, applicants must be cognizant of the prohibition on double-billing costs against multiple federal awards and on the prohibition on using NIST MEP federal funding as non-federal cost share on any other federal award. See Section III.3. of this NOFO.

(7) Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. (Does not count toward the page limit). If indirect costs are included in the proposed budget, provide a copy of the http://www.nist.gov/mep/rolling-competitive-awards-program-round-one approved negotiated agreement if this rate was negotiated with a cognizant Federal audit agency. If the rate was not established by a cognizant Federal audit agency, provide a statement to this effect. If the successful applicant includes indirect costs in the budget and has not established an indirect cost rate with a cognizant Federal audit agency, the applicant will be required to obtain such a rate in accordance with the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions available at:

http://go.usa.gov/hKbj.

Alternatively, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f), applicants that have never received a negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge indirect costs to an MEP award pursuant to a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified total direct costs (MTDC), in which case a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement is not required. Applicants proposing a 10 percent de minimis rate pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f) should note this election as part of the budget portion of the application.

(8) Table of Abbreviations and Acronyms. (This does not contribute to the total number of pages.) An alphabetical list of all abbreviations and acronyms, and their meaning, should be included.

(9) Table of Funded Project Participants and Unfunded Collaborators. (This does not contribute to the total number of pages.) Provide a table that identifies all organizations that will participate in and contribute to the project, if funded, known at the time of the application submission. The table should consist of an alphabetically ordered list, by organization, of all Funded Project Participants and all Unfunded Collaborators. The table should include the organization’s name, address, administrative role, scope of work (funded participants only) and proposed funding amount (funded participants only). Administrative roles are:

applicant, subrecipient, or contractor for funded participants; and third party contributor or collaborator if they will not receive funding.

(10) Bibliographic List of References. (This does not contribute to the total number of pages.) A complete bibliographic listing of all references used within the application should be included.

(11) Resumes of Key Personnel. Do not count toward the page limit, but are limited to one-page each). One-page resumes of no more than five key personnel from each participating organization may be included; these do not count toward the page limit. Any information beyond one page for each resume and any additional resumes submitted will not be considered.

http://go.usa.gov/hKbj

(12) Required Letters of Commitment. (Do not count toward the page limit).

In the event that the application is funded, letters that commit specific resources (not funding) to the project are required from all of the following that apply:

a) Each application must include a Letter of Commitment from an authorized representative of: (i) the MEP Center applicant and from (ii) other MEP Centers that will be participating in the project. For non-profit applicants and other non-profit MEP Centers which are participating in the proposed project, a resolution from the fiduciary board authorizing submission of the MEP Center application to NIST and supporting the activities described therein is required. Each letter should describe the submitting organization’s commitment to and activities in support of the proposed project.

b) If the application includes subawards, contracts or other payments to known third parties, including other MEP Centers, the letter of commitment shall discuss the scope of work, and its relevance to the proposed project. The reviewers will consider the scope of each agreement and its relevance to the proposed project.

c) Letters of Commitment should not be letters submitted by non-proposing entities wishing to vouch for the applicant’s (or entities associated with the applicant) knowledge, skills, and abilities or entities to conduct the proposed work. These should be in the form of a Letter of Interest (see next paragraph, Section IV.3.a.(13). of this NOFO below).

(13) Letters of Interest. (Do not count toward the page limit). Optional letters may be included with an application that indicate willingness from any third party to help accelerate establishment of a new or strengthening of an existing industry-driven technology consortium and/or consortium project results. This may include letters from unfunded collaborators who will participate as unfunded team members, potential organizations involved across stages of the value chain, or strategic partners who can aid in any element of the plan to realize impact. Letters of Interest should outline the nature and importance of the collaboration or involvement being offered. Letters of Interest may also be from non-proposing entities wishing to vouch for the applicant’s knowledge, skills, and abilities or entities to conduct the proposed work. All letters of interest must be included with the application and not sent separately to NIST.

(14) Data Management Plan. Data Management Plan. (Does not count toward the page limit). Consistent with NIST Policy 5700.001, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research, and NIST Order 5701.002, Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research”, applicants should include a Data Management Plan (DMP).

The DMP is a supplementary document of not more than two pages that must include, at a minimum, a summary of proposed activities that are expected to generate data, a summary of the types of data expected to be generated by the identified activities, a plan for storage and maintenance of the data expected to be generated by the identified activities, and a plan describing whether and how data generated by the identified activities will be reviewed and made available to the public. As long as the DMP meets these NIST requirements, it may take the form specified by the applicant’s institution or some other entity (e.g., the National Science Foundation3 or the National Institutes of Health4).

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST funding are required to adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and preservation are not within the scope of the project.

For the purposes of the DMP, NIST adopted the definition of “research data” at 2 C.F.R. § 200.315(e)(3) (available at http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ).

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included in the application.

The sufficiency of the DMP will be considered as part of the administrative review (see Section V.2.a. of this NOFO); however, the DMP will not be evaluated against any evaluation criteria.

(15) Intellectual Property (IP) – Plan for the Allocation of Legal Rights (Does not count toward the page limit). Applicants must include as part of its application a plan for the allocation of the legal rights associated with any intellectual property, which may result from activities of an applicant and/or team member in connection with the performance of the proposed award. The

1 https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/data/Final-P-5700.pdf 2 https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/data/Final-O-5701_0.pdf 3 http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp 4 http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/data/Final-P-5700.pdf https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/data/Final-O-5701_0.pdf http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm proposed IP plan must be consistent with the IP provisions set forth in 2 C.F.R. §

200.315. There is no required format for the IP plan. Applicants not expecting to acquire or generate any IP pursuant to the proposed project must explain as part of its application why the allocation of legal rights associated with IP is not within the scope of the proposed project. The sufficiency of the IP plan or an explanation in lieu of an IP plan will be considered by NIST as part of the administrative review of the application (see Section V.2.a. of this NOFO);

however, the IP plan or explanation in lieu of an IP plan will not be evaluated against any evaluation criteria and will not count towards the overall page count of an application. Necessary, reasonable and allocable costs associated with implementation of the IP plan may be proposed as part of the overall budget for the proposed project.

The DMP is a supplementary document of not more than two pages that must include, at a minimum, a summary of proposed activities that are expected to generate data, a summary of the types of data expected to be generated by the identified activities, a plan for storage and maintenance of the data expected to be generated by the identified activities, and a plan describing whether and how data generated by the identified activities will be reviewed and made available to the public. As long as the DMP meets these NIST requirements, it may take the form specified by the applicant’s institution or some other entity (e.g., the National Science Foundation5 or the National Institutes of Health6).

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST funding are required to adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and preservation are not within the scope of the project.

For the purposes of the DMP, NIST adopted the definition of “research data” at 2 C.F.R. § 200.315(e)(3) (available at http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ).

Reasonable costs for data preservation and access may be included in the application.

The inclusion of the DMP will be considered as part of the administrative review (see Section V.2.a. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document);

however, the DMP will not be evaluated against any evaluation criteria.

Please pay close attention to the guidance in Section 5) of this document, “Attachment of Required Documents”.

5 http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp 6 http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm http://go.usa.gov/3sZvQ http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_guidance.htm

3) Application Format

(1) E-mail submissions. Will not be accepted

(2) Facsimile submissions (fax). Will not be accepted.

(3) Figures, graphs, images, and pictures. Should be of a size that is easily readable or viewable and may be landscape orientation.

(4) Font. Easy to read font (11-point minimum). Smaller type may be used in figures and tables but must be clearly legible.

(5) Line spacing. Single.

(6) Margins. One (1) inch top, bottom, left, and right.

(7) Paper copies. Will not be accepted. All submissions must be made via www.grants.gov.

(8) Page layout. Portrait orientation only (except figures, graphs, and pictures

(see Section IV.2.c.(3).

(9) Page Limit. Twenty (20) pages.

a) Page limit includes: Cover page, Technical Proposal (with the exception of the Executive Summary), figures, graphs, tables, images, pictures, and all other pages of an application, with the exception of the page limit exclusions listed below.

b) Page limit excludes: SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance; the

SF-424A, Budget Information – Non- Construction Programs form; SF- 424B, Assurances – Non-Construction Programs; SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities; CD-511, Certification Regarding Lobbying;

Table of Contents; Executive Summary; Budget Tables and Budget Narratives; Indirect Cost Rate Agreement; Table of Abbreviations and Acronyms; Table of Funded Project Participants and Unfunded Informal Collaborators; Bibliographic List of References; Resumes of Key Personnel (note these are limited to one page each for no more than five (5) key personnel); Required Letters of Commitment; Letters of Interest; the Data Management Plan; and the Intellectual Property (IP) Plan for the Allocation of Legal Rights.

(10) Page numbering. Number pages sequentially.

(11) Paper size. 21.6 centimeters by 27.9 centimeters (8 ½ inches by 11 inches).

(12) Application language. English.

(13) Typed document. All applications, including forms, must be typed.

4) Application Submission Process

e) Electronic applications must be submitted via Grants.gov at www.grants.gov, under announcement 2017-NIST-MEP-CAP-01.

a) Submitters of electronic applications should carefully follow specific

Grants.gov instructions to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicating an application is received does not provide information about whether attachments have been received. For further information or questions regarding applying electronically for the 2017-NIST-MEP-CAP-01 announcement, contact Christopher Hunton by phone at 301-975-5718 or by e-mail at grants@nist.gov.

b) Applicants are strongly encouraged to start early and not wait until the approaching due date before logging on and reviewing the instructions for submitting an application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov registration process must be completed before a new registrant can apply electronically. If all goes well, the registration process takes three (3) to five (5) business days. If problems are encountered, the registration process can take up to two (2) weeks or more. Applicants must have a valid unique entity identifier number and must maintain a current registration in the Federal government’s primary registrant database, the System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/), as explained on the Grants.gov Web site. See also Section IV.3. of the Full Announcement/NOFO document. After registering, it may take several days or longer from the initial log-on before a new Grants.gov system user can submit an application. Only individuals authorized as organization representatives will be able to submit the application, and the system may need time to process a submitted application. Applicants should save and print the proof of submission they receive from Grants.gov. If problems occur while using Grants.gov, the applicant is advised to (a) print any error message received and (b) call Grants.gov directly for immediate assistance. If calling from within the United States or from a U.S. territory, please call 800-518-4726. If calling from a place other than the United States or a U.S. territory, please call 606-545-5035. Assistance from the Grants.gov Help Desk will be available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, with the exception of Federal holidays. Help Desk service will resume at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the day after Federal holidays. For http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:grants@nist.gov https://www.sam.gov/ assistance using Grants.gov, applicants may also contact support@grants.gov.

c) To find instructions on submitting an application on Grants.gov, Applicants should refer to the “Applicants” tab in the banner just below the top of the www.grants.gov home page.

Clicking on the “Applicants” tab produces two valuable sources of information, Applicant Actions and Applicant Resources, which applicants are advised to review.

Applicants will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application. Closely following the detailed information in these subcategories will increase the likelihood of acceptance of the application by the Federal agency’s electronic system.

Applicants should pay close attention to the guidance under “Applicant FAQs,” as it contains information important to successful submission on Grants.gov, including essential details on the naming conventions for attachments to Grants.gov applications.

All applicants should be aware that adequate time must be factored into applicants’ schedules for delivery of their application. Applicants are advised that volume on Grants.gov may be extremely heavy on the deadline date.

The application must be both received and validated by Grants.gov. The application is “received” when Grants.gov provides the applicant a confirmation of receipt and an application tracking number. If an applicant does not see this confirmation and tracking number, the application has not been received. After the application has been received, it must still be validated. During this process, it may be “validated” or “rejected with errors.” To know whether the application was rejected with errors and the reasons why, the applicant must log in to Grants.gov, select “Applicants” from the top navigation, and select “Track my application” from the drop-down list. If the status is “rejected with errors,” the applicant may still seek to correct the errors and resubmit the application before the deadline. If the applicant does not correct the errors, the application will not be forwarded to NIST by Grants.gov.

Refer to important information in Section IV.4. Submission Dates and Times, of the Full Announcement/NOFO document to help ensure the application is received on time.

5) Attachment of Required Documents mailto:support@grants.gov

Items (1) through (5) in section 2) of this document, Required Application Forms and Documents, are part of the standard application package in Grants.gov and can be completed through the download application process.

Items (6) through (15) in section 2) of this document, Required Application Forms and Documents, must be completed and attached by clicking on “Add Attachments” found in item 15 of the SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. This will create a zip file that allows for transmittal of the documents electronically via Grants.gov.

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions at www.grants.gov to ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from Grants.gov indicates only that an application was transferred to a system. It does not provide details concerning whether all attachments (or how many attachments) transferred successfully. Applicants using Grants.gov will receive a series of e-mail messages over a period of up to two business days before learning whether a Federal agency’s electronic system has received its application.

6) Verifying the Submission and Tracking the Application

The Grants.gov Online Users Guide available at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh) provides vital information on application process. See especially the “Check My Application Status” option, found by clicking first on Applicants, and then by clicking on Applicant Actions. Use this feature to verify that all required attachments were present in the submission.

After submitting the application, follow the directions found in the Grants.gov Online Users Guide (http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh). Click first on Applicants; then click on Applicant Actions; go then to the “Check My Application Status” option, and choose Download Submitted Applications. Follow the directions found there. Remember, in order for this to work, don’t just visit Grants.gov. Log

in. And remember to click on the record found on the Check My Application Status screen in order to see the List of Forms and Files Received screen.

If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the submission, follow the attachment directions found in the Full Announcement/NOFO document, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the required attachments.

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following the procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up to two http://www.grants.gov/ http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh http://go.usa.gov/cjamz business days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov system to

NIST.

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not issue its own Agency Tracking Numbers.

7) Submission Date and Time Applications in response to the Full Announcement/NOFO document must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, June 15, 2017.

Applications received after the deadline will not be reviewed or considered.

The approximate start date for awards under the Full Announcement/NOFO document is expected to be in August 2017.

Applicants should be aware, and factor into their application submission planning, that the Grants.gov system is expected to be closed for routine maintenance from 12:01 Eastern Time, Saturday, May 20, 2017 until Monday, May 22, 2017 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Applications cannot be submitted when Grants.gov is closed.