[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19203-19205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9650]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket Number: 090401620-9621-01]


Professional Research Experience Program (PREP); Availability of 
Funds

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
announces that the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) is 
soliciting applications for financial assistance from accredited 
colleges and universities to enable those institutions to provide 
laboratory experiences and financial assistance to undergraduate and 
graduate students and post-doctoral associates at the NIST, Boulder 
Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado.

DATES: All applications, paper and electronic, must be received no 
later than 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on May 28, 2009. 
Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or 
considered.

    Important:  All applicants, both electronic and paper, should be 
aware that adequate time must be factored into applicants' schedules 
for delivery of the proposal. Electronic applicants are advised that 
volume on Grants.gov is currently extremely heavy, and if Grants.gov 
is unable to accept proposals electronically in a timely fashion, 
applicants are encouraged to exercise their option to submit 
proposals in paper format. Paper applicants should allow adequate 
time to ensure a paper proposal will be received on time, taking 
into account that guaranteed overnight carriers are not always able 
to fulfill their guarantees.


ADDRESSES: Proposals may be submitted to PREP as follows:
    For electronic submission--Electronic proposals may be uploaded to 
http://www.grants.gov.
    For paper submission--Send to Ms. Rosemary O'Connor, Administrative 
Coordinator for PREP, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
Division 104.01, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For complete information about this 
program and instructions for applying by paper or electronically, read 
the Federal Funding Opportunity Notice (FFO) at http://www.grants.gov. 
A paper copy of the FFO may be obtained by calling (301) 975-5718. 
Program questions should be addressed to Ms. Rosemary O'Connor, 
Administrative Coordinator for PREP, National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, Division 104.01, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328, 
Tel: (303) 497-5238, E-mail: [email protected]. The 
PREP Web site is: http://www.boulder.nist.gov/bdprepo.htm. All grants 
related administration questions concerning this program should be 
directed to Hope Snowden, NIST Grants and Agreements Management 
Division at (301) 975-6002 or hope [email protected], or for assistance 
with using Grants.gov, contact [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Name and Number: Measurement 
and Engineering Research and Standards--11.609.
    Program Description: The National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) announces that the Professional Research Experience 
Program (PREP) is soliciting applications for financial assistance from 
accredited colleges and universities to enable those institutions to 
provide laboratory experiences and financial assistance to 
undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral associates at the 
NIST, Boulder Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. In Boulder, NIST 
carries out programs in five laboratories--Electronics and Electrical 
Laboratory (EEEL), Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory (CSTL), 
Physics Laboratory (PL), Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory 
(MSEL), and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Please 
see the Federal Funding Opportunity for further details.
    The objectives of the PREP are to encourage the growth and progress 
of science and engineering in the United States by providing research 
opportunities for students and post-doctoral associates, enabling them 
to collaborate with internationally known NIST scientists, exposing 
them to cutting-edge research. The PREP will promote students' pursuit 
of degrees in science and engineering, and post-doctoral associates' 
professional development in science and engineering. The NIST PREP 
Coordinator and NIST scientists will coordinate with appropriate 
department chairs, outreach coordinators, and directors of multi-
disciplinary academic organizations to identify students and programs 
that would benefit from the PREP experience. Applicants must be able to 
ensure the availability of students for on site collaborative research 
experiences at the NIST Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, concurrent 
with their university studies. Any participating student must also be 
enrolled in an academic program acceptable to both the sponsoring 
institution and NIST.
    Funding Availability: NIST anticipates awarding one or more 
cooperative agreements to eligible institution(s). In FY 2004, seven 
cooperative agreements were awarded to four institutions. Since their 
inception on August 1, 2004, these awards have provided approximately 
$12.884 million in PREP fellowship support to 170 individuals. For the 
most recent year of the PREP, FY 2008, NIST supported 114 PREP 
fellowships (some students received more than one fellowship) totaling 
approximately $2.805 million.
    Funding for the PREP will be provided as fellows are identified by 
the successful applicant and approved by NIST. Fellowship support from 
NIST under the PREP is contingent upon the availability of NIST program 
funds, NIST program objectives, and the discretion of NIST advisors.

    Statutory Authority: The authority for the PREP is 15 U.S.C. 
278g-1, which authorizes NIST to fund ``awards of research 
fellowships and other forms of financial assistance to students at 
institutions of higher learning within the United States who show 
promise as present or future contributors to the mission of the 
Institute, and to United States citizens for research and technical 
activities on Institute programs.''

    Eligibility: Eligible applicants are accredited institutions of 
higher education in the United States and its territories that offer 
undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics, chemistry, mathematics, 
computer science, or engineering. Undergraduate and graduate students 
who receive fellowships under the PREP must show evidence of a 3.0 or 
higher grade point average in a curriculum acceptable to the sponsoring 
educational institution and NIST and must be enrolled full-time at a 
sponsoring institution. Post-doctoral associates must be affiliated 
with a sponsoring institution of higher education.
    Review and Selection Process: Screening of Applications: All PREP 
proposals must be submitted to the NIST PREP Administrative 
Coordinator. Each proposal is examined for completeness and 
responsiveness to the scope of the stated objectives of the PREP as 
described above. Substantially incomplete or non-responsive proposals 
will not be reviewed for technical merit nor considered for funding, 
and the applicant will be notified. The NIST PREP Administrative 
Coordinator will retain one copy of each non-responsive application for 
three years for record-keeping purposes. The remaining copies will be 
destroyed.

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    Each complete and responsive PREP application packet will be 
reviewed by at least three independent, objective NIST scientists, all 
of whom are Federal employees, who are knowledgeable in the subject 
matter of this announcement and its objectives and who are able to 
conduct a review based on the Evaluation Criteria for the PREP as 
described in this notice.
    The merit review ratings shall provide a rank order to a Selecting 
Official for final funding recommendations. The Selecting Official will 
be the Director of the NIST Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. A 
Federal Program Officer may first make recommendations to the Selecting 
Official, applying the selection factors below. The Selecting Official 
shall award in the rank order unless the proposal is justified to be 
selected out of rank order. Justification for award order different 
from the rank order shall be based upon one or more of the following 
factors:
    1. Availability of funds.
    2. Ability to ensure that undergraduate and graduate students are 
available for on-site collaborative research experiences at the NIST 
Boulder, CO, laboratories concurrent with their full-time University 
studies.
    3. Ability to ensure post-doctoral associates are available for 
full time on-site collaborative research experiences at the NIST 
Boulder, CO, laboratories.
    4. Applicant's prior award performance.
    The final selection of institutions and award of cooperative 
agreements will be made by the NIST Grants Officer in Gaithersburg, 
Maryland, based on compliance with application requirements as 
published in this notice, compliance with applicable legal and 
regulatory requirements, and whether the recommended applicants appear 
to be responsible. Unsatisfactory performance on any previous Federal 
award may result in an application not being considered for funding. 
Applicants may be asked to modify objectives, work plans, or budgets, 
and provide supplemental information required by the agency prior to 
award. The decision of the Grants Officer is final. Applicants should 
allow up to 90 days processing time.
    Evaluation Criteria: The applications will be evaluated and scored 
on the basis of the following evaluation criteria:
    (A) Soundness of the applicant's academic program, proposed project 
objectives, and appropriateness of proposed student work assignments in 
light of ongoing research at NIST/Boulder and the students' academic 
programs. (30 points)
    (B) Experience in providing students pursuing degrees in physics, 
chemistry, mathematics, computer science, or engineering with work 
experiences in laboratories or other settings consistent with 
furthering the students' education. (30 points)
    (C) Adequacy and reasonableness of plans for administering the 
project and coordinating with the NIST PREP Administrative Coordinator 
in Boulder. (20 points)
    (D) Costs of the proposed project budget (proposed fellowships and 
other proposed costs) in light of the activities proposed and the 
objectives of the sponsoring institution and NIST. Voluntary cost 
sharing may include, but is not limited to, cash contributions for 
direct costs, contributions of indirect costs, or in-kind 
contributions. While cost sharing is not required, any cost share 
contribution will be taken into consideration in reviewing the 
competitiveness of the proposed project budget. (20 points).
    The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements: The Department of Commerce Pre-Award 
Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements 
contained in 73 FR 7696 (February 11, 2008) apply to this notice. On 
the form SF-424, the applicant's 9-digit Dun and Bradstreet Data 
Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number must be entered in item 8.c. 
Organizational DUNS. The DUNS number provided MUST be the DUNS number 
for the entity within the applying institution that will be responsible 
for drawing down funds from the Automated Standard Application for 
Payment System (ASAP). Institutions that provide incorrect DUNS numbers 
may experience significant delays in receiving funds.
    Collaborations with NIST Employees: Collaboration with NIST is 
presumed in PREP. If any applicant proposes any activities involving 
specific NIST employees, the statement of work should include a 
statement of this intention, a description of the collaboration, and 
prominently identify the NIST employee(s) involved. Any collaboration 
by a NIST employee must be approved by appropriate NIST management and 
is at the sole discretion of NIST. Prior to beginning the merit review 
process, NIST will verify the approval of the proposed collaboration. 
Any unapproved collaboration will be stricken from the proposal prior 
to the merit review.
    Use of NIST Intellectual Property: If the applicant anticipates 
using any NIST-owned intellectual property to carry out the work 
proposed, the applicant should identify such intellectual property. 
This information will be used to ensure that no NIST employee involved 
in the development of the intellectual property will participate in the 
review process for that competition. In addition, if the applicant 
intends to use NIST-owned intellectual property, the applicant must 
comply with all statutes and regulations governing the licensing of 
Federal government patents and inventions, described at 35 U.S.C. 200-
212, 37 CFR part 401, 15 CFR 14.36, and in Section B.21 of the 
Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements, 73 FR 7696 
(February 11, 2008). Questions about these requirements may be directed 
to the Chief Counsel for NIST, 301-975-2803.
    Any use of NIST-owned intellectual property by a proposer is at the 
sole discretion of NIST and will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis 
if a project is deemed meritorious. The applicant should indicate 
within the statement of work whether it already has a license to use 
such intellectual property or whether it intends to seek one.
    If any inventions made in whole or in part by a NIST employee arise 
in the course of an award made pursuant to this notice, the United 
States government may retain its ownership rights in any such 
invention. Disposition of NIST's retained rights in such inventions 
will be determined solely by NIST, and may include, but is not limited 
to, the grant of a license(s) to parties other than the applicant to 
practice such invention, or placing NIST's retained rights into the 
public domain.
    Research Projects Involving Human Subjects, Human Tissue, Data or 
Recordings Involving Human Subjects: Any proposal that includes 
research involving human subjects, human tissue, data or recordings 
involving human subjects must meet the requirements of the Common Rule 
for the Protection of Human Subjects, codified for the Department of 
Commerce at 15 CFR part 27. In addition, any proposal that includes 
research on these topics must be in compliance with any statutory 
requirements imposed upon the Department of Health and Human Services 
(DHHS) and other federal agencies regarding these topics, all 
regulatory policies and guidance adopted by DHHS, the Food and Drug 
Administration, and other Federal agencies on these topics, and all 
Presidential statements of policy on these topics.

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    NIST will accept the submission of proposals containing research 
activities involving human subjects. The human subjects research 
activities in a proposal will require approval by Institutional Review 
Boards (IRBs) possessing a current registration filed with DHHS and to 
be performed by institutions possessing a current, valid Federal-wide 
Assurance (FWA) from DHHS that is linked to the cognizant IRB. In 
addition, NIST as an institution requires that IRB approval 
documentation go through a NIST administrative review; therefore, 
research activities involving human subjects are not authorized to 
start within an award until approval for the activity is issued in 
writing from the NIST Grants Officer. NIST will not issue a single 
project assurance (SPA) for any IRB reviewing any human subjects 
protocol proposed to NIST.
    President Obama has issued Exec. Order No. 13,505, 74 FR 10667 
(March 9, 2009), revoking previous executive orders and Presidential 
statements regarding the use of human embryonic stem cells in research. 
NIST will follow any guidance issued by the National Institutes of 
Health (NIH) pursuant to the executive order and will develop its own 
procedures based on the NIH guidance before funding research using 
human embryonic stem cells. NIST will follow any additional polices or 
guidance issued by the current Administration on this topic.
    Research Projects Involving Vertebrate Animals: Any proposal that 
includes research involving vertebrate animals must be in compliance 
with the National Research Council's ``Guide for the Care and Use of 
Laboratory Animals'' which can be obtained from National Academy Press, 
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20055. In addition, such 
proposals must meet the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (7 
U.S.C. 2131 et seq.), 9 CFR parts 1, 2, and 3, and if appropriate, 21 
CFR part 58. These regulations do not apply to proposed research using 
pre-existing images of animals or to research plans that do not include 
live animals that are being cared for, euthanized, or used by the 
project participants to accomplish research goals, teaching, or 
testing. These regulations also do not apply to obtaining animal 
materials from commercial processors of animal products or to animal 
cell lines or tissues from tissue banks.
    Reporting Requirements: Reporting requirements are described in the 
Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and 
Conditions dated March, 2008, found on the Internet at: http://oamweb.osec.doc.gov/docs/GRANTS/DOC%20STCsMAR08Rev.pdf.
    The references in Sections A.01 and B.01 of the Department of 
Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, dated 
March, 2008, to ``Federal Financial Report (SF-269)'' and ``SF-269'' 
are hereby replaced with ``Federal Financial Report (SF-425)'' and 
``SF-425,'' respectively, as required by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) (73 FR 61175, October 15, 2008). As authorized under 15 
CFR 14.52 and 24.41, the OMB approved SF-425 shall be used in the place 
of the SF-269 and SF-272 under the uniform administrative requirements 
and elsewhere under awards in this program where such forms are 
referenced.
    Limitation of Liability: NIST anticipates making awards for the 
program listed in this notice. In no event will NIST or the Department 
of Commerce be responsible for proposal preparation cost if these 
programs(s) fail to receive funding or are cancelled because of other 
agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not obligate 
NIST or the Department of Commerce to award any specific project or to 
obligate any available funds.
    Executive Order 12866: This funding notice was determined to be not 
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    Executive Order 13132 (Federalism): It has been determined that 
this notice does not contain policies with federalism implications as 
that term is defined in Executive Order 13132.
    Executive Order 12372: Applications under this program are not 
subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs.''
    Paperwork Reduction Act: The standard forms in the application kit 
involve a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act. The use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, SF-LLL, and CD-346 has 
been approved by OMB under the respective Control Numbers 0348-0043, 
0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001.
    Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act: Notice and 
comment are not required under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553) or any other law, for rules relating to public property, 
loans, grants, benefits or contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(a)). Because notice 
and comment are not required under 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other law, for 
rules relating to public property, loans, grants, benefits or contracts 
(5 U.S.C. 553(a)), a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is not required 
and has not been prepared for this notice, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.

    Dated: April 21, 2009.
Patrick Gallagher,
Deputy Director, NIST.
[FR Doc. E9-9650 Filed 4-27-09; 8:45 am]
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