[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18598-18600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08863]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and 
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second 
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal 
Register on February 14, 2018, and no comments were received. NSF is 
forwarding the proposed renewal submission to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance simultaneously with the publication of 
this second notice. The full submission may be found at: http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Comments should be addressed to: 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk 
Officer for National Science Foundation, 725 7th Street NW, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503, and to Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Room 
W18000, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, or send email to [email protected]. 
Copies of the submission may be obtained by calling Ms. Plimpton at 
(703) 292-7556. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 
days a year (including federal holidays).
    NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless 
the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Comments: Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the NSF, including whether the information shall have 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the NSF's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the

[[Page 18599]]

information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (d) 
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Title: Engineering Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) 
Program Monitoring Data Collections.
    OMB Control Number: 3145-0238.
    Proposed Project: NSF provides nearly 20 percent of federal funding 
for basic research to academic institutions.\1\ Within NSF, the 
Directorate for Engineering (ENG) has primary responsibility for 
promoting the progress of engineering in the United States in order to 
enable the Nation's capacity to perform. Its investments in engineering 
research and education aim to build and strengthen a national capacity 
for innovation that can lead over time to the creation of new shared 
wealth and a better quality of life. Most NSF programs in engineering 
are funded through the Directorate for Engineering, which also sponsors 
the NSF's Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) Division. To 
these ends, ENG provides support for research and implementation 
activities that may meet national needs. While scientists seek to 
discover what is not yet known, engineers apply fundamental science to 
design and develop new devices and engineered systems to solve societal 
problems. ENG also focuses on broadening participation in engineering 
research and careers, particularly among those individuals 
traditionally underrepresented and underemployed in the STEM workforce, 
including but not limited to, women, persons with disabilities, and 
racial and ethnic minorities.
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    \1\ National Science Foundation. (2012). NSF at a glance. 
Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/about/glance.jsp.
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    This request seeks approval for a group of information collections 
intended to monitor outputs, short-term, intermediate and long-term 
outcomes of NSF-ENG investments in research and innovation in the 
Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP). IIP programs 
serve the entire foundation by fostering partnerships to advance 
technological innovation and plays an important role in the public-
private innovation partnership enterprise by investing in science and 
engineering research across all disciplines that have the potential for 
high impact in meeting national and societal needs. IIP focuses on 
leveraging federal, small business, industrial, university, state and 
community college resources.
    Genuine partnerships between academe and industry are an important 
aspect of IIP programs and should facilitate the types of 
infrastructure that can sustain and nurture the spread of innovative 
activity.
    Innovation infrastructures educate and train human capital for the 
research enterprise and the entrepreneurial aspects of innovation; 
develop social networks characterized by shared commitment and trust; 
and build a base of operational support without which sustainable 
partnerships cannot exist. This support includes a diversified base of 
private investment, a physical place to provide a context for 
incubation, technical, management, and administrative support, 
laboratories, communications services, and reliable sources of capital. 
One end of the innovation spectrum within the division includes 
unsolicited research proposals generated by the academic community. On 
the other end of the innovation spectrum, IIP supports small business 
research proposals aimed at pursuing opportunities to commercialize 
products and services.
    IIP is home to the two Congressionally mandated small business 
research programs, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 
program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. IIP 
also manages the Partnerships for Innovation: Accelerating Innovation 
Research (PFI:AIR) as well as the Partnerships for Innovation: Building 
Innovation Capacity (PFI:BIC) program, which stimulate innovation by 
building partnerships across the scientific, engineering, and business 
community. In addition, the IIP leverages industrial support through 
the Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program. 
The division also actively participates in NSF-wide programs, such as 
the Grants Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) 
program. Another NSF-wide program in which IIP actively participates is 
the Innovation Corps program (I-Corps), which equips scientists with 
the entrepreneurial tools needed to transform discoveries with 
commercial realization potential into innovative technologies.\2\ ENG-
funded projects could include research opportunities and mentoring for 
educators, scholars, small businesses and university students.
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    \2\ National Science Foundation. (2014) About IIP. Retrieved 
from http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/about.jsp.
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    These survey questionnaires, individually tailored to measure 
outputs and outcomes for different programs, will provide essential 
information for program monitoring purposes.
    Data collected by ENG IIP program monitoring collections will be 
used for program planning, management, and evaluation. Summaries of 
monitoring data are used to respond to queries from Congress, the 
public, NSF's external merit reviewers who serve as advisors, including 
Committees of Visitors (COVs), and NSF's Office of the Inspector 
General. These data are needed for effective administration, program 
and project monitoring, evaluation, and for measuring attainment of 
NSF's program and strategic goals, as identified by the President's 
Accountable Government Initiative, the Government Performance and 
Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010, and NSF's Strategic Plan.
    The eight (8) program-specific collections included in this request 
are designed to assist in management of specific programs and to serve 
as data resources for current and future program evaluations. As such, 
expected outcomes could vary according to the nature of the program 
funding, field of study, and other program characteristics.

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                 Office                              Programs
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Industrial Innovation and Partnerships   Grant Opportunities for
 (IIP).                                   Academic Liaison with Industry
                                          (GOALI).
                                         Innovation Corps (I-Corps).
                                         Partnerships For Innovation:
                                          Accelerating Innovation
                                          Research (PFI: AIR).
                                         Partnerships For Innovation:
                                          Building Innovation Capacity
                                          (PFI:BIC).
                                         Small Business Innovation
                                          Research (SBIR).
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[[Page 18600]]

    This data collection effort will enable program officers to 
longitudinally monitor outputs and outcomes given the unique goals and 
purpose of their programs. This is very important to enable appropriate 
and accurate evidence-based management of the programs and to determine 
whether or not the specific goals of the programs are being met.
    Grantees will be invited to submit this information on a periodic 
basis via data collection methods that include but are not limited to 
online surveys, interviews, phone interviews, etc. These indicators are 
both quantitative and descriptive and may include, for example, the 
characteristics of project personnel and students; sources of 
complementary cash and in-kind support to the ENG project; 
characteristics of industrial and/or other sector participation; 
research activities; education activities; knowledge transfer 
activities; patents, licenses; publications; descriptions of 
significant advances and other outcomes of the ENG-funded effort.
    Use of the Information: The data collected will be used for NSF 
internal reports, historical data, program level studies and 
evaluations, and for securing future funding for the ENG program 
maintenance and growth. These data could be used for program evaluation 
purposes if deemed necessary for a particular program. Evaluation 
designs could make use of metadata associated with the award, and other 
characteristics to identify a comparison group to evaluate the impact 
of the program funding and other interesting research questions.

                                               Estimate of Burden
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                                                                                   Annual number
                        Collection title                             Number of       of hours/      Annual hour
                                                                    respondents     respondents       burden
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Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI)..             200               1             200
Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Longitudinal Collection..............             700               1             700
Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Pre-Course Survey Questionnaire......             800              .5             400
Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Post-Course Survey Questionnaire.....             800              .5             400
Partnerships for Innovation: Accelerating Innovation Research                200               1             200
 (PFI:AIR)......................................................
Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity                     30               1              30
 (PFI:BIC)......................................................
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business                     800               2           1,600
 Technology Transfer (STTR).....................................
SBIR Baseline Monitoring Survey.................................             800               2           1,600
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................           4,430             8.5           4,880
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    Respondents: The respondents are PIs, partners or students. For 
some programs (I-Corps) the burden already includes a response from 3 
members of the team in the pre- and post surveys. For all others, one 
PI or assignee per award completes the questionnaire.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Report: One.

    Dated: April 23, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018-08863 Filed 4-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P