[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 187 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54251-54252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21326]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; 
Grantee Reporting Requirements for NSF NRT Program

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 and no comments were received. NSF is forwarding the proposed 
new submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for

[[Page 54252]]

clearance simultaneously with the publication of this second notice.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Alexandria, VA 22314, or send email to [email protected]. 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). Comments regarding this information collection are 
best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of 
this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by 
calling 703-292-7556.
    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: Title of Collection: NSF Research 
Traineeship (NRT) Monitoring Program.
    OMB Number: 3145-NEW.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to establish an 
information collection.
    Abstract: The National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Division of 
Graduate Education (DGE) in the Directorate for Education and Human 
Resources (EHR) administers the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program. 
The NRT program is designed to encourage the development and 
implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative models for 
STEM graduate education training. The NRT program seeks to ensure that 
graduate students in research-based master's and doctoral degree 
programs develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to 
pursue a range of STEM careers. NRT is dedicated to effective training 
of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or 
convergent research areas, through the use of a comprehensive 
traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with 
changing workforce and research needs.
    Currently NRT awardees provide NSF with information on their 
activities through periodic research performance progress reports. The 
NRT program will now replace these reports with a tailored program 
monitoring system that will use internet-based information and 
communication technologies to collect, review, and validate specific 
data on NRT awards. EHR is committed to ensuring the efficiency and 
effectiveness with which respondents provide and NSF staff can access 
and analyze data on funded projects within the NRT program.
    The NRT monitoring system will include subsets of questions aimed 
at the different project participants (i.e., Principal Investigators 
(PIs) and trainees), and will allow for data analysis and data report 
generation by authorized NSF staff. The collections will generally 
include three categories of descriptive data: (1) Staff and project 
participants (data that are necessary to determine individual-level 
treatment and control groups for future third-party study or for 
internal evaluation); (2) project implementation characteristics (also 
necessary for future use to identify well-matched comparison groups); 
and (3) project outputs (necessary to measure baseline for pre- and 
post- NSF-funding-level impacts). NRT awardees will be required to 
report data on an annual basis for the life of their award.
    Use of the Information: NSF will primarily use the data from this 
collection for program planning, management, and audit purposes to 
respond to queries from the Congress, the public, NSF's external merit 
reviewers who serve as advisors, including Committees of Visitors 
(COVs), the NSF's Office of the Inspector General, and as a basis for 
either internal or third-party evaluations of individual programs. This 
information is required for effective administration, communication, 
program and project monitoring and evaluation, and for measuring 
attainment of NSF's program, project, and strategic goals, and as 
identified by the President's Accountability in Government Initiative; 
GPRA, and the NSF's Strategic Plan. The Foundation's FY 2018-2022 
Strategic Plan may be found at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf18045.
    Since this collection will primarily be used for accountability and 
evaluation purposes, including responding to queries from COVs and 
other scientific experts, a census rather than a sampling design 
typically is necessary. At the individual project level, funding can be 
adjusted based on individual project's responses to some of the 
surveys. Some data collected under this collection will serve as 
baseline data for separate research and evaluation studies.
    NSF-funded contract or grantee researchers and internal or external 
evaluators in part may identify control, comparison, or treatment 
groups for NSF's education and training portfolio using some of the 
descriptive data gathered through this collection to conduct well-
designed and rigorous research and portfolio evaluation studies.
    Use of the Information: The information collected is primarily for 
the purposes of program monitoring and accountability purposes. The 
information may also be used to respond to queries from Congress, NSF's 
external merit reviewers, and as the basis for program evaluations.
    Respondents: NRT PIs, coPIs, Faculty, and Trainees.
    Estimated number of respondents: 2,346.
    Average Burden per Reporting: The average hours per year works out 
to 4,207.5 hours. This reflects a range of 10-15 minutes for the PI/
coPI/Faculty surveys, 1.5 hours for the trainee survey, and 24 hours 
for the project survey.
    Frequency: Once annually
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 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 respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.

    Dated: September 27, 2021.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2021-21326 Filed 9-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P