[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5845-5847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02160]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information 
Collection System

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, the 
National Science Foundation (NSF) is inviting the general public or 
other Federal agencies to comment on this proposed continuing 
information collection.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by April 4, 
2022, to be assured consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable. Send comments to address 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 
W18200, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; 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: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Foundation, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Foundation's estimate 
of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
Title of Collection: Program Monitoring Data Collections for the 
National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Program.
    OMB Number: 3145-NEW.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to establish an 
information collection for post-award output and outcome monitoring 
system.
    Abstract: The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps 
(I-Corps) Program was started in 2011 to develop and nurture a national 
innovation ecosystem built upon fundamental research that guides the 
output of scientific and engineering discoveries closer to the 
development of technologies, products, and services that benefit 
society.
    The goal of the I-Corps Program is to use experiential education to 
help entrepreneurial researchers reduce the time necessary to translate 
promising ideas from the laboratory bench to widespread implementation. 
In addition to accelerating technology translation, the NSF I-Corps 
program also seeks to reduce the risk associated with technology 
development conducted without insight into industry requirements and 
challenges.
    The NSF I-Corps Program is designed to support the 
commercialization of ``deep technologies,'' those revolving around 
fundamental discoveries in science and engineering. The program 
addresses the skill and knowledge gaps associated with the 
transformation of

[[Page 5846]]

basic research into deep technology ventures. The program enables 
entrepreneurial researchers in deep technologies to receive support in 
the form of entrepreneurial education, industry mentoring, and funding 
to accelerate the translation of knowledge derived from fundamental 
research into emerging products and services that may attract 
subsequent third-party funding. I-Corps training and infrastructure 
together represent an important investment for NSF and the Nation, as 
directed by the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (AICA), 
Public Law 114-329, Section 601.
    These selected researchers form teams and participate in the I-
Corps Teams Program Curriculum. An I-Corps team includes the 
Entrepreneurial Lead (EL), Technical Lead (TL) or the Principal 
Investigator (PI), and the Industrial Mentor (IM). During the training 
program, the team is expected to spend significant time conducting 
active customer discovery, including interviewing potential customers 
and potential partners. The outcomes of I-Corps Teams projects will be 
threefold: (1) A decision on a clear path forward based on an 
assessment of the business model, (2) substantial first-hand evidence 
for or against product-market fit, with the identification of customer 
segments and corresponding value propositions, and (3) a narrative of a 
compelling technology demonstration for potential partners.
    The NSF I-Corps program requests the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval of this clearance that will allow the programs to 
improve the rigor of our surveys for evaluations and program 
monitoring, as well as to initiate new data collections to monitor the 
immediate, intermediate, and long-term outcomes of our investments by 
periodically surveying the I-Corps teams and their members. The 
clearance will allow the program to rigorously develop, test, and 
implement survey instruments and methodologies.
    The primary objective of this clearance is to allow the NSF I-Corps 
program to collect characteristics, inputs, outputs, and outcomes 
information from the I-Corps teams funded by the program. This 
collection will enable the evaluation of the impacts on the four themes 
as outlined in the FY 2021 NSF I-Corps biennial report to Congress:

1. Training an Entrepreneurial Workforce
2. Translating Technologies
3. Nurturing an Innovation Ecosystem
4. Enabling Economic Impact

    The second, related objective is to improve our questionnaires and/
or data collection procedures through pilot tests and other survey 
methods used in these activities. Under this clearance a variety of 
surveys could be pre-tested, modified, and used.
    Following standard OMB requirements, NSF will submit to OMB an 
individual request for each survey project we undertake under this 
clearance. NSF will request OMB approval in advance and provide OMB 
with a copy of the questionnaire and materials describing the project.
    Data collected will be used for planning, management, evaluation, 
and audit purposes. Summaries of output and outcome 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), NSF's Office of the Inspector General, and other pertinent 
stakeholders. These data are needed for effective administration, 
program monitoring, evaluation, outreach/marketing roadmaps, and for 
strategic reviews and measuring attainment of NSF's program and 
strategic goals, as identified by the President's Accountable 
Government Initiative, the Government Performance and Results Act 
Modernization Act of 2010, Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, and 
NSF's Strategic Plan.
    All questions asked in the data collection are questions that are 
NOT included in the annual, final or outcomes reports, and the 
intention is to ask the grantees even beyond the period of performance 
on voluntary basis in order to capture impacts of the research that 
occur during and beyond the life of the award.
    Grantees will be invited to submit information on a periodic basis 
to support the management of the NSF I-Corps investment portfolio. Once 
the survey tool is tested, grantees will be invited to submit these 
indicators to NSF via data collection methods that include, but are not 
limited to, online surveys, interviews, focus groups, phone interviews, 
etc. These indicators are both quantitative and descriptive and may 
include, for example, the characteristics of project personnel, sources 
of funding and support, knowledge transfer and technology translation 
activities, patents, licenses, publications, descriptions of 
significant advances, and other outcomes of the funded efforts.
    Use of the Information: The data collected will be used for NSF 
internal and external reports, historical data, program level studies 
and evaluations, and for securing future funding for the maintenance 
and growth of the NSF I-Corps 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 relevant research questions.

                                            Estimate of Public Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  Annual number
               Collection title                      Number of respondents        of responses/     Annual hour
                                                                                    respondent        burden
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Program Monitoring Data Collections for the    400 I-Corps teams (1,200                        3             900
 National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation   members) per year.
 Corps (I-Corps) Program.
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    For life-of-award monitoring, the data collection burden to 
awardees will be limited to no more than 15 minutes of the respondents' 
time in each instance.
    Respondents: The respondents are consisted of Technical Lead (TL) 
of the I-Corps Project or Principal Investigator (PI) of NSF I-Corps 
Program awards, Entrepreneurial Lead (EL), and Industry Mentor (IM).
    Estimates of Annualized Cost to Respondents for the Hour Burdens: 
The overall annualized cost to the respondents is estimated to be 
$30,000.
    The following table shows the annualized estimate of costs to PIs 
or TLs/ELs/IMs respondents.
    The annualized estimate of cost to both the PIs/TLs and IMs, who 
are generally University Professors, is calculated using the hourly 
rate based on a report from the American

[[Page 5847]]

Association of University Professors, ``Annual Report on the Economic 
Status of the Profession, 2020-21,'' Academe, March-April 2021, Survey 
Report Table 1. According to this report, the average salary of an 
assistant professor across all types of doctoral-granting institutions 
(public, private-independent, religiously affiliated) was $91,408. When 
divided by the number of standard annual work hours (2,080), this 
calculates to approximately $44 per hour. Similarly, the annualized 
estimate of costs to the ELs, who are generally graduate students, can 
be calculated using the data published in the 2017 Science magazine 
article that a typical annual stipend for graduate students in the 
sciences is around $25,000. When divided by the number of standard 
annual work hours (2,080), this calculates to approximately $12 per 
hour.

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                                                     Number of     Burden hours       Average        Estimated
                 Respondent type                    respondents   per respondent    hourly rate     annual cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PIs.............................................             400            0.75             $44         $13,200
ELs/TLs.........................................             400            0.75              12           3,600
Industry Mentors................................             400            0.75              44          13,200
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................           1,200  ..............  ..............          30,000
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    Estimated Number of Responses per Report: Data collections involve 
all awardees in the programs.

    Dated: January 28, 2022.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2022-02160 Filed 2-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P