NSF Collaborative Proposal Submission Issue

[kerprof]

Four other institutions collaborated with my institution ( as a lead institution) to submit a collaborative proposal to NSF. One institution was not able to submit it on time. So, my institution delinked the institution that did not submit the proposal and submitted the proposal on time. What this would mean? Will NSF reject or accept our proposal for review and decision?

[aspiring.academic]

Need additional information.
It's not likely that the proposal will be rejected outright because of the failed collaboration.
However, did the solicitation specify collaboration is required? Did you submit an LOI of a stated partnership? In your proposal, did you mention the other institution as a collaborator and that they would be submitting a proposal?

If the answer is yes to any of those questions AND you didn't modify your proposal to remove/alter those aspects, then in all likelihood it will not review well and will be rejected.

[kerprof]

Yes. We did mention that the other institution as a collaborator and that they would be submitting the proposal.  Project description  and collaboration management document all mentioned about the other institution, which did not ultimately submit the proposal. We were not able to modify the proposal to remove the collaborating institution's name, as we were hoping until last minute that  the other institution would submit it on time.

[aspiring.academic]

That really sucks.
That proposal is coming back to you. It can't be well reviewed without the collaborator's part.

[research_prof]

Yes. We did mention that the other institution as a collaborator and that they would be submitting the proposal.  Project description  and collaboration management document all mentioned about the other institution, which did not ultimately submit the proposal. We were not able to modify the proposal to remove the collaborating institution's name, as we were hoping until last minute that  the other institution would submit it on time.

I think the proposal will be unfortunately rejected after the program director does the initial check. I am sorry for having to say so...

[Unseen Academical]

OP, I know of a similar situation. I would suggest emailing the program director right away, explaining the situation and asking for permission to submit the missing piece. It is up to the PD if they allow this or not. 

[hazelshade]

OP, I know of a similar situation. I would suggest emailing the program director right away, explaining the situation and asking for permission to submit the missing piece. It is up to the PD if they allow this or not.

Agree 100%--you should do this right away!

[kerprof]

Thanks for the suggestions...

We have emailed the NSF PD this morning about this issue and possibility to get the other institution's documents in for consideration.

[aspiring.academic]

Absent an extenuating circumstance it's not going to happen.
There's an assumption that the collaborating institution has their part ready for immediate submission. If that was the case, they wouldn't have missed the deadline and kept you hanging out to dry.

[kerprof]

Following is the gist of the message received from the NSF PD.

Unfortunately, because the deadline has passed, it is not possible for the collaborating institution to submit their materials.
The PD also suggested that the other option would be for us to withdraw the whole project and submit, with the whole team including the other collaborating institution, to a future competition.

It is not clear what they will do for the proposal submitted. Will they return it or move forward reviewing it.

[mleok]

Don't collaborate with amateurs on a collaborative proposal. I usually have the non-lead institutions aim to submit their proposal at least a day before the due date, and if they failed to submit by then, I would have had modified the proposal, so that we could be ready to cut them out if necessary.

[Hibush]

Don't collaborate with amateurs on a collaborative proposal. I usually have the non-lead institutions aim to submit their proposal at least a day before the due date, and if they failed to submit by then, I would have had modified the proposal, so that we could be ready to cut them out if necessary.

Your lead sentence is right on. The rest suggests you are a bit of a softie. Cutting out one partner in a complex multi-institutional proposal seems harder than what you can do in a day. Moreover. if the proposal still makes sense without the contribution of one partner, were they really needed in the first place?

[mleok]

Don't collaborate with amateurs on a collaborative proposal. I usually have the non-lead institutions aim to submit their proposal at least a day before the due date, and if they failed to submit by then, I would have had modified the proposal, so that we could be ready to cut them out if necessary.

Your lead sentence is right on. The rest suggests you are a bit of a softie. Cutting out one partner in a complex multi-institutional proposal seems harder than what you can do in a day. Moreover. if the proposal still makes sense without the contribution of one partner, were they really needed in the first place?

Haha, certainly the first advice is the most relevant. While it's clearly suboptimal to cut out a partner institution in a day, one can at least make the omission less glaring than if it was simply left in the proposal. I had to do something like that in a week, when my former advisor passed away after we submitted a multi-institution proposal, and I had to write him out of the proposal.

[Hibush]

[ner institution in a day, one can at least make the omission less glaring than if it was simply left in the proposal. I had to do something like that in a week, when my former advisor passed away after we submitted a multi-institution proposal, and I had to write him out of the proposal.

Wow, that had to be doubly tough!

[mleok]

[ner institution in a day, one can at least make the omission less glaring than if it was simply left in the proposal. I had to do something like that in a week, when my former advisor passed away after we submitted a multi-institution proposal, and I had to write him out of the proposal.

Wow, that had to be doubly tough!

Yeah, that was tough. I was the last person to talk to him about research before he passed away.