Carrying the NSF grant money to a new institution if it gets funded?

[kerprof]

I am in the job market and got a verbal offer from an R2 institution with Spring 2020 as the starting date.

One of my NSF EAGER proposal that I submitted 4 months ago as a lead PI along with my colleagues at my current institution is currently under review where the program director is the PD for my recently concluded NSF project and the final project report and annual report is due in about 1 month.

I have not checked with the NSF PD on the status and while looking at the fast-lane the status says it is "under review"... Is it a good idea for me to email the NSF PD and check for the proposal review status?

With this situation, is there a possibility I can get a portion of the grant money, if it gets funded after I move to a new institution.

Also will I have an option to check the status of the proposal if I move to a new institution.

Please advise.

[hazelshade]

If it's awarded, the grant will be made to your current institution. However, it's pretty common in these cases for the original institution to either transfer the grant to the new institution or to subaward funds from the grant to the new institution. (Since you mention that this grant is a collaboration with your current colleagues, I could imagine either solution being preferable.) Once you've formally accepted the offer from New Institution, you should begin the conversation about how to handle the grant if it is awarded (transfer or subaward; if it's a subaward, how you're going to adjust the budget to deal with the increased share going to indirect, etc.). I'd bring the sponsored programs office at your new institution into the conversation as early as you can. Get everything in writing.

I don't know why you wouldn't be able to check the status of the proposal if you move to a new institution (since it would be tied to your FastLane ID).

If it's only been four months, I would not bug the program officer yet.

[kerprof]

I don't know why you wouldn't be able to check the status of the proposal if you move to a new institution (since it would be tied to your FastLane ID).

If it's only been four months, I would not bug the program officer yet.

I have moved to a new institution as of  Jan 2020 and I tried to login  to my NSF account (through research.gov) and I am getting the message "Invalid Account Information. Please try again".

Please advise. When I last checked the research.gov website, the EAGER proposal that I submitted as lead PI was still 'under review' status.

[mamselle]

You might also want to ask the folks on the NSF CAREER updating thread: some of them seem to have background in interpreting NSF tea leaves more specifically, too...

M.

[aspiring.academic]

I don't know why you wouldn't be able to check the status of the proposal if you move to a new institution (since it would be tied to your FastLane ID).

If it's only been four months, I would not bug the program officer yet.

I have moved to a new institution as of  Jan 2020 and I tried to login  to my NSF account (through research.gov) and I am getting the message "Invalid Account Information. Please try again".

Please advise. When I last checked the research.gov website, the EAGER proposal that I submitted as lead PI was still 'under review' status.

This is a tricky one for a few reasons. The issue is that NSF awards are awarded to the institution, not the individual. So with that being said, if your previous university strongly believes the Co-PIs could carry out the research they may be reluctant to transfer the award to new institution if you are awarded.

On the flip side, EAGER is in place to find potentially transformative research in its early stages. This leads me to think, if you are the PI, that you have a particular skill set or idea that requires your involvement to successfully complete, and therefore the grant should be transferred if awarded.

I hope you can see how those two previous paragraphs are in contrast to one another.

I really wish this would've been handled prior to you changing universities, but it's not unheard of to transfer awards. It occurs quite frequently, but it is time consuming.

If I were you, I'd start the process of looking up what the NSF transfer process is for your new institution. You would also want to engage the sponsored programs office at your new university to let them know you have a pending grant. I would also start the process of re-establishing your NSF FastLane/Research.gov access with your new university (PI Transfer), which should restore access to your previous proposals.

The grant itself cannot be transferred until it is awarded. If the grant is awarded then you must notify the NSF Program Office to request preliminary approval for the transfer. This is where your sponsored programs office should help with getting the approval from the previous university to release the award. It's very, very time consuming.

It wouldn't hurt to let the PO know that you changed universities. You're not necessarily looking for an update on your EAGER, just letting them know that you've moved and are interested in bringing the grant to your new institution of awarded.

[fizzycist]

I would notify the PO now.

If it has already been reviewed and is likely to be funded, they can have you resubmit from your current place to avoid transferring. If the new place is in an EPSCoR state, it may increase your odds of funding. If the old place is in an EPSCoR state and new one is not, then may still be in your interest to tell them now since you can't transfer EPSCoR supplements.

I guess the only reason not to notify is if you think it might delay your review (e.g. it hasn't been reviewed yet and now they *make* you resubmit from new place). At 4 months out, I'm not sure how likely that is. I've never submitted EAGER before, but would hope they get reviewed pretty quickly?