NSF Updates

In a 2025 executive order, the federal government announced expectations of Gold Standard Science (GSS) for all federally supported research. As federal agencies integrate GSS principles into the grants process, the PDS team recommends that investigators include clear statements in their proposals to any federal agency describing how their proposed work aligns with GSS. 

Recent changes to federal agency policies regarding foreign collaboration and research security have sparked many questions from the UC Davis research community. In particular, the PDS team has been fielding questions regarding how these changes impact ongoing and proposed projects, as well as steps that investigators need to take to be compliant with the new guidance. Here, we share answers and resources to address the most frequent questions regarding foreign collaborations and research security.  

In this Agency Update, you'll find information on:

Developing a strong grant proposal can take months of preparation. The UC Davis Proposal Development Services team recommends three to five months to develop a strong proposal. In the past year, however, funding opportunities with very short turnaround times – sometimes as little as 4 to 6 weeks! - have become the norm.  

In early 2026, most federal agencies updated their certification for biographical sketches and current and pending support documents, requiring that investigators: 

In early 2026, both National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced changes to the format and creation of their Data Management and Sharing Plans (DMS Plan). Here, we summarize how the changes will impact your proposal preparation and provide resources to help you prepare for the updated forms. 

UPDATE: As of January 30, 2026 we are anticipating a partial federal government shutdown starting at midnight Friday Jan 30th.  If it happens, this partial shutdown will impact only Dept of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security, State, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development.  

Not impacted are NSF, NASA, NIST, NOAA, Dept of Commerce, DOE, and USDA. These agencies should continue operating as normal. 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) uses two primary criteria to evaluate proposals: intellectual merit (how your work enhances your field) and broader impacts (how your work benefits society).

Since the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, there have been seven areas emphasized for broader impacts:

NSF released a new Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) for proposals due on or after May 20, 2024!

Included among the changes in the NSF 24-1 version of the PAPPG are: