NSF 22-056

Dear Colleague Letter: Research Collaboration Opportunity in Europe for NSF Awardees

March 10, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

BACKGROUND

To further scientific and technological cooperation between the United States and the European Community, the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council signed an Implementing Arrangement on October 29, 2019, to enable U.S.-based scientists and engineers with active NSF awards, particularly those early in their careers, to pursue research collaboration with European colleagues supported through EU-funded European Research Council (ERC) grants.

Connecting researchers with complementary strengths and shared interests promotes scientific progress in solving some of the world’s most vexing problems. This international research opportunity is mutually beneficial to the U.S. participants and their hosts through cooperative activities during research visits and establishing international research partnerships to enrich future research activities in the U.S. and Europe.

Under the Arrangement, the ERC Executive Agency (ERCEA) identifies ERC-funded research groups who wish to host NSF grantees for research visits of up to one year within their ERC funding.

OPPORTUNITY

This letter invites current NSF grantees to submit supplemental funding requests for research visits to any identified, appropriate ERC-funded European research group. NSF particularly encourages requests from NSF grantees who are early in their careers or who are still actively building their careers. Further, the letter gives instructions on how to submit supplemental funding requests and other relevant policies and requirements.

ERCEA has provided a list of ERC-funded principal investigators (PIs) and research teams interested in hosting NSF grantees. NSF grantees should request this list via email from Roxanne Nikolaus, Office of International Science and Engineering, at rnikolau@nsf.gov, and then communicate directly with ERC PIs to ascertain areas of mutual interest and research goals for a visit. NSF grantees then must discuss plans for the visit(s) with the NSF Program Officer managing their award prior to submitting a supplemental funding request. If approved by NSF, the request is forwarded by NSF to ERCEA for review and confirmation with the ERC-funded project.

The European hosts will provide funding to support in-country living expenses during the visits.

NSF will provide travel funds to and from Europe. It is expected that the amount requested will not exceed $20,000, inclusive of any foreign travel expenses for qualified family members (see Conditions below). Activities are subject to availability of funds and all applicable laws, regulations, policies, and programs of the ERC and NSF.

ELIGIBILITY

This opportunity is open only to PIs and co-PIs of active NSF awards. Supplemental funding may be used to support travel for the PI, co-PI, postdocs, other Senior Personnel, and graduate students funded on the award. NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellows with active Fellowships also are eligible to submit to this opportunity.

CONDITIONS

NSF awardees may request supplemental funding for a single short-term or a single long-term research visit or multiple short- term visits. Multiple short-term visits should aggregate to a minimum amount of time as agreed in advance between the NSF grantee and the ERC-funded PI. For definition, research visits of less than 6 months are considered short-term, whereas visits of 6 months to one year are long-term visits. The maximum duration for either a single visit or the cumulation of multiple visits is 12 months. Given the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that travel will conform to the safety protocols of both the U.S. and the destination country. Visits must be concluded prior to the expiration date of the NSF award.

NSF grantees will continue to receive NSF funding during the period of the European visit. Salaries will be covered in accordance with the award terms and conditions. NSF will provide supplemental funding to the NSF award for the foreign travel expenses (i.e., airfare and directly related expenses such as ground transportation to and from the airport and baggage fees) of the grantee for short-term and long-term visits. If requested, NSF may provide supplemental funding for foreign travel expenses of qualified family members (as defined in Uniform Guidance § 200.474 Travel Costs) for long-term visits. In this case, foreign travel expenses for qualified family members means one roundtrip airfare (and directly related expenses) per qualified family member.

In-country costs should be provided from the existing ERC funding in accordance with applicable national laws and regulations, commensurate with the level of experience of the NSF grantee. These in-country costs may include subsistence on a per diem basis or other appropriate arrangement by the host institution. Other eligible costs incurred during the visit that are directly related to the ERC-funded project may also be allowed and should be agreed with the European host prior to submitting the request.

NSF grantees will be expected to report on the research visits in their NSF annual and final project reports, as appropriate, and may be asked to participate in follow-up evaluation activities.

HOW TO REQUEST SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING

Research visits will be funded for NSF grantees as supplements to their awards. Supplemental funding requests will be prepared in accordance with standard policies and procedures using FastLane. For NSF Postdoctoral Fellows, the form of payment for travel will be determined by the Directorate that funded the Fellowship, in consultation with the Office of International Science and Engineering.

Grantees must consult with the cognizant NSF program director of the original award or Fellowship prior to submitting a supplemental funding request.

The supplemental funding request consists of:

Description of the research to be performed during the visit at the host location and how it relates to current research and broad career goals (no more than 3 pages)

2-page biographical sketch of the U.S. PI

2-page biographical sketch of the ERC-funded PI host

Timeline for the proposed activity

Confirmation of Institutional Review Board/Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approvals, permits, and/or other special clearances needed, if any

Budget and budget justification (e.g., estimated airfare, ground transportation to and from airport, baggage fees)

Communication from the department chair of the U.S. PI endorsing the visit

Communication from the ERC-funded PI host indicating:

how the proposed visit fits within the ERC-funded project;

facilities and resources to be made available to the NSF awardee; and

expectations that the ERC-funded PI host has for the NSF awardee’s visit.

Endorsement of the visit from the ERC-funded host institution

Following consultation with the cognizant NSF program director, supplemental funding requests should be prepared and submitted via FastLane in accordance with the guidance in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Chapter VI.E.5. NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellows should submit their requests via email to the cognizant NSF program director for their Fellowship.

Supplemental funding requests will be reviewed internally by NSF Program Officers. All supplements are subject to (a) the availability of funds and (b) review of the quality of the supplemental funding request.

NSF may share the supplemental funding request in its entirety with ERC staff.

WHEN TO SUBMIT

Requests must be received at NSF at least 3 months prior to the proposed visit, but no later than May 27, 2022, for consideration using Fiscal Year 2022 funds.

CONTACT

For further information, please contact:

Roxanne Nikolaus, Office of International Science and Engineering, (703) 292-7578. Email: rnikolau@nsf.gov.

Sincerely,

Kendra Sharp
Office Head
Office of International Science and Engineering

Joanne Tornow
Assistant Director
Directorate for Biological Sciences

Margaret Martonosi
Assistant Director
Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering

Sylvia Butterfield
Assistant Director (Acting)
Directorate for Education and Human Resources

Susan Margulies
Assistant Director
Directorate for Engineering
Alexandra Isern
Assistant Director
Directorate for Geosciences

Sean Jones
Assistant Director
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Kellina Craig-Henderson
Assistant Director (Acting)
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences

Alicia Knoedler
Office Head
Office of Integrative Activities

My friend and colleague Bitra Nair extracted this story from an oral history. It was a very poignant story and we felt like it had to be retold. Thank you Bitra!

Related by Mr. Lee in his oral history.

Now, one of the other things, as I mentioned to you before about people and friendship. When we were young kids, I had a little classmate. We went to school in second, third, fourth, fifth grade together — and he was a Japanese boy. They lived in a fish pond right next to my home, and so we were close buddies. I remember his name was Toshi Yamamoto. I remember going over to his house, eating, playing games, always there. We were inseparable. We used to do so many mischievous things together. And he was the leader because I think he was a little older than I am, but we were good friends.

Hey, there was a plum tree where we used to play marbles all the time, and I went out there and call Toshi, “Toshi, where are you?” There was no answer. Like we always did before, whenever I called, boy, he would be coming out. He didn’t answer. So I ran to his house. His house was right around the edge of the fish pond where we used to play hide and seek under the house. I ran under the house and called Toshi, “Toshi, where are you?” No, Toshi. Ran upstairs into the house where he used to sleep in the house. The house was empty. “Toshi, where are you?”

I remember when I started going to school, I used to write little notes that I would send to the newspapers and say, “Toshi, where are you? Come see me.” There was never any answer.

To move that story ahead, for 71 years, I did that. I’m not saying every day, not every year, and I really wasn’t worried as to what happened. But there were rumors that their family was spies; the thing is, of course, rumors were that they were spies. This is what we always thought. But yet at the same time, we didn’t know whether they were killed or not. But for 71 years, I did this—trying to find Toshi because I was concerned. Where are you, Toshi? Again, for all of those years, I was hoping that one day, an old man like me would come up and say, I’m Toshi, but it never did happen.

I happened to be on TV, and I happened to get on the radio. Finally, the broadcaster said, “Jimmy, can you tell the story about your friend, Toshi?” So I did. He asked me about this. You know what happened? All of a sudden, there was a phone call to the radio station. That guy told the station that, “Hey, he’s talking about my dad.” When the note came to me, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe that I found him or anything. I still didn’t believe the story. But he called, and I tell you, I was speechless. I couldn’t say any more on the radio. I was crying, speechless, just shocked that somebody would call and say you’re talking about my dad after 71 years.

On December 14, he told me that his dad died several years before. I said, “Oh gee, where in the world was he buried?” He finally told me he is buried up in one of the cemeteries of a certain place. He couldn’t tell me exactly where it is.

I talked to the son, and finally, on December 20, I managed to meet the son. Not only meeting the son, but also the grandkids of Toshi and a cousin. And on December 20, we went back to the old house where the father was born and where I used to play with him.

Now, what happened to them? The thing is, during the war years, many of the Japanese here on the mainland United States were relocated. They had to be relocated and moved away. But in a way, we had about 140,000 Japanese. But the thing is when my friend, Toshi and his family came home that day, they were met by soldiers—soldiers that, what they tell me, aimed the machine guns at them, told them to go home, and remove all your belongings in 20 minutes and get out of here and don’t come back.

We’re transcribing some oral histories about Native Americans and the interviewer is using a term that is outdated now. She says she’s collecting interviews with Indians. Since that’s at least a misnomer from the days when the Spanish and Portuguese explorers thought they were finding a shorter route to “the Indies,” I thought I’d do some research. This link caught my eye in an initial google search: From the Native Governance Center: A Guide Native Governance Center hosted “Language Matters: How to Talk about Native Nations” on May 12, 2021. The event featured moderator Dr. Twyla Baker and panelists Wizipan Little Elk, Bryan Pollard, and Margaret Yellow Bird. Watch the recording from this event in our Resources library.

The introduction talks about the importance of language, and calling people by their preferred name.

Using appropriate terminology to talk about Native nations shows respect for nations’ sovereignty. It also contributes toward Native narrative change. Because language is so important (and we’ve received so many great questions about it from our community over the years), we decided to create an online guide.

Language is sacred. Wizipan Little Elk explains, “In every culture in the world, you get a name. You’re called something. Your people are called something. Your identity is tied up in whatever that name is. Names have the power to create life.” Conversations about terminology and language deserve deep thought and attention; take the process seriously.

I also double checked The Chicago Manual of Style, our preferred style guide.

8.38: Ethnic and national groups and associated adjectives

Chapter Contents / Ethnic, Socioeconomic, and Other Groups

Names of ethnic and national groups are capitalized. Adjectives associated with these names are also capitalized.

At the bottom of a list of examples, CMOS says, “Many among those who trace their roots to the Aboriginal peoples of the Americas prefer American Indians to Native Americans, and in certain historical works Indians may be more appropriate. Canadians often speak of First Peoples (and of First Nations) when not referring to specific groups by name.”

These interviews were done a long time ago, and I do want to preserve the interviewer’s speech as well, so I’ve decided to use Indians [sic].

Anybody have any ideas?