NSF Summer Salary Rules Must be Followed on CPS Statements

In reports to Congress, NSF's Inspector General has noted that NSF relies on accurate statements of Current and Pending Support (CPS) in NSF grant applications and that misstatements about CPS can lead to Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations.

Information in the CPS section of grant proposals should reflect all current and pending support for all sponsors (including NSF) for both ongoing and proposed projects. Long-standing NSF instructions direct that all effort to be "devoted" to the project must be listed. For currently-funded projects, that means the full amount of funded summer salary must be listed on the CPS. For proposed projects, the effort proposed must be listed. In addition, all committed effort must be shown, regardless of whether funding is received for that effort.

If an individual has multiple NSF grants with summer salary support, the total support of person-months for awards and pending proposals may not exceed two-ninths of his or her regular academic-year salary. If a PI with two months of NSF summer salary support wishes to submit a proposal for additional summer support, the PI must list the currently funded support on the CPS and should identify in the proposal the reductions in the currently funded support that will be requested in the event the new proposal is awarded.

The NSF CPS instructions are consistent with the NSF budget instructions, which are quite clear that NSF will not provide funding for more than two months of summer salary for a given year.