NSF Project Reporting Policies and Reminders

The Grant Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act requires federal agencies to submit a report to Congress of all federal grant awards that expired on or before September 30, 2015 that are not closed. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is unable to close awards that have overdue project reports. Awards to institutions with project reports more than two years overdue will be reported to Congress on November 15, 2017, in accordance with the GONE Act. NSF will issue letters informing institutions of awards that fall into this category.

There are three types of required reports for all NSF assistance awards: Annual Reports, Final Reports, and the Project Outcomes Report for the General Public (POR).

Annual Reports are due 90 days prior to the end of the current budget period, while Final Reports and the POR are due 120 days after the end date of the award. Complete guidance on project reporting requirements is in the PAPPG, Chapter VII.D.

Consequences for an overdue project report includes no future funding for the PI and all associated co-PIs. In addition, no administrative functions can be performed on awards that have overdue reports.

Reminder notices for all reports are sent to the PI, any co-PIs, as well as the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) contact(s) at the organization. However, only the PI and any co-PIs may submit reports in Research.gov. SPOs have the ability to run reports for their organization to display awards with due and overdue project reports.

Questions about the content of a report should be directed to the cognizant NSF Program Officer.

Additional technical details regarding preparation and submission of reports are available in Research.gov.