NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

DIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING

ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS PROGRAM

FY 2013

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING

FINAL REPORTS

for the

ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS

May 2013

Engineering Education & Centers Division

4201Wilson Boulevard, Suite 585

Arlington, VA 22230

Phone: (703) 292-8380

Facsimile: (703) 292-9051/9052

Prepared in conjunction with

ICF INTERNATIONAL • 530 GAITHER ROAD • ROCKVILLE, MD 20850

Contents

1.Introduction

2.General Reporting Requirements

3.No-Cost Extension

4.Final Report Guidelines

4.1.Section 1: Systems Vision, Value Added and Broader Impacts

4.2.Section 2: Intellectual Merit and Research Impact

4.3.Section 3: University and Pre-college Education Impact

4.4.Section 4: Industrial /Practitioner Impact and Technology Transfer

4.5.Section 5: Infrastructure

4.6.Section 6: Beyond Graduation

4.7.Section 7: Appendices

5.Celebration and Summative Review Site Visit

6.Report Submission

7.Continuing Contact

8.Appendix I: Instructions for notifying Research.gov of Final Report Submission

1.Introduction

The last two years of the ERC’s life span are transition years.The Center’s NSF funding is phasing down and the Center is beginning to execute post-graduation plans for self-sufficiency or termination.Year 10 also brings a time to reflect on and celebrate the accomplishments of the Center over the last decade and to record the impact the Center has had on knowledge, industry, and society. After a decade of NSF support of approximately $40 million, NSF and the ERC Program capture the significant accomplishments of the Center through the Final Report. This is an important opportunity to summarize the most significant impacts and outcomes of a Center in terms of advancing knowledge, education, technology and industrial competitiveness, and the engineering workforce and its diversity. Each Center has made unique and important contributions over its 10-year life span and should carefully consider how to best showcase its key accomplishments and impacts.

In addition, a final summative review and celebration site visit may be held to provide a summative assessment of the impacts of the ERC,to provide final feedback on self-sufficiency plans from the NSF site team, and to celebrate the Center’s impacts and achievements.NSF’s budget issues are the deciding factor in determining whether or not to hold this review/celebration.

2.General Reporting Requirements

During the first nine years of a Center’s life, the ERC submits its Annual Report five weeks before its annual site visit. In addition, a Center submits its data to the ERCWeb database approximately two months before its annual site visit.

In the final year, some of these requirements have modifications that are summarized in Table 1 below. The ERCWeb data still must be collected and submitted as if Year 10 were any other year. In addition, the Center must make one additional final data submission to cover the period from the end of the Year 10 Reporting Year to the end of the cooperative agreement (either with or without an extension period).The extension period requirements are described in Section 3 of this document.

The“Annual Report” for Year 10 will be the preliminary Final Report and will be prepared and submitted on the same schedule as in any other year so that it is ready for review at the time of thesummative review/celebration site visit (if one is held).See additional discussion in the Report Submission section below.

The preliminary Final Report will be similar in structure to the Annual Report, with modifications as specified later in this document. The preliminary Final Report will be a complete report as specified below, but is “preliminary” in the sense of the data it contains. The preliminary Final Report will contain data through the end of the 10th Reporting Year; the full Final Report will contain updated tables and charts with data through the end of the cooperative agreement along withany updated text due to final achievements or outcomes. If there is no extension to the cooperative agreement, the Final Report is submitted to the ERC Program staff in lieu of the Annual Report within 90 days of the end of the cooperative agreement. If there is an extension to the agreement, the 10th year Annual Report requirement is met by submitting the preliminary version of the Final Report as the 10th year Annual Report. Then the full Final Report is due to the ERC Program staff within 90 days of the end of the extension period.

Data and Report Submission Requirements:

Submission / Without Extension / With No-Cost Extension
10th Year ERCWeb Data / • Covers the 10th Year Reporting Year
• Due at the usual time (based on prior year submissions) / • Covers the 10th Year Reporting Year
• Due at the usual time (based on prior year submissions)
Final ERCWeb Data / • Covers the period from the end of the 10th Year Reporting Year to the end of the 10th Year Award Year.
• Due within 90 days of the end of the 10th Year Award Year / • Covers the period from the end of the 10th Year Reporting Year to the end of the Extension Period
• Due within 90 days of the end of the Extension Period
Year 10 “Annual Report” submission / • Not needed / • Due at least 90 days prior to the end of the 10th Year Award Year—Submit preliminary Final Report
• Note: Do not use Research.gov until receiving official no-cost extension approval
Final Report / • Due within 90 days after the end of the 10th Year Award Year / • Due within 90 days after the end of the Extension Period but may be submitted earlier
Year 10 Cost-Sharing Certification / • Not needed / • Due at least 90 days prior to the end of the 10th Year Award Year
Final Cost-Sharing Certification / • Due within 90 days after the end of the 10th Year Award Year / • Due within 90 days after the end of the Extension Period

Note: the annual reports and Final Report are no longer submitted to FastLane.NSF now instructs its grantees to use Research.gov to submit annual and final reports.However, as approved by the NSF Policy Office, the ERCs do not use Research.gov to submit the contents of the Final Report, but they do use Research.gov to indicate that the report has been submitted. The Final Report (and preliminary Final Report, if applicable) are sent in hard copy and in digital form, on CD, directly to ERC program staff at NSF. ERC program staff also uploads the information into the internal NSF eJacket system.The submission steps to Research.govare described in detail in Appendix I.

In addition, NSF added an additional final reporting requirement to any award made or funded (so this is applicable to Class of 2003 and later graduating ERCs) after January 2010. This requirement is to submit a Project Outcomes Report for the General Public on Research.gov.The Project Outcomes Report is prepared by the ERC and submitted on Research.gov.NSF input/approval is not required.See

more details.

3.No-Cost Extension

If desired, a graduating Center may request up to a six-month no-cost extension. The no- cost extension might be necessary to allow extra time to close out accounts, pay final invoices, spend out residual money, or finish a supplemental award task that was given near the end of the 10-year term. The no-cost extension must be requested no later than 90 days prior to the end of the 10th Year.It must be requested through FastLane and any residual NSF funding carried forward into the extension period must be reported in the preliminary Final Report, and explained.The no-cost extension is subject to approval by the NSF Program Director, the Leader of the ERC Program, and the NSF Grants Officer. Approval will be in the form of an Amendment to the Cooperative Agreement. Except in very unusual circumstances, no additional extension will be granted beyond six months.

If a no-cost extension is granted, the Center will be allowed to expend the remaining NSF funds, as approved, up until the new expiration date.Any funding not approved for use in the extension period will be returned to the Government and any of the funds approved for expenditure but not obligated by that time will be returned to the Government.

The Final Report and the Final Data Submission to ERCWeb are due no later than 90 days after the end of the six-month extension period.Final Reports will not be approved until the final ERCWeb data are submitted. NSFwill not allow the PI or Co-PI to receive any additional NSF funding until the Final Report has been submitted and approved by the NSF Program Director.

After the Center receives the written approval of the no-cost extension by the NSF Grants Officer, the Center must submit a 10th Year Annual Report to the ERC program staff, who will upload it into eJacket system,and an annual cost-sharing certification into FastLane prior to the end of the final Award Year.(This is in addition to the Final Report and the final cost-sharing certification that are due at the end of the no-cost extension period.) The Center should submit the preliminary version of the Final Report as its “Annual Report” to meet the reporting requirements for the Year 10 Award Year.The approval of a no-cost extension signals Research.gov to create a field in which to enter the 10th year Annual Report information. Centers should therefore wait until receiving approval of the no-cost extension before entering that information into Research.gov.

An ERC may apply for a supplemental opportunity while the award is still active, even if the award activities would be carried out after the original end date.In that case, the graduating ERC must apply for a no-cost extension to cover the period of the supplemental award. The ERC may not apply for additional supplements during that no-cost extension period without explicit authorization from NSF.

4.Final Report Guidelines

The goal of the Final Report is to give an integrated overview, supported by specific examples, of the impact, outcomes and accomplishments of the Center over the decade of NSF funding. The Center should present achievements that reflect advances in fundamental engineering knowledge, enabling technology, engineered systems, education of a broadly diverse workforce, pre-college education, and technology advances in partnership with industry or through translational research carried out by non-member firms when member firms fail to license ERC-generated IP. The Final Report should highlight the impact of having an integrated, cross-disciplinary, multi-university research team on achieving results and important outcomes.

The Center will prepare a preliminary Final Report based on the structure and content described below.This will be a complete document; however, as with an Annual Report, it will not cover the entire period of the final Award Year-- it will only cover to the end of the 10th Reporting Year.Thus the preliminary Final Report shall be prepared with the data and information available from the inception of the Center to the end of the 10th Reporting Year. The fullFinal Report will essentially be the same document as the preliminary report but with the summary data tables and charts and research highlights updated based on data and achievements occurringbetween the end of the Reporting Year and the end of the cooperative agreement or no-cost extension.

The structure of the Final Report is very similar to the structure of Volume I of the Annual Report, however, the report should be written from the perspective of summarizing and highlighting the major accomplishments, impacts, and outcomes of the Center over the 10 years of NSF funding.Emphasis should be placed on the outcomes and impacts of the Center and the consequences or significances of the impacts.There is no requirement to produce Volume II, the detailed project reports, in Year 10.However, the Center may wish to produce a document with final project reports to provide closure for the projects, but this is not required.If such a document is produced, the Center should submit it to the ERC program staff at the same time as it submits the final version of the Final Report.

The Final Report should have the following structure.

Cover Page

Table of Contents

Participants Tables (Use the format from the prior annual reports)

Section 1: Systems Vision,Value Added and Broader Impacts

Section 2: Intellectual Merit and Research Impacts

Section 3: University and Pre-college Education Impacts

Section 4: Industrial /Practitioner Impact andTechnology Transfer

Section 5: Infrastructure

Section 6: Beyond Graduation

Section 7: Appendices

  1. Lessons Learned
  2. Bibliography of Publications (over lifetime of center)

3. Year 10 Highlights (nuggets)

4. Final Year 10 ERCWeb Tables

The ERC’s own cover page should be the outermost cover page of the Final Report. It should include the title of the center, followed by “an Engineering Research Center” (if that is not in the title).Next it should list the lead and any core partner institutions involved and the names of the Director and Deputy Director. It should also show the cooperative agreement number, the words “Final Report,” and the date of submission.

As with the Annual Report, there are several charts and tables required in the Final Report. The ERCWeb database contractor will create many of them based on the 10 years of data that the Center has reported. It is important to note thatthe Center is responsible for discussing the information presented in these tables and chartswithin the narrative of the report, including trends and conclusions, even though some of the tables and charts will be produced by the ERCWeb database contractor.

4.1.Section 1: Systems Vision, Value Added and Broader Impacts

This section should begin withan “executive summary” level discussion summarizing the vision and the strategic plan of the Center and the historical evolution of the Center’s visionover the 10 years of NSF support. It should discuss the focus, core objectives, and key principles of the Center, how they evolved, and where they stand now.

The information in this section should present a snapshot of the Center in its 10th year in conjunction with a brief history of how it got there and impacts achieved along the way. There should be a timeline with key milestones over the life of the Center in research, education and outreach, industrial collaboration and technology transfer. It should contain a discussion of how each of the following features of the ERC evolved over time and their most significant impacts:

  • Current research thrusts and testbeds of the Center;
  • Current university and pre-college education programs;
  • Current industry membership and involvement, and key technology transfer impacts.

Each discussion should be brief and high-level but accurately summarize the current features of the Center along with the key impacts achieved over time.

In addition, there should be a discussion of the broader impacts of the Center on the academic community at large, and on the lead and partner institutions in particular. This would include a discussion and examples of any changes(s) in university culture that could be attributed to, at least in part, the presence of the ERC such as any increase in cross-disciplinary courses or majors, new strategic cross-disciplinary initiatives, culture changes that might include increased support for cross-disciplinary partnerships, partnerships with industry, and a new emphasis on the university role in innovation.In addition, examples of the impact of the ERC on increasing diversity of faculty and students at both lead and partner institutions should be given and discussed.

4.2.Section 2: Intellectual Merit and Research Impact

This section should contain a discussion of the intellectual merit of the work done at the Center with examples of how the Center has impacted the stateoftheart in its field and/or spawned a whole new field(s). There should be examples of unique approaches, scientific breakthroughs, technology innovations, etc.The section should contain a three-plane strategic plan chart with a few key examples of how system requirements and barriers flowed down to generate research and technology projects. It should also showhow the resulting knowledge has flowed up,feeding advances in enabling and engineered systems technology andleading to demonstrated engineered systems. The examples should show how research elements have combined in the enabling technology or systems technology integration planes and were realized through proof-of-concept test beds and new technology. The examples also should show how the cross-disciplinary nature of the Center has enabled key advances and discoveries. This section also should note any advances in fields outside the Center’s primary focus that were enabled by Center research and technology platforms.

Finally, this section should discuss and give examples of the validation of the research results through recognition in the form of patents, licenses, best or most frequently sited papers, awards, etc. The patent and license summary table, shown below, listing the patents and licenses over the lifespan of the Center, must be included.