Notice2025-12375
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; National Science Foundation Breakthrough Innovations Initiative Application
Primary source
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Published
July 2, 2025
Issuing agencies
National Science Foundation
Abstract
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to renew this collection. In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing this opportunity for public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of this collection for no longer than 3 years.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 125 (Wednesday, July 2, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 2, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29050-29051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12375]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request;
National Science Foundation Breakthrough Innovations Initiative
Application
AGENCY: National Science Foundation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to
renew this collection. In accordance with the requirements of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing this opportunity for
public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public
comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of this collection for no longer
than 3 years.
[[Page 29051]]
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by September 2,
2025 to be assured consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable. Send comments to address
below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite
E6300, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; or send
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1764677b7e7a6763785779647139707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e291928e8b8f92968da28c9184cc858d94">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year (including Federal holidays).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: National Science Foundation Breakthrough
Innovations Initiative Application.
OMB Control No.: 3145-NEW.
Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
Abstract: The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate
for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) is launching an
effort to enable researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs to apply
unconventional approaches to create game-changing technologies and
translate discoveries into tangible applications and products.
This effort will utilize a process based on the German Federal
Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIND) Challenge prize model with
the intention of accelerating timelines for selecting and conducting
translational research, including through a significantly streamlined
application form, submission portal, and selection process. The
administrative burden on the applicants and selected teams will be
reduced, and data will be collected to assess whether this has a
positive impact on the speed of innovation, including the time to
market. Through this effort, NSF investment will help teams advance
high-risk, high-reward ideas on NSF-defined topics and facilitate
mentoring and technical assistance to enable teams to meet NSF-defined
milestones and objectives and maximize their translational potential.
As Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Kratsios
said in his policy speeches on April 14 and May 19, 2025: ``It is the
duty of government to enable scientists to create new theories and
empower engineers to put them into practice. Prizes, advanced market
commitments, and other novel funding mechanisms, like fast and flexible
grants, can multiply the impact of government-funded research.'' Thus,
in this current effort, we are piloting a novel, fast, and flexible
funding mechanism through a short application and streamlined selection
process.
NSF TIP is establishing this new data collection for the
application form that will allow managing program officers to collect
the necessary information from applicants for the purpose of making a
funding decision. This information includes, but is not exclusive to,
name, job title, professional affiliation, email address and phone
number of the applicant(s), along with a description (no more than
2,000 words) of the proposed idea/solution pertaining to the
scientific/technical track or theme of the corresponding challenge.
Specifically, the information requested would include: (1) how
applicants aim to technically reach the track's goals and milestones,
(2) how their solution could be integrated into downstream processes,
and (3) what preliminary work has been completed, and the technical
maturity of the proposed technology. In addition, the application form
would also request descriptions of a work plan (of no more than 1000
words) detailing the schedule, cost, personnel, infrastructure, and a
narrative (of no more than 500 words) outlining the knowledge and
expertise of each member of the project team. Finally, the application
would contain a certification section pertaining to foreign influence
disclosures, such as whether the applicant is affiliated with any
malign foreign talent recruitment program, and whether any of the team
members receives funding from any foreign country of concern.
Data collected will be used strictly for funding decisions, due-
diligence, auditing, and/or legal purposes, and are needed for
effective award management, oversight, and administration. The data
collection burden for the application form is estimated to be 15 to 25
hours of the respondents' time in each instance.
Respondents: Principal Investigators (PIs) of the Breakthrough
Innovations Initiative.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 100.
Burden on the Public: The overall annualized cost to the
respondents is estimated to be $79,500-$132,500. The following table
shows the annualized estimate of costs to PIs who are generally
university faculty. This estimated hourly rate is based on a report
from the American Association of University Professors, ``The Annual
Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2022-23,'' Academe,
June 2023, Survey Report Table 1. According to this report, the average
salary of an associate professor across all types of doctoral-granting
institutions was $110,945. When divided by the number of standard
annual work hours (2,080), this calculates to approximately $53 per
hour.
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Number of Burden hours per Average
Respondent type respondents respondent hourly rate Estimated annual cost
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PIs................................. 100 15-25 $53 $79,500-$132,500
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Total........................... .............. ................. .............. $79,500-$132,500
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Dated: June 30, 2025.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2025-12375 Filed 7-1-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P
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