Notice2026-10684

Proposal Review Panel for Graduate Education; Committee Renewal

Primary source

Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.

Published
May 29, 2026
Effective
June 26, 2026

Issuing agencies

National Science Foundation

Abstract

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is renewing the committee for Proposal Review Panel for Graduate Education.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 103 (Friday, May 29, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 103 (Friday, May 29, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32115-32116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-10684]



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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Proposal Review Panel for Graduate Education; Committee Renewal

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Committee Management Renewal.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is renewing the 
committee for Proposal Review Panel for Graduate Education.

DATES: NSF approves the continuation of this committee on 4/20/2026. 
Effective date for renewal is June 26, 2026. For more information, 
please contact Crystal Robinson, NSF, at (703) 292-8687.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Crystal Robinson, Committee Management 
Officer, NSF, at (703) 292-8687, or by mail to National Science 
Foundation, Randolph Building, 401 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NSF management officials having 
responsibility for the advisory committee listed below have determined 
that renewing this committee for another two years is necessary and in 
the public interest in connection with the performance of duties 
imposed upon the Director, National Science Foundation (NSF), by 42 
U.S.C. 1861 et seq. This determination follows consultation with the 
Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration.

Committee

Proposal Review Panel for Graduate Education, #57

    Pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 102-3.60(a), to establish, renew, 
reestablish, or merge a discretionary (agency discretion) advisory 
committee, an agency must first consult with the General Services 
Administration's Committee Management Secretariat (the Secretariat) 
and, as part of the consultation, provide a written public interest 
determination approved by the head of the agency to the Secretariat 
with a copy to the Office of Management and Budget. In addition, 
pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 102-3.35, an agency shall follow the same 
consultation process and document in writing the same determination of 
need before creating a subcommittee under a discretionary committee 
that is not made up entirely of members of a parent advisory committee. 
Information on the following factors for the committee is provided to 
the Secretariat to demonstrate that renewing the committee is in the 
public interest:
    1. Annual budget: $633,000.
    a. Federal personnel on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis: 5.0 
FTE.
    b. Other Federal internal costs: $4,000.
    c. Proposed payments to members: $619,000.
    d. Proposed number of members: 4,000.
    e. Reimbursable costs: $10,000.
    2. If applicable, the total dollar value of grants expected to be 
recommended during the fiscal year: $103,357,582.
    3. Criteria for selecting members to ensure the committee has the 
necessary.
    Committee members are selected based on their scientific and 
technical expertise, professional experience, and ability to provide 
informed, objective advice on proposals within the Integrative Graduate 
Education, Research Training proposals and Graduate Research 
Fellowships Applications. Membership is drawn from a broad range of 
disciplines to ensure representation of the scientific areas 
encompassed by the committee's review portfolio. The committee which 
can consists of up to 4,000 members held over 108 meetings. The subject 
matter and volume of proposals to be reviewed determines the number of 
members participating in any given meeting. Every effort is made to 
ensure balanced membership, including representation across scientific 
disciplines, institutions, and geographic regions. Members are selected 
to provide complementary perspectives and the depth of technical 
expertise necessary to conduct thorough and credible proposal reviews. 
The committee members are anticipated to be comprised of Special 
Government Employees (SGEs) with a small percentage of Regular 
Government Employees (RGEs) when subject matter expertise requires.
    4. List of all other Federal advisory committees of the agency:

84684 Advisory Committee for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
1172 Alan T. Waterman Award Committee
13883 Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee
1173 Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering
1186 Proposal Review Panel for Astronomical Sciences
10751 Proposal Review Panel for Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
10747 Proposal Review Panel for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
10743 Proposal Review Panel for Biological Infrastructure
1189 Proposal Review Panel for Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, 
and Transport Systems
1191 Proposal Review Panel for Chemistry
1194 Proposal Review Panel for Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing 
Innovation
1207 Proposal Review Panel for Computer and Network Systems
1192 Proposal Review Panel for Computing & Communication Foundations
1185 Proposal Review Panel for Cyberinfrastructure
1569 Proposal Review Panel for Earth Sciences
1196 Proposal Review Panel for Electrical, Communications, and Cyber 
Systems
44011 Proposal Review Panel for Emerging Frontiers in Biological 
Sciences
173 Proposal Review Panel for Engineering Education and Centers
10744 Proposal Review Panel for Environmental Biology
1756 Proposal Review Panel for Geosciences
34558 Proposal Review Panel for Emerging Frontiers and 
Multidisciplinary Activities
1200 Proposal Review Panel for Information and Intelligent Systems
84685 Proposal Review Panel for Innovation and Technology Ecosystems
2469 Proposal Review Panel for Integrative Activities
10745 Proposal Review Panel for Integrative Organismal Systems
10749 Proposal Review Panel for International Science and Engineering
1203 Proposal Review Panel for Materials Research
1204 Proposal Review Panel for Mathematical Sciences
10746 Proposal Review Panel for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
10752 Proposal Review Panel for Ocean Sciences
1208 Proposal Review Panel for Physics
1209 Proposal Review Panel for Polar Programs
59 Proposal Review Panel for Research on Learning in Formal and 
Informal Settings
10748 Proposal Review Panel for Social and Economic Sciences
1766 Proposal Review Panel for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
84683 Proposal Review Panel for Translational Impacts
1214 Proposal Review Panel for Undergraduate Education

    5. Justification that the information or advice provided by the 
Federal advisory committee or subcommittee is not

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available from another Federal advisory committee, another Federal 
Government source, or any other more cost-effective and less burdensome 
source.
    Panel review can provide judgments about the comparative merits 
within a group of proposals or within a single complex or 
multidisciplinary proposal. Panel discussion is more appropriate in 
cases such as the selection of graduate research traineeships than is 
ad hoc mail review. This advisory committee conducts meetings to 
provide technical expertise relevant to the proposals being reviewed. 
In order to conduct thorough review of proposals the committee members 
must select members that have a wide range of scientific and technical 
expertise.
    6. If the consultation is a committee renewal, a summary of the 
previous accomplishments of the committee and the reasons it needs to 
continue.
    Committees review, evaluate, and provide written assessments of 
thousands of research and training proposals and applications to 
support program officer recommendations in allocating funds. Committees 
have been instrumental in identifying submissions that will advance 
cutting-edge research, training and workforce development initiatives 
that address national needs, strengthen U.S. STEM leadership, and 
advance fundamental and applied research. Past committees have 
recognized that addressing the grand challenges in science and 
engineering requires interdisciplinary and convergent approaches, as 
well as broad professional training, and have identified submissions 
that will enable NSF to address these challenges, especially in high-
priority areas, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, 
quantum information science, semiconductors and microelectronics and 
advanced manufacturing and materials science. Committees have also 
identified critical gaps in research priorities, and they have 
supported NSF's discovery of STEM talent who will achieve high levels 
of success in their future academic and professional careers. Convening 
interdisciplinary research and education expertise for review is 
critical to efforts to break down disciplinary silos and to ensure the 
appropriate integration of research and education. Finally, one example 
of how these committees have helped identify opportunities to advance 
cutting-edge research, training and workforce development initiatives 
includes that our panel meetings have identified opportunities to 
strengthen STEM graduate education and graduate education research by 
identifying gaps in the NSF portfolio, e.g., the STEM graduate 
education community's growing readiness to pursue more systemic 
interventions and analyses that resulted in expanded opportunities in 
the Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program.
    7. Explanation of why the committee/subcommittee is essential to 
the conduct of agency business.
    The Proposal Review Panel for Graduate Education committee #57 is 
essential to the conduct of agency business as they align with the 
agency's usage of the merit review process and criteria in keeping with 
42 U.S. Code Sec.  1862s, which outlines that ``the Foundation's 
intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria are appropriate for 
evaluating grant proposals'' and directs the Foundation to ``maintain 
the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria, among other 
specific criteria as appropriate, as the basis for evaluating grant 
proposals in the merit review process.'' NSF's mission, as described in 
the 1950 NSF act, is ``to promote the progress of science, advance 
national health, prosperity, and welfare, and secure the national 
defense. This is achieved by investing in research to expand knowledge 
in science, engineering, and education, and by increasing the capacity 
of the U.S. to conduct and benefit from such research. Merit review 
panels under this FACA committee serves as the basis for the gold 
standard merit review to support the most compelling research to 
advance the NSF mission.
    This public interest determination documents that renewing the 
committee is essential to the conduct of agency business and that the 
information to be obtained is not already available through another 
advisory committee or source within the Federal Government.

    Dated: May 26, 2026.
Crystal Robinson,
Committee Management Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2026-10684 Filed 5-28-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on May 29, 2026.

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