Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to establish this collection. In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing opportunity for public to comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public comments, NSF will prepare the submission requesting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of this collection for no longer than 3 years.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 201 (Tuesday, October 20, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 20, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66367-66368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21466]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to 
establish this collection. In accordance with the requirements of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing opportunity for 
public to comment on this action. After obtaining and considering 
public comments, NSF will prepare the submission requesting Office of 
Management and Budget

[[Page 66368]]

(OMB) clearance of this collection for no longer than 3 years.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by December 21, 
2026 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, Randolph Building, 401 Dulany 
Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; or send 
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0a797a6663677a7e654a64796c246d657c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2e5d5e4247435e5a416e405d4800494158">[email&#160;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: Evidence and Evaluation Measurement Generic 
Clearance for the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and 
Partnerships (TIP)
    OMB Control No.: 3145-NEW.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
    Type of Request: Request for approval of a new information 
collection.
    Proposed Project: The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), 
Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), is 
establishing the TIP Evidence and Evaluation Measurement Framework as a 
generic clearance to support data collection for evidence building, 
evaluation, and organizational learning. The Framework will encompass 
information collections across three broad areas of TIP investment: 
technology translation, workforce development, and regional innovation 
ecosystems. The generic clearance will provide a common structure for 
data collection across these three areas while allowing individual data 
collections to be tailored to their specific purpose, context, and 
respondent population.
    Established by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, TIP was created 
to strengthen the Nation's innovation ecosystem. To fulfill this 
mission, TIP advances three broad strategic priorities: (1) 
accelerating critical and emerging technologies, (2) building a 
competition-ready workforce, and (3) expanding the geography of 
American innovation, all through partnerships that span academia, 
industry, government, nonprofit organizations, and other sectors. 
Accordingly, TIP's investments are designed around these strategic 
priorities to advance technology translation and commercialization, 
workforce development, regional innovation, and partnerships.
    Across the three areas covered by the Framework, the scope of data 
collected will be generally similar and will include descriptive and 
contextual information; customer, participant, and stakeholder 
experiences and satisfaction; and information on the activities, 
outputs, outcomes, and impacts of TIP investments. For example, within 
the technology translation area, data may include project and 
organizational characteristics, intellectual property development, 
technology validation and testing, commercialization activities, 
partnerships, follow-on investments, adoption barriers and risks, and 
other indicators of technology translation. Information collected 
within the workforce development and regional innovation ecosystem 
areas will similarly reflect the activities, outputs, outcomes, and 
impacts relevant to those areas.
    The Framework will also support the development, testing, and 
evaluation of data collection techniques and methods, as appropriate to 
individual projects conducted under the generic clearance. These 
activities may include, but are not limited to, survey pretesting, 
pilot testing, focus groups, and testing alternative data collection 
approaches. Insights obtained through these activities may be used to 
assess and improve data collection instruments and methods, test 
alternatives, evaluate current approaches, and inform subsequent data 
collection and evaluation activities.
    The data collected under the Framework is intended to address 
evidence needs across TIP's investment portfolio. Existing 
administrative data can provide information about awards and selected 
outputs but may not capture the activities, experiences, conditions, 
and outcomes necessary to understand TIP investments and their results. 
Data collected under the Framework will supplement existing 
administrative information and contribute to TIP's evidence-building, 
evaluation, and organizational activities.
    Following standard OMB requirements, TIP will submit an individual 
request to OMB for each information collection undertaken under this 
generic clearance, and will obtain OMB approval prior to 
implementation. TIP will provide OMB with the proposed scope of the 
collection, how it aligns with TIP's three evidence areas covered by 
the Framework, the associated respondent burden, and a copy of the data 
collection instrument and related materials. This approach will provide 
TIP flexibility to tailor data collection instruments and methods to 
program objectives and respondent characteristics, and to undertake 
development and testing activities described above. Together, these 
flexibilities will strengthen the quality and credibility of the 
evidence generated under the Framework.
    Respondents: The respondents generally have the education and/or 
experience level commensurate to a university associate professor.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 3,000.
    Burden on the Public: Over the three years of the requested generic 
clearance, TIP estimates that approximately 3,000 principal 
investigators (PIs) will respond annually, with an average burden of 
one hour per respondent. This results in an estimated annual reporting 
burden of approximately 3,000 hours or 9,000 hours over the three-year 
clearance period. The estimated burden for individual information 
collections may vary depending on the methods used. For example, focus 
groups may require longer participation times, while surveys generally 
require less time. The total cumulative burden associated with all 
information collections conducted under the generic clearance will not 
exceed the approved burden estimate.

    Dated: October 16, 2026.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2026-21466 Filed 10-19-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P


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