Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information Collection

• Citation: 90 FR 14274
• Published date: 31 March 2025
• FR Document: 2025-05503
• Pages: 14274-14276
• Section: Notices
• Issuer: National Science Foundation

Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 60 (Monday, March 31, 2025)

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 60 (Monday, March 31, 2025)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 14274-14276]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2025-05503]
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                NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
                Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information
                Collection
                AGENCY: National Science Foundation.
                ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and as part of its
                continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, the Office
                of Integrative Activities (OIA), National Science Foundation (NSF) is
                inviting the general public or other Federal agencies to comment on
                this proposed information collection.
                DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by May 30,
                2025, to be assured consideration. Comments received after that date
                will be considered to the extent practicable. Send comments to the
                address below.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance
                Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite
                E7400, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; or send
                email to [email protected]. 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).
                 Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) whether the proposed
                collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
                the functions of the Foundation, including whether the information will
                have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Foundation's estimate
                of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to
                enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
                collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
                information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
                automated collection techniques or other forms of information
                technology.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                 Title of Collection: Structured interviews and focus groups to
                support formative evaluation planning for the NSF Growing Research
                Access for Nationally Transformative Economic Development (GRANTED)
                program.
                 OMB Number: 3145-NEW.
                 Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
                 Type of Request: New information collection.
                 Description: A series of structured interviews and focus groups
                with research administrators from Institutions of Higher Education
                (IHE) and professional societies are proposed as two data sources for
                the evidence-based design of a formative evaluation of the NSF Growing
                Research Access for Nationally Transformative Economic Development
                (GRANTED) Program. The overarching goal of this project is to
                [[Page 14275]]
                design an evaluation that reflects an understanding of the context and
                environment in which IHEs operate and a framework that identifies
                strategies and practices that can build research support capacity.
                 Background: In FY 2023, NSF launched a research capacity-building
                initiative, Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative
                Economic Development (GRANTED), to support IHEs across the research
                enterprise. The GRANTED program differs from other NSF capacity-
                building programs by investing in the development of institutional
                research support services and infrastructure. Examples of these
                services and infrastructure include helping to identify funding
                opportunities, developing compliant and competitive proposals, and
                managing financial and effort reporting requirements. By contrast,
                other NSF capacity-building programs invest in the development of
                faculty and students who perform research.
                 The GRANTED program emerged out of a recognition that having a
                great research idea and a capable team are necessary but insufficient
                factors to developing an institution's capacity to win new grants and
                develop a thriving research environment. The GRANTED program, which has
                an open call for proposals with no proscribed annual deadline for
                submission, focuses on eight sectors listed below:
                 Research Administration
                 Research Integrity/Compliance
                 Research Leadership
                 Research Policy
                 Research Development
                 Management of Student Research Training
                 Corporate Relations
                 Technology Commercialization
                 As a first step, the study will conduct a literature review to
                analyze the types of research support and services provided at U.S.
                higher education institutions. Second, the study will provide a road
                map for a formative program evaluation, along with a feasibility memo
                of what data can be used for the evaluation. The guiding research
                questions for this work are:
                 1. What is the current state of the research support and service
                infrastructure in institutions of higher education as it relates to
                human capital, practices, policies, and partnerships?
                 a. What are promising practices to improve such research support
                and service infrastructure?
                 b. What outcomes are associated with different research support
                operating models, different levels of organizational maturity, and/or
                different levels of research infrastructure support?
                 2. What is a feasible formative evaluation, guided by a logic
                model, that best provides tools, insights, assessments, and strategies
                to monitor and improve the GRANTED program?
                 The proposed interviews and focus groups will be conducted to
                analyze: (1) how institutional mission and strategy align with research
                support capacity and institutional investment, (2) the type of
                infrastructure in place to support research development, pre-award and
                post-award administration, compliance, etc., (3) research support and
                service infrastructure impediments to performing more research, and (4)
                where research administrators go to learn more about best practices in
                research administration support and troubleshooting.
                 Methodology: The study proposes to conduct 25 interviews and 10-12
                focus groups with 5-7 participants each with research administrators at
                institutions of higher education. Examples of the types of individuals
                who would be invited to participate include Vice Presidents for
                Research, Assistant Deans for Research, Senior Research Development
                Officers, Directors of Sponsored Programs, other Office of Sponsored
                Programs staff, and individuals in leadership positions at professional
                organizations associated with research development and support.
                 For both the interviews and the focus groups, the study expects to
                select a single sample of 100 higher education institutions. The sample
                will include institutions that have been awarded funding through the
                GRANTED program and institutions that have not received GRANTED
                funding. The stratified random sample will reflect a variety of
                institutions in terms of Carnegie Classification of research activity,
                i.e., amount of research performed, and broad geographic location,
                e.g., four Census regions. Once these institutions are sampled, the
                project team will contact institutional administrators at the selected
                institutions to identify appropriate individuals to participate.
                 Feedback collected under this clearance will provide useful
                information for a future evaluation of the GRANTED program. In addition
                to the interviews and focus groups, other data sources that the study
                is using to inform the evaluation design include a literature review
                and an exploration of existing federal and non-federal data collections
                that might be used to measure GRANTED program impacts.
                 Affected Public: The targeted participants are individuals who
                serve as Vice Presidents for Research, Assistant Deans for Research,
                Senior Research Development Officers, Directors of Sponsored Programs,
                other Office of Sponsored Programs staff, and individuals in leadership
                positions at research administration and development professional
                organizations.
                 Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: For each collection
                method, we anticipate the following lower and upper bounds for the
                numbers of responses and response burdens by collection method:
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Approximate Approximate
                 Estimated Estimated Estimated lower bound upper bound
                 Collection method Category of respondent lower bound upper bound average Frequency of data response response
                 (number of (number of response collection burden burden
                 responses) responses) time (min) (hours) (hours)
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Interviews........................... Individual research 20 25 30 Once.................. 10 12.5
                 administrators.
                Focus groups......................... Individual research 50 75 45 Once.................. 37.5 56.25
                 administrators.
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Respondents: Interviews Lower bound estimate of 20 individuals and
                upper bound estimate of 25 conducted once during the project. For the
                focus groups, lower bound estimate of 50 individuals and upper bound
                estimate of 75 individuals conducted once during the project.
                 Annual Responses: The data will be collected in a single 3- to 6-
                month period. The lower and upper bound response estimates are 70 and
                100, respectively.
                 Frequency of Response: Please refer to the description of
                programmatic categories for frequency of data collection.
                 Average Minutes per Response: 30 minutes for interviews, 45 minutes
                for focus groups.
                 Burden Hours: Lower and upper bound estimates of approximately 47.5
                hours and 68.75 hours, respectively.
                [[Page 14276]]
                 Dated: March 26, 2025.
                Suzanne H. Plimpton,
                Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
                [FR Doc. 2025-05503 Filed 3-28-25; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 7555-01-P