The National Science Foundation (NSF) has made clear its commitment to foster safe research and learning environments. NSF continues this commitment with the publication on September 21st of the final version of a new term and condition entitled "Notification Requirements Regarding Findings of Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Harassment, or Sexual Assault" in the Federal Register. When incorporated into an NSF award, awardee organizations will be required to notify NSF of any findings/determinations of sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, or sexual assault regarding an NSF funded Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI, or of the placement of the PI or co-PI on administrative leave, or the imposition of any administrative action relating to harassment or sexual assault finding or investigation.

TERM AND CONDITION

To view the full term and condition please view Federal Register Notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE

The term and condition will be effective October 22, 2018. After October 22, 2018, new NSF awards and funding amendments to existing awards will be subject to the new notification requirement.

TERM AND CONDITION FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Please view the Notification Requirements Regarding Findings of Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Harassment, or Sexual Assault FAQs (updated as of February 3, 2021) for additional information on the new requirement.

TERM AND CONDITION DATA

The table below details the number of notifications submitted by NSF awardee organizations in each fiscal year (October 1-September 30) in which the term and condition has been in effect. OECR updates this information annually in October.

NOTE: The previously reported total number of Administrative Leave/Action notifications submitted to NSF for FY19 and FY22 have been corrected to account for internal accounting/processing errors.

FEDERAL REGISTER COMMENTS

On March 5th, 2018, NSF posted its proposed draft term and condition into the Federal Register for public comment. The Foundation received almost 200 comments, of which we considered and responded to each one. The comments NSF received were helpful in developing the final term and condition.

SUBMISSION OF REQUIRED NOTIFICATIONS

Authorized Organizational Representatives (AOR)s must use the Term and Condition Required Notification of Harassment form to submit a required notification to NSF. When submitting a report, please note that only the identification of the PI or co-PI is required. Personally identifiable information regarding any complainants or other individuals involved in the matter MUST NOT be included in the notification.

If you have any questions on how to complete the Required Notification of Harassment, please contact harassmentnotifications@nsf.gov.

REPORT HARASSMENT

If you are not an AOR of an NSF awardee organization, but would like to report harassment you were subjected to, have witnessed or became aware of involving an NSF-funded program or activity, please contact the NSF Office of Equity and Civil Rights (OECR) at programcomplaints@nsf.gov. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within 48 hours, please follow up to ensure OECR has received your communication.