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NSF Safe/Inclusive Environment Requirements
Plan for Safe and Inclusive Working Environment for Off-Campus or Off-Site Research Under an NSF Award
The National Science Foundation’s policy is to foster safe and harassment-free environments wherever science is conducted. To that end, for each proposal that includes off-campus or off-site research, NSF has instituted a requirement for preparation of a plan that describes:
- How prohibited behavior will be addressed
- Steps organization will take to nurture an inclusive off-campus or off-site working environment
- Processes to establish shared team definitions of roles, responsibilities, and culture
- Field support
- Communications within the team and to the organization
- Any special circumstances, e.g., involvement of multiple organizations or presence of third parties
NSF defines off-campus or off-site research as “data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site, such as fieldwork and research activities on vessels and aircraft.”
The PI must prepare a plan for their project, prior to proposal submission, and attach the plan to the IRES record. Download a plan template.
The plan will be uploaded to the Internal Documents tab in IRES by the Department Business Administrator following the below PreAward Naming Conventions.
Naming Convention: S&I Work Environment Plan
Category: Compliance
Folder: General
The plan will not be submitted to NSF, although they may review it upon request.
The PI must disseminate the plan to individuals participating in the off-campus or off-site research prior to departure.
If Yale will be a subaward to another institution submitting to NSF, this policy still applies. If the Yale project will include off-campus or off-site research, the plan is required to be uploaded to the IRES record.
Additional Information: