Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, a BSF application must be submitted by at least one scientist from each of the two countries. Up to six applicants can be PIs on an application. However, if it is an NSF-BSF application, see below some limitations.

Certainly, yes. Just look for an Israeli partner and follow the instructions and regulations that appear on our website www.bsf.org.il.

Definitely yes. The BSF allows the PIs to divide a grant as they wish.

Yes, as long as you are employed by a U.S. institution or university as a faculty member, and the institution is ready to submit the application on your behalf.

No, not at all. The BSF encourages new partnerships.

At present, the BSF does not weigh one way or another if the two of you cooperated previously. However, if the applicants received a previous BSF grant, we do look carefully at whether or not the previous collaboration produced joint products (papers, books, patents, etc.). If not, and you submit together again, your chances of receiving a BSF grant are reduced.

Yes, but you will not be able to receive financial support from the BSF, and you will need to produce a letter from your employer to the effect that you will be able to have the time and facilities required to carry out your part in the joint research project.

No. Such a scientist may serve as an unpaid consultant/advisor, but no funds can be used to support his or her work, not even for travel.

No. The BSF does not use the term Co-PI, and you are considered a PI even if you do not request funding, unless you are defined by the PIs as an ‘unpaid advisor’.

All institutions in which the grantees are employed are required to sign the standard BSF contract, but only if they seek funding. If you are employed by a U.S. government institution, please contact us and we will try to resolve this issue with your grant office. Check with them whether they will be ready to sign our standard contract. If you have a position as an adjunct professor in a nearby university, you may choose to submit the proposal through that university and thus avoid the problem.

No, our system will not let you submit two proposals at the same time, unless one of the applications is for an NSF-BSF program. If you are in this situation, you should carefully read the program instructions and consult with the BSF office.

In almost all cases this is not possible, unless you have started the last year of your current grant. However, occasionally the BSF has a special program in which it may be possible. Also, it is possible to submit an NSF-BSF joint funding application, even if you have an active regular BSF grant, provided the two projects are different.

Yes, even if they describe the same project. However, if the projects are the same, or significantly overlap, only one will be funded. If both are recommended for funding, only the NSF-BSF project will be funded, in order to eliminate the chance that the U.S. partner will lose the NSF grant.

Generally, BSF applications are allowed to be resubmitted once, with the following exception:

• If you received a letter with code N3E, you are allowed to resubmit the application even if the previous submission was already a resubmission (a third time).
  (The codes appear in the upper right corner of the results letter. If you are missing this letter you are welcome to call our office.)

BSF grants vary in size. In the regular program they do not exceed $250,000 and this support is divided among the PIs and spread over the lifetime of the program (up to four years). This maximum amount is awarded for an experimental program, in which the funds are divided equally between the PIs from the two countries. In all other cases the sizes of the grants are smaller. Please note that even if you and your partner do not plan to share the grant equally, you may request the maximum amount in the application.

The BSF is aware that the grants are small, and in many cases cannot support the entire research project that is described in the proposal. Thus, the grant is mostly given to support the cooperation. Keeping the grants small enables the BSF to award more grants.

Usually not.

With science being increasingly interdisciplinary this is becoming an important issue. The BSF is not able to form a specific panel for each of the numerous combinations of interdisciplinary proposals. In the future, emerging fields such as Biophysics may have their own panels. However, at present, we list on our website the different panels, and ask you to choose in which one you would like to see your proposal be evaluated. Of course, the panels include, as much as possible, interdisciplinary scientists, and the four external reviews that we usually secure will be mostly from scientists doing similar interdisciplinary research.

Definitely not. The NSF-BSF applications are put into the same basket as the ones submitted in the same discipline by U.S. scientists without foreign partners, and they replace proposals that they would have submitted alone to the same program.

NSF funds the U.S. scientist from its regular budget, with a conventional NSF grant that he or she would have received if he or she was alone on the application. The Israeli scientist is funded by the BSF, using funds it receives from the Israeli Council of Higher Education. These funds are separate from the funds the BSF receives from its endowments, which are used solely to serve its regular (classical) grant program.

Yes, even if they describe the same project. However, if the projects are the same, or significantly overlap, only one will be funded. If both are recommended for funding, only the NSF-BSF application will be funded, in order to eliminate the chance that the U.S. partner will lose the grant.

Israeli PIs are allowed to submit two NSF-BSF proposals each year. The year is defined as the BSF and NSF fiscal year, which runs from 1 Oct – 30 Sept of the next year. However, at any given time an Israeli scientist can only be involved in two proposals/grants simultaneously.

Yes. The U.S. scientist alone submits to the NSF, and the Israeli scientist submits alone to the BSF, using the PDF of the NSF proposal, which can be downloaded from the NSF submission site after the proposal is successfully submitted to the NSF. In order for the Israeli to be able to receive the NSF document from the U.S. partner, the deadline of the Israeli submission is always a few days after the NSF deadline for that program. You should follow the special regulations and instructions published by both the NSF (for the American) and the BSF (for both) on their websites.

It is likely that the BSF will not be able to answer your question. Therefore, your best option is to ask your U.S. partner to contact the Program Director at the NSF with the question, or you may contact them yourself.

In our Call for Proposals you will find a link to the NSF webpage of the program, which lists the names of the Program directors you should approach, along with their contact details.

The NSF-BSF program promotes collaboration between individual PIs and is not designed for consortium projects. As such, although there is no strict limit on the number of PIs, as a rule of thumb, the number of applicants should not exceed six. For NSF-BSF applications, US PIs should consult NSF guidelines for the specific program and, when needed, contact the cognizant program officer for additional input. The number of Israeli PIs on any given proposal should not exceed three.

The term “NSF-BSF application” should appear on the NSF application as part of its title.

No. The BSF only screens the NSF-BSF applications using experts in the field, to make sure that the role of the Israeli is substantial enough to be awarded BSF funding if the application is recommended for an award by the NSF.

Yes, BSF is committed to funding all Israelis whose U.S. partners are funded by the NSF.

The BSF team regularly compiles the success rate data in all of the NSF-BSF programs, and these can be seen on the BSF website, in the Grant History section. Overall, the success rates of the U.S.-Israel joint applications have been similar to, or higher than, applications submitted by U.S. scientists alone.

NSF-BSF projects are usually for three years, but occasionally extend to four and even to five years, particularly when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is involved in the program. The BSF will approve for the Israeli scientist a grant for the same number of years as was approved for the U.S. partner.

Very important! Your application will be evaluated as a joint project, and therefore the panel that discusses and grades it must be shown that the Israeli has the resources and expertise to perform his or her part in the project. Hence both the budget and the CV are very important. The same is true for the Program Director who later chooses which applications to recommend for a grant.

Send it by email attachment to bsf@bsf.org.il

The BSF avoids funding Ph.D. students near the end of their thesis work, since we expect that the trip will not contribute much to their research. On the other hand, students in the very early stages of their Ph.D. work may not be clear yet on the direction of their research, and on their needs. An exception to this is in the case of students who continue their Ph.D. studies at the same lab they did their MSc, and the work is the extension of their previous work. In this case, early application makes sense and is treated accordingly. The typical application is in the second or third year of the Ph.D. studies.

If your application was turned down because the panel felt that it was too early, or your personal record was not competitive, but since then you have progressed (and may have published more), you may resubmit. Before embarking on a new application, it is advisable to contact Dr. Rachel Haring by phone or mail (+972-2-5828239; heni@bsf.org.il), and discuss your situation with her.