Reporting Guidelines
Reporting Information:
If you have a multi-year award from NASA, you are required to submit an annual progress report for your program officer’s review and approval. If you are due for a new increment of funding, this must occur before the program officer can release these funds. If you are requesting a no-cost extension, you will also need to submit an annual progress report before it can be approved. Progress reports are due 60 days prior to your award’s anniversary date and should be submitted electronically as PDF files. If you have a grant, interagency award, or contract, please refer to your award paperwork to find the anniversary date. If you have a NASA RTOP award, and your NSPIRES selection paperwork did not include an anniversary date, you should use October 1, unless otherwise directed by your program officer. In addition, you are required to submit a final report within 90 days of the end of your award.
In the past, the content of progress and final reports has been variable. This document is intended to clarify what is required in the reports and provide templates outlining best practices for reporting. Reporting requirements are in accordance with the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreements Manual (GCAM).
Progress reports:
The NASA requirements for progress reports:
Because progress reports are “informal in nature,” awardees have discretion in the structure of the report and “summary of accomplishments.” However, your program officer must receive sufficient information to review and approve the report, and therefore, you are encouraged to consider using the template, which includes all necessary information needed by the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC). The template includes sections that will help keep your program officer and NASA Headquarters informed about your progress and facilitate promotion of science results from NASA-funded research programs. Not including the necessary information in your report could slow down either funds dispersal or No Cost Extension approval.
All project must write a progress report each year and provide to the necessary groups. If you have a grant administered by NSSC (award number starting with “80NSSC”), the PI must send their report to the NSSC. These progress reports shall be emailed to NSSC-Grant-Report@mail.nasa.gov. All projects must send a copy of the progress report to the shared email address for their program (HQ-DALI@mail.nasa.gov, HQ-PICASSO@mail.nasa.gov or HQ-MatISSE@mail.nasa.gov). In addition, all projects must also upload a copy of the progress report to the Planetary Science Electronic Reporting System (ERS). The progress report should include an updated Quad Chart and Specification Sheet.
Instrument / Specification Sheet Template (#4 on page)
Final reports:
Final reports (sometimes referred to as “Final Summary of Research,” “Final Scientific and Technical Report,” or “Final Technical Report”) are due within 90 days of the end of the award. The final report acts in lieu of the progress report after the last year of an award, including any no-cost extensions (i.e., a standard three-year award without any no-cost extensions would submit progress reports near the end of years 1 and 2, and a final report at the end of year 3). A final report should provide “a comprehensive summary of significant accomplishments during the duration of the grant.” If you have a grant administered by NSSC, you will receive emails until the report is completed. Information about the requirements for final reports can be found on the NSSC website; final reports for grant administered by NSSC should be sent to NSSC-closeout@mail.nasa.gov. All projects must send a copy of the progress report to the shared email address for their program (HQ-DALI@mail.nasa.gov, HQ-PICASSO@mail.nasa.gov or HQ-MatISSE@mail.nasa.gov). In addition, all projects must also upload a copy of the progress report to the Planetary Science Electronic Reporting System (ERS).
Note on subawards and parallel awards:
The PI of the original proposal is responsible for reporting the progress of all tasks and activities outlined in the funded proposal. This includes activities funded under subawards/subcontracts issued by the PI’s own institution, as well as activities at other institutions that are funded directly by NASA in support of the project (parallel funding). Examples include: a university grant with a subaward to a second university; an RTOP award to a NASA center under which the center manages a cooperative agreement with a university; a grant to a university with parallel funding of an activity at a NASA center; an award to a federal agency under an Interagency Transfer agreement, with a parallel grant funding an activity at a university. The original proposal PI’s progress or final report will not be accepted unless either (a) the report covers any and all subawards and parallel funding arrangements; or (b) a separate, satisfactory progress report has been received from all parallel-funded investigators under the original proposal.
PESTO Report Template link.