Safe and inclusive working environments for off-campus or off-site research
As of January 30, 2023, NSF requires a “Plan for Safe and Inclusive Field/Vessel/Aircraft Research” or PSI-FVAR* for all proposals that propose off-campus or off site research.
- This document certifies that the organization has a plan in place regarding safe and inclusive working environments at the time of proposal submission.
- We recognize that there is overlap between this Plan for Safe and Inclusive Field/Vessel/Aircraft Research and the EH&S Field Operations Safety Manual. Because OSP will need to see a project-specific PSI-FVAR in an eGC1 before submitting a proposal to NSF, PIs should plan on having a separate PSI-FVAR that can be separated from a more comprehensive Field Operations Safety Plan.
- Please feel free to use the below template and modify as appropriate for your own proposals:
- If you are looking to create a Code of Conduct of your own, please see the below examples for your reference.
- Code of Conduct Example #1 – Example provided courtesy of the Bermuda boundary Layer Experiment on the Atmospheric Chemistry of Halogens (BLEACH), PI Becky Alexander, UW Department of Atmospheric Sciences
- Code of Conduct Example #2 – Example provided courtesy of the Marine Conservation and Ecology Group, PI Tim Essington, UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
- Fieldwork Code of Conduct – Anthropology (tamu.edu)
- Field Code of Conduct | The Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences (yale.edu)
- COF_Network_Groups_Code_of_Conduct.pdf (agu.org)
- UW School of Oceanography Code of Conduct (washington.edu)
- Additional resources for creating your own Code of Conduct can also be found at Codes of Conduct (carleton.edu)
- NSF has also provided an FAQ for Safe and Inclusive Working Environments for Off-Campus or Off-Site Research that can be found here.
NSF policy references
Dean's Office Contacts:

Stephanie Harrington
Associate Dean, Administration

Shuyi Chen
Associate Dean, Research
