New Research.gov Proposal Preparation Functionality

Beginning in January 2023, all new proposals must be prepared and submitted in Research.gov or Grants.gov. FastLane will no longer be a preparation and submission option. The National Science Foundation strongly urges proposers to prepare and submit all eligible proposals in Research.gov now, to support a smooth transition from FastLane proposal preparation and submission to Research.gov in January 2023.

New Research.gov Proposal Preparation Functionality Available May 2nd

New Postdoctoral Fellowship Proposal Type

·         The Postdoctoral Fellowship proposal type is available in Research.gov for proposals submitted in response to postdoctoral fellowship solicitations that do not contain reference letter requirements. The postdoctoral fellowship solicitations will be updated to include information about proposal preparation and submission in Research.gov.

·         To initiate a postdoctoral fellowship proposal in Research.gov, the proposer must first have the Postdoctoral Scholar/Principal Investigator (PI) role, which is different from the PI role.

·         Refer to the Postdoctoral Fellowship Proposals topic Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page for instructions to add the Postdoctoral Scholar/PI role. Additional guidance is available in the Add a New Role – Postdoctoral Fellowship Principal Investigator section of the Account Management Guide on the Research.gov About Account Management page. 

·         Postdoctoral fellowship program solicitations will only display in Research.gov and be available for selection for proposers preparing a proposal as a Postdoctoral Scholar/PI.

New Research.gov Proposal Features

·         Expanded Where to Apply Options: Proposers now have to the ability to choose additional Directorate/Division/Program options (i.e., secondary units of consideration) to direct proposals to NSF. Refer to the Managing Where to Apply topic FAQs on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page for additional information.

·         Project Data Form: The Project Data Form is now available in Research.gov and must be included in proposals for selected funding opportunities in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)/Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE). See the Project Data Form topic FAQs on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page for details.

·         Separate Uploads of Multiple Supplementary Documents: Proposers can now upload multiple PDF documents in the Other Supplementary Documents proposal section and will no longer need to combine documents into a single PDF prior to uploading.

NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR) Enhancements Effective May 2nd

 PIs and co-PIs can now remove research datasets from NSF-PAR without assistance from the NSF Help Desk by disassociating the NSF award(s) from the dataset. Disassociating all NSF awards from a dataset removes the dataset from the NSF-PAR publicly facing search.

Deposit of dataset information in NSF-PAR remains optional, and there are no changes at this time to NSF’s Public Access policy or project reporting requirements.

Training resources are available on the Research.gov About Public Access page. Information about the NSF Public Access Initiative including FAQs is available on the NSF Public Access Initiative page. Feedback about the PAR 2.0 pilot may be submitted to publicaccess@nsf.gov.

For information about Research.gov proposal functionality planned for release in the coming months, please see the Proposal Submission Capabilities on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page. All enabled proposal and submission types are also available to try out on the Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site (you will be prompted to sign in to Research.gov if you are not already signed in). Demo site FAQs can be found on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page left navigation menu.

Questions? If you have IT system-related questions regarding the new functionality and enhancements, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or via email to rgov@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs.