National Science Foundation
Fall 2022 NSF Virtual Grants Conference
November 17, 2022
Proposal Submission Modernization Update
National Science Foundation
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Agenda
• January Transition from FastLane to Research.gov for New Proposal Preparation and Submission
Important FastLane Proposal Preparation and Submission Decommissioning Deadlines
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Features and Reminders
• Research.gov Proposals: Current Capabilities and Remaining Functionality to be Added
• Recent Enhancements
• Research.gov Proposal Demo
• Providing Feedback and Why It’s Important
• Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site and Training Resources
• Other FastLane Functionality Decommissioning
• Information Resources for the Research Community & Contacts for Questions
National Science Foundation
January Transition from FastLane to
Research.gov for New Proposal
Preparation and Submission
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National Science Foundation
• Effective with implementation of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 23-1) on January 30,
2023, FastLane will be removed as a submission option from all solicitations and program descriptions (PDs)
• Currently, more than 90% of all funding opportunities require proposal submission in Research.gov or Grants.gov
Removing FastLane as Submission Option from Remaining Funding
Opportunities by January 30, 2023
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REVISION NOTE
ABOUT RESEARCH.GOV PROPOSAL PREPARATION:
Innovating and migrating proposal preparation and
submission capabilities from FastLane to
Research.gov is part of the ongoing NSF information
technology modernization efforts, as described in
Important Notice No. 147
. In support of these
efforts, proposals submitted in response to this
program solicitation must be prepared and
submitted via Research.gov or via Grants.gov and
may not be prepared or submitted via FastLane.
Alert: Many NSF programs are only
accepting proposals in Research.gov
or Grants.gov. FastLane may no
longer be a submission option. For
more information, please
visit
Program Descriptions that
Require Proposal Preparation and
Submission in Research.gov or
Grants.gov
.
Solicitation Example
Program Description Example
National Science Foundation
Important FastLane Proposal Preparation and Submission
Decommissioning Deadlines
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Action Deadline
SUBMIT NEW
Last day to submit new proposals in FastLane
*Note that FastLane remains a submission option for
only 8% of current funding opportunities as of 10/27/22
Friday, January 27, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s local
time)
EDIT EXISTING
Last day to submit proposal file updates/
budget revisions in FastLane
Friday, September 29, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s
local time)
VIEW EXISTING
Last day to access FastLane submitted
proposals and print FastLane in-progress
proposal PDFs
Friday, September 29, 2023 (11:00 PM Eastern Time)
As of 10/28/2022
Note: A comprehensive FastLane System Decommissioning webpage is being developed which will include all FastLane proposal deadlines.
National Science Foundation
Important FastLane Supplemental Funding Request Preparation and
Submission Decommissioning Deadlines
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Action Deadline
SUBMIT NEW
Last day to submit new supplemental funding
requests in FastLane
Friday, January 27, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s local
time)
VIEW EXISTING
Last day to access FastLane submitted
supplemental funding requests and print
FastLane in-progress supplemental funding
request PDFs
Friday, September 29, 2023 (11:00 PM Eastern Time)
As of 10/28/2022
Note: A comprehensive FastLane System Decommissioning webpage is being developed which will include all FastLane proposal deadlines.
National Science Foundation
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Features
• Intuitive and dynamic interfaces that provide only relevant proposal preparation options
• Inline help features
Information tool tips indicated by the blue information icon:
Links to the PAPPG
Links to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Links to video tutorials
• Fast document uploads and immediate feedback within each proposal section and for each document upload
• Expanded automated compliance checking utilizing warning messages (allowing proposal submission) and error
messages (stopping proposal submission)
Currently ~550 compliance checks in Research.gov across multiple proposal submission types (full proposals,
renewals, preliminary proposals, and letters of intent) and supplemental funding requests versus 56 compliance
checks in FastLane for full proposals only
Specific, actionable warning and error messages
• PDF uploads are not altered
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Features to help reduce proposal preparation administrative burden and to minimize return without review proposals due to
some formatting issues:
National Science Foundation
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Reminders
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• Proposal information cannot be transferred from FastLane to Research.gov
• Letters of intent and preliminary proposals must be prepared in the same system as the
full proposal (i.e., all in Research.gov or all in FastLane)
• All proposals in a separately submitted collaborative from multiple organizations must be
prepared in the same system (i.e., all in Research.gov or all in FastLane)
• Proposal file updates (PFUs) and budget revisions must be executed in the same system as
the proposal was submitted (i.e., all in Research.gov or all in FastLane)
Last day to submit proposal file updates/budget revisions in FastLane is September 29,
2023
• Proposals submitted in Research.gov evaluated by NSF in the same way as proposals
submitted in FastLane and Grants.gov, and this migration does not affect the merit review
process in any way
National Science Foundation
Research.gov Proposals: Current Capabilities and Remaining
Functionality to be Added
Current Capabilities
Future
Capabilities
Proposal Types
Research: Single Submissions from One Organization (April 2018); Single
Submission Collaborative Proposals with Subawards (June 2019);
Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposals from Multiple Organizations
(March 2020)
Rapid Response Research (RAPID) (November 2020)
EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) (November 2020)
Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE)
(November 2020)
Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED)
(March 2021)
Equipment (March 2021)
Travel (March 2021)
Conference (August 2021)
Ideas Lab (August 2021)
Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) (October
2021)
Planning (October 2021)
Center (November 2021)
Research Infrastructure (November 2021)
Postdoctoral Fellowship (proposals for fellowship solicitations that do not
contain reference letter requirements) (April 2022)
SBIR and STTR Phases I/II (October 2022)
Submission Types
Full Proposal (April 2018)
Preliminary Proposal: Ideas Lab (August 2021); Non-Ideas Lab (November 2021)
Renewal Proposal (August 2021)
Accomplishment-Based Renewal Proposal (August 2021)
Full Proposal related to a Preliminary Proposal (November 2021)
Solicitation-specific Requirements
Project Data Form (April 2022)
Secondary Units of Consideration (April 2022)
Recent Proposal Features
Withdrawal (Single and Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposal Submissions)
(March 2021)
Project Descriptions Exceeding 15 Pages (November 2021)
Separate Uploads of Multiple Supplementary Documents (April 2022)
Post-award Actions
Supplemental Funding Requests, including Career Life Balance requests (October 2022)
Training
Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission Page and FAQs (April 2018)
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site (October 2020)
Research.gov About Supplemental Funding Requests Page and FAQs (October 2022)
Research.gov Supplemental Funding Requests Demo Site (October 2022)
Topic-specific How-to Guides (Ongoing)
Webinars and Demos (Ongoing)
Grants.gov Integration
(Grants.gov applications
only; November 2022
release)
• Grants.gov applications
will be processed in
Research.gov instead of
FastLane
• Corrections or additions
to Grants.gov
applications submitted
to NSF on or after
November 21 will also
be made in
Research.gov
Postdoctoral Fellowship
(tentative May 2023
release)
• Proposals for fellowship
solicitations that
contain reference letter
requirements
As of 10/28/2022
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National Science Foundation
Recent Research.gov Enhancements
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National Science Foundation
Research.gov Enhancement: Supplemental Funding Requests
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• As of October 24th, Research.gov
supports preparation and submission
of supplemental funding requests,
including Career-Life Balance
requests per PAPPG Chapter II.E.8.
• Requests can be submitted in
Research.gov regardless of the
system used (Research.gov, FastLane,
or Grants.gov) for proposal
submission
• FastLane supplemental funding
request functionality will remain
available in parallel for the
preparation and submission of new
requests until January 27, 2023
National Science Foundation
Research.gov Enhancement: Supplemental Funding Requests
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• Access Research.gov supplemental
funding request functionality and
demo site from new links within
the Awards & Reporting tile on the
Research.gov My Desktop page
• Demo site can be used to explore
preparing supplemental funding
requests and to check compliance
of uploaded documents
National Science Foundation
• All demo site users must have an NSF ID
for demo site access and authentication
and will automatically be given a PI role
for use in the demo site
• User’s actual awards as well as “dummy”
awards generated by the demo site will
display for selection to try out preparing a
supplemental funding request
• If user does not have any actual awards,
they can select from “dummy” awards
generated by the demo site
• Supplemental funding request submission
capability is disabled
Research.gov Demo Site: Supplemental Funding Requests Homepage
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Research.gov Enhancement: New Supplemental Funding Requests
Demo Site
https://web.demo.research.gov/proposalprep/#/sfr
(You will be prompted to sign in to Research.gov if you are not already signed in)
National Science Foundation
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Research.gov Enhancement: New About Supplemental Funding
Request Preparation and Submission Page
https://www.research.gov/research-web/content/aboutsfr
FAQs by Topic
• General
• Uploading Documents
• Supplemental Funding Request Sections
• Supplemental Funding Request Submission
• Supplemental Funding Request Withdrawal
• Supplemental Funding Request Statuses
• Demo site FAQs
General
Access and User Roles
Demo Site Features
National Science Foundation
Research.gov Enhancement: SBIR and STTR Proposal Types
New proposal types:
• Small Business Innovation
Research Program (SBIR)
• Small Business Technology
Transfer Program (STTR)
Selection in Proposal Setup Wizard:
• Proposers will be able to select
these proposal types to prepare
and submit SBIR and STTR Phase
I/II proposals for the fiscal year
2023 competitions
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Research.gov Proposal Screenshot: Full Proposal Type Options
All proposal types
now enabled in
Research.gov
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Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo
• Proposal Setup Wizard
• Proposal Main Page
• Document Upload and Compliance
Error/Warning Messages
• Budget
• Highlights of Recent Enhancements
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Providing Feedback and Why It’s
Important
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National Science Foundation
Providing Feedback and Why It’s
Important
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Why?
• Help NSF continue to build and refine Research.gov
• Help ensure the system is working as intended and
identify areas of improvement
How?
• Feedback may be submitted on the Research.gov
Feedback page
using these drop-down menu
options:
Proposal Preparation & Submission
Proposal Preparation Demo Site
Supplemental Funding Request Preparation &
Submission
Supplemental Funding Request Demo Site
National Science Foundation
Research.gov Proposal Preparation
Demo Site and Training Resources
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National Science Foundation
• Demo site can be used to explore
preparing proposals and to check
compliance of uploaded proposal
documents (e.g., Collaborators and Other
Affiliations and Biographical Sketch)
• All demo site users are automatically given
the PI role for demo site purposes, in order
to perform the proposal preparation
functions that a PI can do in the actual
system. Proposal submission capability is
disabled
• See the demo site FAQs on the
Research.gov About Proposal Preparation
and Submission page for information on
demo site access and features
Research.gov Demo Site: Proposal Preparation Homepage
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site
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https://web.demo.research.gov/proposalprep/#/proposal-prep
(You will be prompted to sign in to Research.gov if you are not already signed in)
National Science Foundation
Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission Page
Training Resources
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• Recently Added FAQs
Managing Where to Apply and Secondary Units of Consideration
FAQs (see the General FAQ topic)
Postdoctoral Fellowship Proposals FAQs (see the General FAQ topic)
Project Data Form FAQs (see the Proposal Sections FAQ topic)
• How-to Guides
Initiating a New Proposal
Adding or Removing an OAU
Sharing Proposal and Proposal File Update/Budget Revision Access
with SPO/AOR
Entering Proposal Budgets
Adding or Removing Subaward Organizations
Adding or Removing Collaborators and Other Affiliations
Deleting an In Progress Letter of Intent, Proposal, or Proposal File
Update/Budget Revision
Submitting Letters of Intent and Proposals
Submitting Proposal File Updates/Budget Revisions
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https://www.research.gov/research-web/content/aboutpsm
National Science Foundation
Other FastLane Functionality Decommissioning – Award Documents
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• As of November 21st, FastLane Award Documents
functionality as well all award documents will
transition to Research.gov
• Access Award Documents via new link within the
Awards & Reporting tile on the Research.gov My
Desktop page
National Science Foundation
Other FastLane Functionality Decommissioning – Organizational
Reports
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• Active Awards Report information currently available via NSF.gov Award Search
• FastLane Continuing Grant Increments Reports will transition to Research.gov as of November 21st and will be accessible by users with
an AOR or SPO role from new link within the Awards & Reporting tile on the Research.gov My Desktop page
• Organization Permission Report information currently available in Research.gov Account Management My Profile
National Science Foundation
Information Resources
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• Join our NSF System Updates listserv to receive the latest Research.gov system
enhancement information and FastLane news! Sign up by sending a blank email
to:
• Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals page
• Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page
• Research.gov About Account Management page
• Resources for LaTeX Users: https://github.com/nsf-open/nsf-proposal-latex-
samples
• NSF Electronic Research Administration (ERA) Forum page
• NSF ERA Forum listserv to receive updates on ERA Forum activities. Sign up by
sending a blank email to:
NSF_ERA_FORUM-subscribe-request@listserv.nsf.gov
National Science Foundation
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Contacts for Questions
• For program-specific questions, please contact
the cognizant NSF Program Officer
• For IT system-related questions or technical
questions, 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
• Policy-related questions should be directed to
policy@nsf.gov
National Science Foundation
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Thank you for your participation today!
National Science Foundation
Appendix
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National Science Foundation
• Automated proposal compliance checks triggering an error message will stop proposal
submission to NSF, whereas checks triggering a warning message will still allow proposal
submission
• Proposers receiving a compliance error or warning message should check the Automated
Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals page and the solicitation for specific proposal
requirements
• Proposers should also review the topic-specific FAQs on the Research.gov About Proposal
Preparation and Submission page
Uploading Documents topic includes document formatting FAQs
Proposal Sections topic includes Cover Sheet and budget FAQs
Research.gov Proposal Compliance Error and Warning Messages
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National Science Foundation
• Demo site FAQs are available on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page via
the left navigation menu. How-to guides with step-by-step instructions and screenshots are also available
• The demo site is available both to the research community and to NSF staff
• An orange "Proposal Preparation Demo Site" banner is at the top of each demo site page to indicate the
user is on the demo site
• The demo site allows users to prepare and edit proposals before preparing them in the actual
Research.gov site
• Demo site proposals are not visible or available in the actual Research.gov Proposal Submission System,
and data cannot be transferred between the demo site and the actual proposal system
• All proposal and submission types available in the actual system are also available in the demo site. As
proposal and submission types are added to the Research.gov Proposal Submission System, they will also
be added to the demo site
• All compliance checks enabled in the actual Research.gov Proposal Submission System are also in the
demo site. Proposers can use the demo site as a resource to check document compliance before uploading
them in the actual system
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site Tips
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National Science Foundation
• Proposals created in the demo site will be available for six months and then will be deleted by NSF.
Neither NSF nor users will be able to access deleted demo proposal data
• Demo site does not support proposal submission and will not trigger any system-generated email
notifications (e.g., link requests for separately submitted collaborative proposals)
• The organization that you are affiliated with in your NSF account profile will be incorporated when you
are in the proposal preparation demo site, but the user role(s) that you have will not be available in the
demo site
All users who access the demo site will be given the role of PI and the mock organization “National
Science Foundation”
This means that users from the research community will have the organization(s) they are affiliated
with in their NSF account profile plus the “National Science Foundation” mock organization as
available organizations in the demo site
• The only time other users will be able to view and/or edit any proposals that you create in the demo site
is if you add them to the proposal as a co-PI or OAU. If you don’t add any users to the proposal, no one
will else will be able to access, view, or edit your demo proposal
Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site Tips (cont’d)
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