New Features

• You can now submit full, research collaborative proposals with subawards in Research.gov
• Sponsored Project Office (SPO)/Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) can now receive email notifications when PIs enable proposal access to SPOs/AORs

While proposers can still prepare and submit collaborative proposals with subawards as well as full, research non-collaborative proposals in FastLane, NSF encourages the research community to use the new Research.gov proposal system because as NSF continues to enhance the new system incrementally, your vital feedback is being incorporated during the development process.

For example, Research.gov has real-time compliance checks and feedback for each section, specific checks on the budget screens and for Collaborators and Other Affiliations (COA) uploads, and embedded relevant sections of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and video job aids, so you don’t have to go to multiple sites to look up guidance.

Initiating a Proposal in Research.gov

If you have not done so already, we invite you to initiate a proposal in Research.gov by following the steps outlined below:

• Open Research.gov and click “Sign In” located at the top right of the screen;
• Enter your NSF ID and password and click “Sign In;”
• From the Research.gov “My Desktop” page, click “New! Prepare Proposals (Limited proposal types)” in the “Prepare & Submit Proposals tile” or go to this option from the top navigation bar by selecting the “Prepare & Submit Proposals” tab and clicking on “New! Prepare Proposals (Limited proposal types);”
• Select the “Prepare Proposal” option in the “Prepare New Proposal” tile on the left side of the Proposal Preparation page; and
• Follow the five-step proposal wizard to set up the proposal.  

Submitting Feedback

NSF wants to hear from you! To submit feedback about the new Research.gov Proposal Preparation and Submission Site:

• Go to the Research.gov Feedback page;
• Choose “Other” under the Site Area dropdown menu;
• Include your feedback in the Comments or Suggestions field; and
• Click Submit when you are ready to send your feedback to NSF.

Training Resources and Additional Information

• Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission webpage – This webpage includes links to FAQs and video job aids (Initiating a Proposal, How to Manage Personnel & Senior Personnel Documents, How to Work on a Proposal Budget, How to Upload a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Document, and How to Submit a Research Proposal in Research.gov). Note: If a video does not automatically play in your browser, please try viewing the video using a different browser.
• Automated Proposal Compliance Checks for Proposals Submitted via Research.gov – This checklist presents all of the current Research.gov automated proposal compliance checks, together with the associated non-compliant errors or warnings.
• Additional information about proposal preparation and submission in Research.gov, including FAQs, is available on the Electronic Research Administration (ERA) Forum website.

We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. If you have IT system-related questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.