NSF FastLane & Research.gov Changes

Proposal Preparation and Submission Changes

Effective April 30th, NSF is launching the new Research.gov website for submission of full, research non-collaborative proposals (these proposals would include UofA Fayetteville personnel ONLY).

NSF is using a phased approach to rollout this new functionality for all submission types and eventually Research.gov will replace the current FastLane site.

Key Changes to the NSF Proposal Preparation Process:
(For full, research non-collaborative proposals which would include UofA Fayetteville personnel ONLY)

  • Read the instructions in each section carefully as they provide clear direction.
  • Accepted file types include: Adobe PDF ONLY
  • Times New Roman and Symbol are the only accepted font types with a font size of 11 or larger. Other fonts may be supported in the future.
  • All Senior Personnel Documents are now included in the same section:
    • Biographical Sketch
    • Current and Pending
    • Collaborators – You must download the template, follow the instructions and re-upload with your information.

NSF’s goals for the new Research.gov proposal preparation and submission site are to:

  • Improve the user experience and modernize the applications
  • Increase efficiencies in proposal preparation, submission, and management
  • Improve availability, security, and flexibility of proposal preparation and submission systems

Research.gov will allow a registered user with a FastLane or Research.gov account to:

  • Initiate full, research non-collaborative proposals (other proposal types are planned for future releases)
  • Add Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, Senior Personnel, and Other Authorized Users
  • Create budgets
  • Check compliance as you upload the required attachments

Account Management Changes

Effective immediately, NSF has changed their registration process. Research & Sponsored Programs can no longer create your NSF FastLane/Research.gov account. If you are a new user, you will need to go to the Research.gov website to self-register and request a role.

Existing NSF account holders signing in to FastLane or Research.gov are required to verify information to migrate their account to the new system.

The new account management functionality:

  • Allows users to create and self-manage accounts, including personal information and role requests
  • Eliminates the need for organizational Administrators to create and maintain accounts for their users
  • Replaces the existing FastLane and Research.gov account management functions

Helpful Links

Existing Users

  • As an existing account holder, go to the Research.gov Sign In webpage and sign in to verify your information and migrate your account.
  • Go to the NSF ID Lookup page to locate your NSF ID.
  • Forgotten passwords for established NSF accounts may be retrieved here.

New Users

Help Documents

Related Information