New NSF Research.gov Submission Proposal Types

Effective March 22, 2021, the National Science Foundation (NSF) enabled three new proposal types in the Research.gov Proposal Submission System and in the recently launched Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site. These are the Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED), Equipment, and Travel proposal types. New automated compliance checks and associated error and warning messages for these proposal types were also implemented. In addition, proposal withdrawal functionality was added for both single submission (with or without subawards) and separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations. New training resources have also been added to the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page.

FASED, Equipment, and Travel Proposals

  • Proposers can now select a FASED, Equipment, or Travel proposal type in the Research.gov Proposal Submission System proposal setup wizard, in addition to the existing Research.gov proposal type options: 
    • Research
    • Rapid Response Research (RAPID)
    • EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER)
    • Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE)     
  • All supported proposal types are available in the Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site.
  • New automated compliance checks for FASED, Equipment, and Travel proposal types have been added to Research.gov and are listed on the Research.gov Automated Proposal Compliance Checks for Proposals dated March 22, 2021 on the Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals page. 
    • A reminder: Error messages prohibit proposal submission to NSF, whereas warning messages still permit proposal submission.  
  • Refer to the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1) for FASED, Equipment, and Travel proposal requirements.

Proposal Withdrawal Functionality 

  • Proposing organizations can now withdraw both single submission (with or without subawards) and separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations in Research.gov.                          
  • Organizations no longer need to contact the NSF Help Desk to initiate Research.gov proposal withdrawal actions. 
  • A new Proposal Withdrawal section has been added to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page left navigation menu. 
  • Refer to PAPPG Chapter IV.A. for proposal withdrawal requirements.

Training Resources

  • New and updated system-related FAQs by topic are available on the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page left navigation menu. 
  • A new 16-minute Research.gov proposal demo video has been added to the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page Video Tutorials section. 
    • The video highlights key proposal preparation steps including:
      • Setting up a proposal
      • Uploading a document and compliance messaging
      • Preparing Proposal File Update/Budget Revisions 
  • A new How-to Guides section has been added to the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page left navigation menu. The initial topic-specific guide is posted, and new guides will be added to this section going forward.

What's Ahead?

Research.gov is being developed incrementally, and features are expanding to support the transition of all proposal preparation and submission functionality from FastLane to Research.gov in accordance with NSF Important Notice 147: Research.gov Implementation Update issued September 22, 2020. Please refer to the Research.gov Proposal Submission Capabilities to see what is in development.

Questions? 

If you have IT system-related 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 rgov@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov