Proposal Preparation and Submission

About Proposal Preparation and Submission


The Research.gov Proposal Submission System modernizes proposal preparation and submission capabilities by improving the user experience while also reducing administrative burden through an intuitive interface and expanded automated proposal compliance checking. NSF transitioned all preparation and submission functionality from FastLane to Research.gov, and FastLane proposal preparation and submission functions were turned off on September 30, 2023. Please see the FastLane Decommissioning page for additional information. All NSF proposals must be submitted in Research.gov or Grants.gov in accordance with the instructions for a specific funding opportunity.

Proposals submitted via Grants.gov are processed in Research.gov. See the Grants.gov Proposal Processing in Research.gov page and Grants.gov Proposal Processing in Research.gov how-to guide for additional information. When submitting via Grants.gov, NSF strongly recommends proposers initiate proposal submission at least five business days in advance of a deadline to allow adequate time to address NSF compliance errors and resubmissions by 5:00 p.m. submitting organization’s local time on the deadline. Please note that some errors cannot be corrected in Grants.gov. Once a proposal passes pre-checks but fails any post-check, the proposer can only correct and submit the in-progress proposal in Research.gov.

Access the Research.gov Proposal Submission System

Explore the Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site (User prompted to sign in to Research.gov if not already signed in.)

Research.gov Proposal Preparation Benefits

Help NSF Continue to Refine the Research.gov Proposal Submission System

NSF wants your feedback! Vital feedback from the community helps ensure the system is working as intended and to identify areas of improvement.

Ways to provide feedback and stay informed:

Contacts for Questions

  • For program-specific questions, please contact the cognizant NSF Program Officer
  • For NSF technical questions or immediate assistance, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except for federal holidays):
    • Email the NSF IT Service Desk at rgov@nsf.gov
    • Call the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532
  • For SciENcv technical questions or immediate assistance related to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support proposal sections, please contact the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Help Desk 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except for federal holidays):
  • Policy-related questions should be directed to  policy@nsf.gov