NSF Updates: Fastlane Transition to Research.gov, Supplemental & SBIR/STTR Funding Requests

Final Fastlane Deadlines

In anticipation of Fastlane’s retirement in 2023, National Science Foundation (NSF) continues to transition proposal and award activities from Fastlane to Research.gov.

NSF has provided the following deadlines for Fastlane activities:

ActionDeadline
Last day to submit new proposals in Fastlane   Note that most current FOAs do not allow Fastlane submission and direct users to submit in Research.govFriday, January 27, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s local time)
Last day to submit new supplemental funding requests in FastlaneFriday, January 27, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s local time)
Last day to submit proposal file updates/budget revisions in FastlaneFriday, September 29, 2023 (5:00 PM submitter’s local time)

Supplemental Funding Requests

Research.gov now allows for submission of supplemental funding requests (including Career-Life Balance requests). Supplemental funding requests may also be submitted through Fastlane up until the January 27, 2023, deadline.

Some additional information regarding supplemental funding requests is as follows:

  • In ERA, requests for new supplemental funding should be processed in ERA as Revision sites, according to the instructions in Additional Funds for a Sponsored Project.
  • Refer to PAPPG Chapter VI.E.5 for NSF’s supplemental funding request policy guidance.
  • NSF has posted a new About Supplemental Funding Request Preparation and Submission page, which hosts topic-specific Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and demo site guidance.
  • If you would like to preview the steps for creating a supplemental funding request in Research.gov, NSF has released a new demo site to explore the process and to check the compliance of uploaded documents.
    • This demo site can be accessed on the My Desktop page after signing in to Research.gov (see corresponding link under the “Awards & Reporting” header).
    • If you have any feedback for NSF regarding their supplemental funding request process, please feel free to submit it to them here.

SBIR and STTR Funding Requests

Research.gov will allow for submission of SBIR and STTR Phase I and Phase II proposals for the upcoming FY 2023 competition.

The Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site will be able to preview the application steps for SBIR and STTR proposal types once the FY 2023 competitions are published.