NSF FastLane

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FastLane is the National Science Foundation's (NSF) online platform through which NSF conducts business. For researchers, FastLane is a user-friendly proposal creation and submission system.

Below is information on how to get started using FastLane.

FastLane set up steps

  • Principal investigators must first register an account with Research.gov. When registering for an account, please use your UNR email address as the primary email address on the account.
  • After completing the account registration form and clicking Save & Preview, you will be taken to the Preview Account Registration screen to review your information and Submit your account registration.
  • An account is not active until it is approved by Sponsored Projects. Upon submission of an account registration, Sponsored Projects will receive an email notification from NSF indicating that an account was created and approval is needed. Once the account is approved, the principal investigator can then utilize FastLane.

Creating a proposal using FastLane

Prior to beginning an NSF proposal, principal investigators should be familiar with the NSF proposal guidelines found in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide.

  1. Sign in to FastLane using the PI/Co-PI Log In button on the right side of the screen. You will land on the My Desktop page.
  2. From My Desktop, click on Prepare Proposals in FastLane in the Prepare & Submit Proposals section of the screen. You will land on the Principal Investigator (PI)/Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) Management screen.
  3. From Principal Investigator (PI)/Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) Management, click Proposal Functions.
  4. From Proposal Functions, click Proposal Preparation. You will land on the Principal Investigator (PI) Information screen.
  5. From Principal Investigator (PI) Information, click the Prepare Proposal button. You will land on the Proposal Actions screen.
  6. From Proposal Actions, click the Create Blank Proposal button. You will land on the From Preparation screen where you can then prepare your proposal.

Upload FastLane application to InfoEd and route for internal approval and submission

Once the FastLane application is completed, the proposal application must then be recorded in InfoEd, UNR's grant proposal tracking system. When recording the proposal in InfoEd, be sure to upload a PDF of the entire FastLane application on the InfoEd Proposal Docs & Forms screen. Once the InfoEd proposal record is complete, route it for internal approval. After all internal approvals have been satisfied in InfoEd, a Sponsored Projects research administrator will contact the principal investigator regarding the proposal review and submission.

After submission to NSF

After a proposal has been submitted to NSF, the principal investigator can sign in to FastLane to check the status of their proposal. Upon signing in to FastLane, you will land on the My Desktop page. From My Desktop, click Proposal Status in the Prepare & Submit Proposals section of the page.