NSF Proposals and Policies

Recent NSF Policy Additions and Revisions

These and other NSF policies may be found on the NSF Policy Office webpage.

• NSF project reporting moving from FASTLane to Research.gov (effective 1/1/2013). Beginning in January 2013, all NSF reports must be prepared, submitted and reviewed on Research.gov.
• Revisions to NSF Grant Proposal Guide (effective 1/14/2013). Significant revisions have been made to this document that impact proposal submission to NSF. These changes are summarized in the first few pages of this document and should be reviewed by all potential applicants.
• Data Management Plan Requirements on NSF Grant Proposals (effective 1/18/2011). NSF requires all grant proposals to include a supplementary document of no more than 2 pages describing how the proposal will conform to NSF policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results. Each NSF directorate and division has its own guideline for how this "Data Management Plan" should be prepared.
• Revised Cost Sharing Policy on NSF Grant Proposals (effective 1/18/2011). NSF prohibits inclusion of any voluntary cost sharing in an NSF grant proposal unless specifically required in the NSF solicitation.

NSF Proposal Preparation

These resources will assist you to prepare and submit an NSF grant application. Always notify OSP when you plan to submit a grant.

FASTLane -- All PIs submitting NSF grant applications must be registered with FASTLane. To register, complete the FASTLane Registration Form and email to your OSP representative at least four weeks before grant deadline.

FASTLane Proposals, Awards, and Status -- Provides help for proposal preparation and access to proposals and awards.

NSF Grant Proposal Guide -- The guide provides detailed information about preparing NSF grant applications.

NSF Homepage -- Access to other NSF resources.

NSF Freedom of Information Act Requests -- Access to all NSF publications and publically available grant proposals and reports from NSF supported grants

NSF Proposal Preparation -- NSF provides additional instructions for preparing and submitting a proposal through FASTLane.  See the Quick Link entitled "Help for Proposal Preparation" on the Proposals, Awards, and Status page on the NSF website.