NSF Fastlane
FastLane is the NSF electronic interface used by principal investigators and other registered users to submit proposals, progress or final report, and requests for supplemental funding. Included in this site is a tutorial to introduce first-time users to FastLane as well as links to FastLane help and descriptive resources.
Learning to Use FastLane:
- This tutorial, prepared by the Oregon State University Office of Sponsored Programs, was created to help guide and familiarize faculty and staff through the proposal preparation process within FastLane. While FastLane is fairly intuitive, as with any complex system a general introduction to how you use it can be useful. The tutorial is broken down into 17 modules that can be worked through in any order. FastLane may occasionally change their screens before the tutorial is updated. If you encounter this, you should still be able to use the tutorial as a basic introduction. The tutorial does not replace any instructions or descriptive information provided by FastLane. OSU's FastLane Training Modules (link disabled until further notice).
How to Register for FastLane:
- To use FastLane, you must first register by completing the Oregon State University NSF FastLane System Registration form, under the Forms section. Complete and follow the instructions provided on the form. Registration Form pdf
- PIs/Co-PIs who have not recently submitted a proposal to NSF cannot use the FastLane Proposal Preparation application until their information has been added to the NSF PI database. If you are already a registered user and your password is not working, contact OSP to request a new temporary password. If you are working on a project after normal business hours, you can request a new temporary password directly from FastLane at: Request Temporary Password
Software Requirements for FastLane:
- To access FastLane you must have an Internet browser that can support: 1) pre-formatted input fields; 2) cut and paste into text fields tabbing between fields; and 3) support for multiple submit buttons. The most popular browsers available are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape. Review the FastLane home page under Advisories for descriptions of any conflicts that exist with certain versions of these browsers.
- FastLane has the capability to upload text documents. FastLane supports file uploads in a variety of formats including Word, WordPerfect, PostScript and TeX (MiKTeX1.20e). You should continue to use standard fonts to avoid font substitutions and you will need to proofread and accept the uploaded files. PDF files will continue to be accepted if properly created (e.g. ensuring that all fonts are embedded, the file is in Acrobat 3 format, and that PDFWriter was not used to create the file). To create PDF files you will need to have access to the software application Adobe Acrobat. The tutorial described under the section Learning to Use FastLane provides directions to guide you through the PDF creation process.
Where to Get Help:
FastLane home page:
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.htm
Frequently Asked Questions: FastLane Proposal Preparation:
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/about/a1faq.htm
Instructions for Preparing and Submitting a Standard NSF Proposal via FastLane:
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/newstan.htm
PI Tip Sheet for Proposal Preparation
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/about/pitips.htm
Instructions for Submitting a Proposal
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/about/submission.htm
FastLane PDF Creation Tip and Poiners:
http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/pdfcreat.htm
Ten Steps to Preparing a Proposal
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/about/10steps.htm
FastLane User Support:
1-800-673-6188.
OSU Office of Sponsored Programs
sponsored.programs@orst.edu
