Effective March 26, 2018, NSF is introducing a new centralized and streamlined account registration process in Research.gov for the research community that will provide each new user with a single profile and unique identifier (i.e., NSF ID) for signing in to FastLane and Research.gov for proposal and award activities. This change will impact the way the research community registers for NSF accounts and maintains account and user profile information in FastLane and Research.gov.
New Functionality
The new account management functionality will:
- Allow users to create and self-manage accounts, including personal information and role requests;
- Eliminate the need for organizational Administrators to create accounts and maintain profile information for their users, allowing Administrators to focus on managing roles for their organizations through a dashboard with functions to approve, disapprove, assign, and remove roles; and
- Replace the existing FastLane and Research.gov account management functions.
Existing NSF Accounts
Existing NSF account holders, including Grants.gov and Application Submission Web Service (ASWS) users, will be migrated to the new account management system through a simple, one-time operation when initially signing in to FastLane or Research.gov after the new functionality is released. Account holders will be required to verify information to transfer it to the new system. Each user will have one NSF ID per the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 18-1), Chapter I.G.4.
Helpful Links
- Users with existing NSF accounts can access the NSF ID Lookup page for their NSF ID. Forgotten passwords may be retrieved for established NSF accounts.
- New users will be able to register directly with NSF through Research.gov on or after March 26, 2018, via this link: https://www.research.gov/accountmgmt/#/registration. Note that this link will not work until March 26, 2018.
Training Resources
NSF is currently finalizing new account management training resources such as job aids, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and instructional videos. These materials will soon be available on an “About Account Management” page accessible on the Research.gov homepage.
For IT system-related questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.
In addition, Lyn Milliken in the Office of Contracts and Grants can help answer questions about registering.