Research.gov

Research.gov is the National Science Foundation (NSF) website where proposals are submitted and grants management takes place. All investigators and staff who wish to submit proposals to NSF, or assist in the submission of proposals, should first have an NSF ID and access to Research.gov

Obtaining an NSF ID for Research.gov

The NSF ID is a nine digit identification number that will serve as your user ID to log in to Research.gov.

Anyone can obtain an NSF ID. To request an NSF ID go to Research.gov and click "Register" in the top-right corner of the page. A name, email, and phone number are required for initial registration, though career and degree information will be required for principal investigators (PIs) who wish to submit proposals for NSF funding at the time of affiliation.     

Requesting the PI Role in Research.gov 

The PI role, affiliated with The University of Chicago, is required to create and submit an application in Research.gov. The easist way for new NSF applicants to request the PI role is to first obtain an NSF ID, by following the instructions above. Then email your NSF ID number to aura-help@uchicago.edu and let us know you need to be affiliated as PI. 

If you have an existing NSF ID from a previous institution, aura-help@uchicago.edu can affiliate that ID with The University of Chicago and provide the PI role to that account. 

  • Any member of the University of Chicago community can request the PI role in Research.gov, provided they are current faculty, staff member, or student. A PI eligible job title may be required for institutional approval of your application by the university. You can review the PI eligibility guidelines here
  • Once the PI role is granted, Research.gov may prompt you to add more personal information such as your job title and position, as well as education and degree information, if you have not already included that information. This profile can be updated by clicking the My Profile section when logged into Research.gov.     

Please visit Research.gov's Proposal Preparation and Submission page for detailed instructions on how to create and submit an application. 

Requesting the Other Authorized User (OAU) Role

The OAU role, affiliated with The University of Chicago, is required for department staff wish to assist in preparing PI applications Research.gov. The easist way for department staff to request the OAU role is to first obtain an NSF ID, by following the instructions in the "Obtaining an NSF ID for Research.gov" section of this page. Then email your NSF ID number to aura-help@uchicago.edu and let us know you need to be affiliated as an OAU. 

If you have an existing NSF ID from a previous institution, aura-help@uchicago.edu can affiliate that ID with The University of Chicago and provide the OAU role to that account. 

Delegating Proposal Access to an OAU

Research.gov allows PIs to easily delegate proposal viewing and editing access to department staff and proposal preparers once an application has been created. First verify that the proposal preparer has the OAU role affiliated with the University of Chicago; next, open the Manage Personnel page on the left-hand side of your new application to add available OAUs as editors or viewers on your application. 

Please view this video available on Research.gov's Proposal Preparation and Submission page for more detailed instructions on delegating proposal access.  

Recovering your Password or NSF ID 

URA account administrators do not have the ability to reset or change Research.gov passwords or NSF ID numbers. To recover an account, go to the login page and click "Forgot / Lookup NSF ID" or "Forgot Password". Contact Research.gov user support at 1-800-381-1532, or email rgov@nsf.gov, if you need further assistance or cannot recover your password. 

More Information

More information and instructional matieral can be found on the Research.gov Proposal Preparation and Submission page. Additionally, NSF has provided Frequently Asked Questions on Research.gov, and how it compares to the previous NSF submission system (Fastlane) here

If you have general questions about Research.gov or want to inquire about your NSF ID or University of Chicago affiliation, email aura-help@uchicago.edu.

For technical questions, or to report a system outage or error to Research.gov, please visit the Research.gov contact page here, call 1-800-381-1532 or email rgov@nsf.gov