October 18, 1999

Instructions for Preparing and Submitting
a Standard NSF Proposal via FastLane using the New Proposal Preparation-Production Test application

INDEX
1. Overview of FastLane 2. Getting Help With FastLane
3. Proposal Preparation Access Requirements 4. Software Requirements
5. Accessing FastLane to Prepare a Proposal6. Providing Access to a Proposal
7. Working on a Proposal8. Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDFs
9. Printing the Proposal10. Submitting the Proposal

OVERVIEW OF FASTLANE

The FastLane project (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov), in existence since February 1995, uses the Internet and World Wide Web to exchange information between NSF and its external community.

Principal Investigators (PIs) at Registered FastLane institutions can use the NSF FastLane Proposal Preparation application located at (http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov) to prepare their proposal and allow their Sponsored Research Office (SRO) or equivalent access to the proposal. The PI can save his/her proposal as a work in progress. Once the SRO is granted access to a proposal, the SRO can submit the proposal to NSF using the "Submit Proposal" module found within the Institutional Management of FastLane application. Unless the program announcement states otherwise, after a proposal is submitted, the cover sheet and certification page must be printed, signed, and mailed to NSF.

To use FastLane, the PI needs Netscape 3.01 or above or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or above, and Adobe Reader 4.0 or above, and a PDF File Converter.

MAJOR NEW FEATURES of the PROPOSAL PREPARATION SYSTEM

The new FastLane proposal preparation and submission system released on the FastLane Home Page is designed to make it easier to prepare and submit proposals via FastLane. The new proposal preparation system is available on the FastLane Home Page by clicking on a “New Proposal Preparation System-Production Test” link. Though, the application is in production testing mode, you can immediately use the new system to prepare and submit your proposal. For several weeks, the old preparation system will be available along-side the new system. If you are preparing a proposal in one of the systems, at any time, you can go to the other system to complete your work. After several weeks, the old system will be pulled from the FastLane Home Page. All of your proposals that you created in the old system can be completed and submitted using the new system.

One of most important improvements in the new proposal preparation system is enhanced navigation. In the old system, you first had to leave one section of the system to go to another section. On each screen in the new system, where data cannot be saved, there is a navigation bar on the right, which allows the user to go directly to any section of the system.

Another useful enhancement will be the improved handling of Special and Supplementary Information Documentation within FastLane. In the old system, PIs had to include Special and Supplementary information at the back of the Project Description PDF file. This required the PI to copy the Special Information and Supplementary information into the original document before converting to PDF or to use Adobe Exchange 3.X to combine PDF files. In the new system PIs can upload their Special and Supplementary information separately.

Other enhancements to the proposal preparation system include the ability to copy one budget year to another budget year, the ability to change who is the PI on the proposal, and improved error handling. In the new system the budget notes fields have been taken out since all budget notes should be entered in the Budget Justification.

The proposal submission system has also been enhanced. The PI can now provide the following access to their proposal:

As always, only the SRO can submit the proposal to NSF. The SRO can now edit the proposal within the “Submit Proposal” module of the “Institutional Management” application. The capability for the SRO to correct the cover sheet and budget within sixty minutes of proposal submission has been added.

GETTING HELP WITH FASTLANE

Users may send technical FastLane questions and comments to the FastLane Help Desk using the "Send Comments to NSF" feature on each FastLane screen or by sending an e-mail to fastlane@nsf.gov or calling (703) 306-1142.

For questions about the content of your proposal and all other non-FastLane questions, please contact the NSF program office. If you do not know who that is, contact the NSF Information Center at info@nsf.gov or (703) 306-1234.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCESSING FASTLANE PROPOSAL PREPARATION

The following are required in order to access the FastLane Proposal Preparation application.

1. To access proposal preparation as a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI, you have to be known to NSF as a PI.

PIs/Co-PIs who have never submitted a proposal to NSF cannot use the FastLane Proposal Preparation application until their information is added to the NSF PI database. To have this done, contact your Sponsored Research Office or equivalent at your institution and send them your below information. They will then be able to go into the Add New User module of the Institutional Management of FastLane application, pull up your last name, click on the Modify button, and add you as PI.

Information your SRO needs to add you as a PI
First Name Degree Type and Degree Year
Last Name Street Address
Middle InitialCity, State, Zip
Suffix(e.g., Jr., Sr., III)E-mail Address
Social Security Number Business Phone
DepartmentFax Number

2. To access the FastLane proposal preparation application, you have to be at a Registered FastLane Institution.

3. To access the FastLane proposal preparation application, you have to have a FastLane PI PIN.

Your institution's Sponsored Research Office (SRO), or equivalent, is responsible for creating a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for each individual FastLane user. This PIN will be required each time that an individual wishes to make FastLane transactions. SRO officials should read the instructions on adding FastLane users and initializing and changing user PINs which are located in the Instructions for Institutional Management of FastLane

Note: After being entered on the cover sheet, the Co-PI can access the proposal by entering his/her last name, SSN, and PIN.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

To work with the FastLane Proposal Preparation application, you will need:


Downloading Netscape Navigator 3.01 or above from the Web

Click on Netscape and follow the directions.


Downloading Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or above from the Web

Click on Microsoft Internet Explorer and follow the directions.


Adobe Acrobat Reader

This program is needed for viewing and printing forms exactly like NSF will view and print them.


Downloading Acrobat Reader 4.0 or above from the Web

  1. Click on Free Software from Adobe
  2. After installing Adobe Reader, if you encounter a problem viewing your FastLane proposal, please read the instructions located in Question #1 of the FAQ located at https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/instructions/a1faq.htm

A PDF File Converter

To convert a file to PDF you need a PDF file converter. Many PIs are using the Adobe Distiller component of Adobe Acrobat 3.01 and above to convert PostScript files to PDF. Other PIs are using Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above to convert PostScript files to PDF. Aladdin Ghostscript can be downloaded from http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/aladdin/.

Please note that while some PIs are using PDF Writer {which is a commercial product provided with Adobe Acrobat}, PDFWriter does not work well on documents containing figures, images, non-Adobe Type 1 fonts, TrueType fonts and multiple master fonts. In particular, PDFWriter output from Macs can result in a document with poor resolution.

IMPORTANT: For detailed information on how to convert a file to PDF and important tips please go to FastLane PDF Creation Hints and Pointers. If you follow the instructions located in that document you should avoid creating PDF files that cannot be read by NSF. Please note that some problems only show up when the "Print Entire Proposal" button is used to view/print the proposal.

The Project Description can only be submitted as a PDF file. Conversion to PDF is the only way to preserve formatting such as bold, underline, and italics. See below for more details about Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files.

Instructions on "Viewing/Printing FastLane forms within FastLane using Adobe Reader " are available on http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/instructions/fladobe.htm.


Obtaining Adobe Acrobat

Obtaining Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above


ACCESSING FASTLANE TO PREPARE A PROPOSAL

To prepare a standard proposal, the PI accesses the NSF FastLane Home Page and selects "New Proposal Preparation System-Production Test". After entering his or her login information (last name, SSN, and the PIN provided by his or her Sponsored Research Office), the PI selects the "Proposal Preparation" button.

This will bring up the "PI Information" screen. At this point the PI should check the accuracy of his or her PI information. An individual may modify only his or her own PI information. If any of the information is incorrect, select the "Edit Information" button and make the necessary changes. {If the proposal has a Co-PI, at some point in the proposal preparation process, the Co-PI should follow this same procedure to check his or her information and make any necessary corrections. The Co-PI can only do this if he/she has a FastLane PIN and is on the NSF PI database as a PI or Co-PI.}

After the PI information has been verified, the PI should scroll down and click on the "Prepare Proposal" button.

On the "Proposal Actions" screen, the PI clicks on the "Create Blank Proposal" button to bring up the "Form Preparation" screen. The PI will then be able to work on the proposal.

PROVIDING ACCESS TO AN "IN PROGRESS" PROPOSAL

The forms of an "in progress" proposal may be accessed and modified by the PI or Co-PI of the proposal or by any other authorized FastLane user to whom the PI has given authority to access the proposal. The PI provides the Co-PI access to the proposal by adding the Co-PI to the cover sheet and saving the cover sheet.

The PI or Co-PI can provide access authority to another individual by assigning their work-in-progress proposal a PIN {this PIN is different than the PI PIN}. From the "Proposal Actions" screen, the PI/Co-PI can assign his/her proposal a PIN by clicking on the "Proposal PIN" button and then typing a proposal PIN of his/her choice, retyping it, and then clicking on the "OK" button.

An authorized FastLane user other than the PI or Co-PI can then access an "in progress" proposal by entering his/her login information and the Proposal ID {this is the number given to the work in progress proposal} and PIN associated with that proposal. Unlike when the PI or Co-PI accesses his or her "in progress" proposal, another authorized user would bypass the "Proposal Actions" screen and would proceed directly to the "Form Preparation" screen. {This means the other authorized user cannot "Allow SRO Access" to a proposal}.

WORKING ON AN "IN PROGRESS" PROPOSAL

All of the NSF Proposal Forms found in NSF's Grant Proposal Guide (GPG; NSF Publications 00-2) can be prepared using FastLane:

Information About Principal Investigators/Project Directors (NSF Form 1225)
List of Suggested Reviewers/Reviewers Not to Include
Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207)
Table of Contents (NSF Form 1359)
Project Summary
Project Description
References Cited
Biographical Sketches
Summary Proposal Budget (NSF Form 1030)
Budget Justification
Current and Pending Support (NSF Form 1239)
Facilities, Equipment & Other Resources (NSF Form 1363)
Supplementary Documentation


The forms that can be uploaded as PDF files are:

All of the proposal's biographical sketches can be uploaded as one PDF file, by clicking on the PI's name {not the Co-PI or other senior person} and uploading the PDF file.

All of the proposal's current and pending support items can be uploaded as one PDF file, by clicking on the PI's name {not the Co-PI or other senior person} and uploading the PDF file.

Facilities, Equipment & Other Resources can be uploaded as a PDF file

The Project Description can only be submitted as a PDF file. Conversion to PDF is the only way to preserve formatting such as bold, underline, and italics. See below for more details about Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files.

The forms that cannot be uploaded as PDF files are:

If you are not a Macintosh user, you can upload the proposal budget as an Excel 95/5.0 spreadsheet {either the one downloaded from within FastLane or your own spreadsheet modified to have the same range names as the FastLane spreadsheet.} (see below)


In subsequent FastLane sessions, the PI can modify a full proposal that is "in progress" by selecting the proposal and clicking on "Edit." This selection will take the user to the "Form Preparation" screen that allows the user to work on any of the proposal forms. To work on a form, click on the "Go" button to the left of the form name. The form selected will be provided at this point. The user can save a partially completed form by clicking on "OK" and editing it at a later time. The steps used to access and edit a partially completed form are the same steps used to begin filling out a blank form.

Information About Principal Investigators and Project Directors (NSF Form 1225)

NSF Form 1225 can only be edited by clicking on the "Edit PI Info" button immediately after logging into the FastLane system. Co-PIs edit their own information on this form by logging into Proposal Preparation as themselves and clicking on the"Edit PI Info" button.

List of Suggested Reviewers/Reviewers Not to Include

On the Form Preparation screen, click on the "Go" button to the left of "List of Suggested Reviewers (optional)". Type in your suggested reviewers {or copy and paste them} into the "Suggested Reviewers" text block and type in your reviewers not to include {or copy and paste them} into the "Reviewers Not to Include" text block and click on "OK" to save.

Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207).

To fill out the cover sheet, on the "Form Preparation" screen click on the "Go" button to the left of Cover Sheet. This will bring up the NSF Cover Sheet Components screen. The NSF cover sheet is composed of the following 3 components:

1. Awardee/Performing Organization Selection.

The organization and organization code from the PI's record in the NSF PI database will be used to fill in the awardee and performing organization fields on the cover sheet. Verify the awardee and performing organization. Changes may be made on the NSF Cover Sheet Components screen by clicking on the Go button to the left of "Awardee/Performing Organization" and then by clicking on the "Change Awardee" or "Change Performee" button, pulling up the correct organization and then clicking on "Select Awardee" or "Select Performee"

2. NSF Unit Consideration.

Before starting the remainder of the cover sheet, you must first indicate which NSF Unit should consider your proposal. To do that click on the "Go" button to the left of "NSF Unit Consideration" and then select the appropriate Division and click on the "Add" button and then click on the appropriate Program and click on the "Add" button.

3. Remainder of the Cover sheet.

To complete the remainder of the cover sheet, first on the "Cover Sheet Components" form, click on the "Go" button to the left of "Remainder of the Cover Sheet." When the Cover Sheet is complete, choose "OK" to save the data entries and return to the "Form Preparation" screen.

Please note the following:

a) Co-PIs. A Co-PI is added to a proposal by typing in that individual's Social Security Number on the cover sheet and saving the cover sheet. If the Co-PI has not previously been a PI or Co-PI on an NSF proposal, then he or she must be entered in the NSF PI database before being assigned to the proposal (see instructions for first-time NSF PIs and Co-PIs, above). If the Co-PI has been on an NSF proposal, the Co-PI will appear on the cover sheet the next time the cover sheet is accessed or printed. Also, once the Co-PI has been added to the cover sheet and the Co-PI has been assigned a FastLane PIN by his/her Sponsored Research Office, he or she will be able to access and modify the proposal by entering his/her log-on information and clicking the "Proposal Preparation" button.

NOTE: The Co-PI must be added to the cover sheet before being added to the Budget.

b) Certification for Authorized Organization Representative or Individual Applicant.
This information can be filled out by the PI. This information is verified by the Sponsored Research Office within the "FastLane Submit Proposal" module; before submitting the proposal.

c) The total requested amount can now be entered directly on the cover sheet. This change was made to make it easier to prepare cover sheet-only proposals. For PIs preparing full proposals, please note that the total requested amount entered through the budgets will overwrite what you enter on the cover sheet unless you save the amount on the coversheet after finishing the budget.

Table of Contents

The Table of Contents form cannot be edited by the user. It is automatically completed by FastLane. To view a display-only version, on the "Form Preparation" screen, click on the "Go" button to the left of "Table of Contents". To print the table of contents select the Print button on the navigation bar and then select the "Go" button on the left of "Table of Contents" or "Print Entire Proposal".

Project Summary

There are three ways to prepare a Project Summary:

1. The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document. However, doing so will only transfer text. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining will be lost in the cut-and-paste process.

2. The user can type text directly into the form using the interface provided. Special formatting will be lost. When the Project Summary is complete, choose "OK" to save the data.

3. The user can upload the Project Summary as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks, you must use a browser which supports these capabilities (Netscape 3.0 or later or MSIE 4.01 or later). See below for more details about " Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files."

Project Description

The only way a Project Description can be submitted via FastLane is as a PDF file. The user can transfer a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload capability you must use a browser which supports this capability. See below for more details about "Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files."

NOTE: Although NSF does not currently support the color printing of FastLane submitted proposals some programs do accommodate this function for the project description. Proposers are advised to check with the cognizant Program Officer prior to proposal submission to validate whether color printing is supported.

References Cited

Like the Project Summary, there are three ways to prepare the References Cited form:

1. The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document.

2. The user can type text directly into the form using the interface provided.

3. The user can upload the References Cited form as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks you must use a browser which supports these capabilities. See below for more details about " Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files."

Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel.

In order to save biographical sketches and current and pending support forms for
Non Co-PI senior personnel and to add Non Co-PI senior personnel to the budget, you first need to access the "Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel" function found on the "Form Preparation" screen.

Click on the "Go" button to the left of "Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel".; You can add a non Co-PI senior person to the proposal by entering his/her first name, middle initial, and last name and clicking on the "Add non Co-PI Senior Person to Proposal" button. You can delete a non PI/Co-PI senior person by selecting the "Delete" button. Once non PI/Co-PI senior personnel are added to the proposal, you can prepare biographical sketches and current and pending support forms for non PI/Co-PI senior personnel, and add non PI/Co-PI senior personnel to the budget.

Biographical Sketch

There are three ways to prepare a Biographical Sketch:

1. The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document. However, doing so will only transfer text. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining will be lost in the cut-and-paste process.

2. The user can type text directly into the form using the interface provided. When each Biographical Sketch is complete, choose "OK" to save the data entries. The user will be given the option of editing another Biographical Sketch associated with the application or selecting "Cancel" to return to the "Form Preparation" screen.

3. The user can upload each Biographical Sketch form as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. The user can also upload all of the biosketches for the proposal as one PDF file by clicking on the PI's Name, choosing the file, and clicking on the Transfer PDF button.

To use the PDF file upload capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks you must use a browser which supports these capabilities (Netscape 3.0 or above or MSIE 4.01 or later). See below for more details about " Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files."

Summary Proposal Budget (NSF Form 1030).

1. To begin preparing the budgets, the user clicks on the "Go" button to the left of "Budgets (Including Justification)" on the "Form Preparation" screen. This will take the user to the "Budget Organization Selector" screen. This screen lets the user create budgets for more than one organization. If the user only wants to create a budget for the proposal's awardee organization {the only organization to initially show up on the "Budget Organization Selector" screen}, the user selects the "Use" button which brings up the "Budget Year Selector" page. If budgets for other organizations need to be created, the user first needs to click on the "Add New Org." button, search for and select the correct organization, and click on the "OK" button. {To delete an organization from this list, click on the "Delete" button.}

2. To prepare a budget for an organization, the user selects the correct organization and clicks on the "Use" button which will bring up the "Budget Year Selector" screen. The user can then prepare the budget on FastLane or the user {if not using a Macintosh} can upload his/her Budget as an Excel Spreadsheet.

A. Preparing the Budget directly on FastLane:

The user selects the budget year to create and then clicks on the "Create" button. Then the user selects the budget year to work on and clicks on "Edit" which brings up the "Budget Section Selector" screen.

If a budget has already been saved, the user can edit it by selecting the budget on the "Budget Selector" page and clicking on the "Edit" button. The user can delete a budget year form by selecting the year and clicking on the "Delete" button.

The budget has been divided into 4 sections:

To complete each section, click on the appropriate "Go" button on the "Budget Section Selector" screen and enter the data and click on the "Save" button.

The cumulative budget is calculated from the budget year forms. It is not entered by the user. The user can print out the budget year forms followed by the cumulative budget, by selecting the "Print" button on the navigational bar.

The "Calculate" button calculates all figures on the form which can be calculated. When you hit a button, you will be taken to the top of the form.

All budget notes should be entered in the Budget Justification.

When you print out the budget there will be a cumulative budget for each organization that a budget was entered for. The data entered on the budgets for the subaward organizations are not added into the proposal's {PI's awardee organization} budget by FastLane. The subaward amount needs to be typed into the proposal's budget.

Note: If you change the awardee organization on the Cover Sheet after doing your budgets, make sure that the awardee organization on the cover sheet matches the organization on the proposal's budget. If they do not match, go to the budget and on the "Organization Selector" screen change the previous awardee organization to the new awardee organization by clicking on the "Change Org. ID" button. Once you change the organization name of the budget to the name that appears on the cover sheet, the correct total requested amount will print on the cover sheet.

B. Uploading a Budget as an Excel Spreadsheet:

You can upload your budget as an Excel Spreadsheet if you are not using a Macintosh computer. From the Budget Year Selector screen select the "Spreadsheet Support" button. To download a spreadsheet for you to fill out within Excel, select the "Download" button and save the file to your hard drive as an XLS file. Open the file in Excel and make sure to read the instructions located on the spreadsheet itself which explain how to complete the spreadsheet. {Using the spreadsheet option, you can copy your first budget year as your other budget years. Figures are automatically calculated as well.} If you are using Excel 97, instead of saving your spreadsheet as a "Microsoft Excel Workbook", you will need to save it as a "Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook".

Once you have filled in the data and saved your spreadsheet, you can upload the spreadsheet by clicking on the "Upload" button on the Spreadsheet Support screen after typing in the correct name and location of the file {click on the Browse button to find the file}. You can edit the budget that you upload, by using the FastLane budget screens {see above}. You can print the budget by clicking on the "Print" button located on the navigational bar.

C. Subcontract Budgets:

To complete a subcontract budget, on the "Form Preparation" screen, click on the "Go" button to left of "Budget (Including Justification". On the "Organization Selector" screen click on "Add New Org.", and pull up the subcontract organization. Then on the "Organization Selector" screen click on "Use" to create a budget for an organization. At this point, you will be asked to indicate who is the subcontract PI. You can choose from anyone who is on the proposal's cover sheet or the non Co-PI senior personnel who have been added to the proposal from the Form Preparation screen. Once your subcontract budget is complete, you will need to add the subcontract total amount of request to item G.5 Subawards of the PI's Awardee organization budget.

The subcontract organization can access the proposal budget in several ways (e.g. through a proposal PIN, through a Co-PI at the sub organization, or via passing around the FastLane budget as a spreadsheet).

The NSF Grant Proposal Guide requires that the subcontract budget be signed and mailed by the PI's awardee organization along with PI's awardee organization signed cover sheet.

Note: If you want the proposal's salary information to be confidential, enter your salary months and dollar amount as zero and add a non-Co-PI senior person to the proposal with the first name of "Aggregate" and second name of "Salary". On each budget year enter the aggregate salary of your proposal next to the non-Co-PI senior person named "Aggregate Salary". You will need to mail in one copy of the detailed budget with the signed cover sheet. This budget will not be sent out for review. You can use the Save As Template function or Copy Submitted function to help you prepare the detailed budget.

D. Budget Justification:

To prepare your proposal's budget justification, click on the "Budget Justification" button on the "Budget Year Selector" screen.

There are three ways to prepare the Budget Justification:

1. The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document. However, doing so will only transfer text. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining will be lost in the cut-and-paste process. You will experience best results if you format your original justification with spaces, not tabs.

2. The user can type text directly into the form using the interface provided. Special formatting will be lost. When the Budget Justification is complete, choose "OK" to save the data.

3. The user can upload the Budget Justification as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks you must use a browser which supports these capabilities. See below for more details about " Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files."

Current and Pending Support (NSF Form 1239).

To prepare a Current and Pending support form, click on the "Go" button to the left of "Current and Pending Support". There are then two ways to prepare current and pending support.

1. You can fill out current and pending support items by clicking on the correct PI/Co-PI or senior person and clicking on the "New Form" button. Then type in the data and save it by clicking on the "OK" button. Each entry can be edited by selecting it and clicking on the "Edit" button and deleted by selecting it and clicking on the "Delete" button. All entries for an investigator will be printed out together.

2. The user can also upload each current and pending support form as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. To upload a PDF file, click on the correct PI/Co-PI or senior person and click on the "New Form" button and then click on the "Transfer PDF" button. The user can also upload all of the current and pending support forms for the proposal as one PDF file by clicking on the PI's Name, choosing the file, and clicking on the Transfer PDF button.

Facilities, Equipment & Other Resources (NSF Form 1363).

There are then two ways to prepare the facilities form.

1. After clicking on the "Go" button to the left of "Facilities, Equipment and other Resources", you can fill out the text fields and save the form by clicking on the "OK" button. You can delete the form by selecting the "Delete" button.

2. The user can also upload the Facilities form as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user.

Supplementary Documentation

There are three ways to prepare Special Information and Supplementary Documentation.

1. The user can cut and paste text from a word processed document. However, doing so will only transfer text. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining will be lost in the cut-and-paste process. You will experience best results if you format with spaces, not tabs.

2. The user can type text directly into the form using the interface provided. Special formatting such as bold-facing, italicizing, and underlining cannot be included in a web text block. When the Supplementary Documentation is complete, choose "OK" to save the data.

3. The user can upload the Supplementary Documentation as a Portable Data Format (PDF) file which the user creates by using Adobe Acrobat 3.X or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. Doing so will preserve the exact formatting created by the user. To use the PDF file upload capability or the automatic word wrap for text blocks you must use a browser which supports these capabilities. See below for more details about " Converting Files to PDF and Uploading PDF Files."

CONVERTING FILES TO PDF and UPLOADING PDF FILES

You can convert your files to PDF using Adobe Acrobat 3.0 or above, Adobe Exchange, Adobe Distiller, or Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above. At this time most of our users have Adobe Acrobat 3.0 or above. The first step is to install the software.

Then read the FastLane PDF Creation Hints and Pointers document. If you follow the instructions located in that document you should avoid creating PDF files that cannot be read by NSF. Please note that some problems only show up when the "Print Entire Proposal" button is used to view/print the proposal.

Once you convert the file to PDF and save it to your hard drive, you can upload the file to FastLane. For the forms that can be uploaded as a PDF file, you will see a "Transfer PDF" button. To upload your file, type in the location and name of the file {if you do not know this, use the "Browse" button}, and select the "Transfer PDF" button. This will upload your file to the FastLane server. You can then view and print your file by clicking on the "Display PDF file" button which now appears.

PDF files cannot easily be altered. Thus, if you want to change your file, you will need to change your source file, convert it to PDF, and then upload it. The second file that is uploaded replaces the first.

NOTE: The PDF file you upload will be printed out at NSF as is. The PDF file is NOT imported into the NSF form. Thus, for example, if you are plan to upload a Project Summary as a PDF file, you should type "Project Summary" at the top of your word processing file, complete your project summary, then convert it to PDF and upload it to FastLane.

NOTE: Although NSF does not currently support the color printing of FastLane submitted proposals some programs do accommodate this function for the project description. Proposers are advised to check with the cognizant Program Officer prior to proposal submission to validate whether color printing is supported.

PRINTING THE PROPOSAL

To print a proposal, select the Print button on the navigational bar. Then select the "Go" button to the left of the form that you want or select the "Go" button to the left of "Print Entire Proposal". Adobe Reader will be launched with the form including your data. Then print out the form by selecting File/Print from Adobe's menu.

If you encounter a problem viewing your FastLane proposal, please read the instructions located in Question #1 of the FAQ located at https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/instructions/a1faq.htm

SAVING YOUR IN PROGRESS PROPOSAL AS A TEMPLATE

Before the proposal is submitted, the PI/Co-PI should consider saving the proposal as a template by selecting the proposal and clicking on the "Save As Template" button on the "Proposal Actions" screen. The PI can then use this template for future proposals by clicking on the "Use Template" button on the "Proposal Actions" screen. All of the data saved in the template will be available for a new proposal. If the PI forgets to save his/her proposal as a template, after the proposal is submitted, on the "PI Information" screen, the PI can select "View/Submitted", and then the "Copy" button in order to copy the PI's submitted proposal as a new work in progress proposal.

SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL

The Sponsored Research Office or equivalent submits the proposal to NSF electronically and prints a copy of the submitted Proposal Cover Sheet and Certification Page. The cover sheet and certification page must be mailed to NSF. NSF will make the appropriate number of copies of the proposal. If you have any questions about the below procedure, please contact the FastLane Help Desk by sending an e-mail to fastlane@nsf.gov or calling (703) 306-1142.

1. In order to submit a proposal via FastLane, a PI/Co-PI must allow his/her SRO access to the proposal. This is done in the Proposal Forms Preparation function by selecting the desired proposal and then clicking on the "Allow SRO Access" button. Then the PI/Co-PI selects one of the following access levels:

Selecting a "Go" button to the left of one of these options sends an e-mail to the SRO(s), who have been given the FastLane permission to submit proposals at the awardee organization listed on the cover sheet, indicating which access has been allowed.. The e-mail states that the SRO can now access the proposal using the "Submit Proposals to NSF" function. After the PI/Co-PI selects the "Allow SRO Access" button, the PI/Co-PI can still edit the proposal.

2. Only the SRO can submit the proposal. To submit the proposal to NSF, the SRO must access the "Submit Proposals to NSF" function of the "Institutional Management " application found on the FastLane Home Page. In order for an SRO official to access the Proposal Submission function, he/she must have been granted the permission to "Submit Proposals". To initiate a submission, the SRO selects the "Submit Proposals to NSF" function and clicks on the "OK" button. The proposals that have been "Allowed SRO access" will be displayed in the "Proposals in Progress" list sorted by proposal kit number.

The SRO official can check the proposal to be sure all required forms are completed, by clicking on the "Check" button. The SRO can view the individual proposal forms by clicking on the "View" button.

To submit the proposal, the SRO selects the proposal and clicks on the "Submit" button. When the SRO official clicks on the Submit button, if the PI has allowed the SRO the authority to submit the proposal, the Certification for Authorized Institutional Representative will be displayed. The SRO official must complete this information as a part of the submission process. After typing in the information, the SRO will be prompted with the question: "Submit Proposal # to NSF?" question. The SRO clicks on "Yes" to submit the proposal to NSF and an official NSF proposal number is generated.

Do not submit the proposal until you are certain that everything is complete and accurate!!!

3. After clicking on the "OK" button from the submission verification screen, the system will return to the list of proposals screen. The newly submitted proposal will now be in the lower portion of the screen in the list labeled "Submitted Proposals". All proposals submitted via FastLane within the last 30 days will be displayed sorted by submission date/time. {You can view all submitted FastLane proposals by clicking on the "Display All" button}. The Proposal Cover Sheet and Certification Page then need to be printed, signed, and mailed to NSF.

To print the Proposal Cover Sheet, the SRO selects the proposal in the Submitted Proposals list and clicks on the "View" button. The system will display the various proposal forms that can be printed for this proposal. The Proposal Cover Sheet and Certification have to be printed. The SRO may optionally print the other proposal forms. To print both the Proposal Cover Sheet and Certification Page, the SRO selects the "Go" button to the left of "Proposal Cover Sheet" form.

The Proposal Cover Sheet and the signed Certification Page have to be mailed to the NSF address as required in the Grant Proposal Guide or to the address specified by the program.

NOTE: Collaborative Proposals:

See Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II, D, 12, b, page 14. Collaborative proposals require simultaneous submission of proposals. One institution takes the lead but all are required to submit their original proposal to NSF.

For FastLane, this means that each institution prepares and submits the related proposal. Just as with paper, there must be good communication between the collaborating institutions as to who is the lead, etc. Again, just as with a paper submission, the collaborating institutions should be in contact with the NSF program office so that the NSF program office will know that the proposals coming in are related.

Before any of the proposals are submitted to NSF, the non-lead institution(s) sends to the lead institution their temporary proposal ID. The lead institution enters the non-lead institution's temporary proposal ID by using the Link Collaborative Proposals option on the FastLane Form Preparation screen.

Each collaborating institution submits its proposal to NSF in the normal FastLane manner. Each collaborating institution, after submitting their proposal via FastLane, immediately informs the lead institution of the official NSF proposal number they received from NSF via FastLane. When the lead institution sends in the signed cover sheet, include a document listing what the related proposal numbers are. The non-lead institutions mail their signed cover sheets in the normal manner.

Regarding the requirement that the lead institution send in the required review copies, since NSF is taking the responsibility for printing the FastLane proposals, this is taken care of by NSF.

NOTE: Cover Sheet-only, Cover Sheet/Project Summary-only proposals.

Some NSF programs allow for Cover Sheet or Cover Sheet/Project Summary only FastLane submissions. The first step for a cover sheet or cover sheet/project summary only submission is to type in the correct program announcement in the field labeled "Program Announcement" on the FastLane Cover Sheet. Use NSF XX-NNN as the format.

If the PI enters the program announcement of a program that allows cover sheet only submission, FastLane then knows it is a proposal which can be submitted if there is just a cover sheet. The PI can then click on the "Allow SRO Access" button and the SRO can submit the cover sheet via FastLane. The cover sheet then needs to be printed so the proposal number will show up on the cover sheet. You will then need to make copies of the cover sheet and include copies of it in the paper proposals to be mailed to NSF.