This page highlights key information about submitting your proposal to the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Refer to the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) I.G for complete guidance on how to submit a proposal to NSF.
Most proposals to NSF can be submitted either through Research.gov or Grants.gov.
On this page
Is your organization new to applying for NSF funding?
To submit a proposal to NSF, your organization must have:
- An active and valid SAM registration.
- A valid Unique Identity ID (UEI).
Be sure your organization is registered in SAM and has a valid UEI well in advance of the date you'll be submitting your proposal; NSF recommends at least 90 days before you plan to submit.
Submitting through Research.gov
Research.gov allows you to create, submit, track and update a proposal to NSF.
The links below will guide you in how to register in and submit a proposal via Research.gov:
You will need to register your organization on Research.gov before you can prepare your proposal.
You will need an NSF ID to prepare your proposal in Research.gov.
Research.gov features how-to guides and tutorials on preparing and submitting a proposal through the site. These resources cover topics such as:
- Starting a new proposal.
- Uploading senior personnel information and documents.
- How to prepare your proposal budget.
- Adding or removing subaward organizations.
- Submitting letters of intent and proposals.
- And others.
Research.gov performs automatic compliance checking on proposals being prepared for submission. See the list of compliance checks the system performs on different types of proposals to NSF.
Submitting through Grants.gov
Grants.gov allows you to create and submit proposals to NSF. The links below will guide you in how to register an organization and submit a proposal using Grants.gov:
You will need to register your organization on Grants.gov before you can prepare your proposal.
You will need an NSF ID to prepare your proposal in Grants.gov.
The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide provides detailed guidance on how to prepare and submit a proposal to NSF using Grants.gov. The guide includes information on topics such as:
- Starting a new proposal.
- How to prepare your proposal budget.
- Uploading proposal files.
- Completing the NSF cover page.
- Uploading senior personnel information and documents.
- And others.
Once all documents have been completed in Grants.gov, the proposer's Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must verify the funding opportunity and agency to which the application is submitted and sign and submit the proposal to Grants.gov. Once submitted, the completed proposal will be transferred to Research.gov for further processing.
Grants.gov proposals must pass all NSF pre-check and post-check validations to be accepted by Research.gov; see the Grants.gov Proposal Processing in Research.gov document and Grants.gov Proposal Processing in Research.gov how-to guide for additional information.
When submitting via Grants.gov, NSF strongly recommends proposers initiate proposal submission at least five business days before a deadline to allow adequate time to address NSF compliance errors and resubmissions. Please note that some errors cannot be corrected in Grants.gov. Once a proposal passes pre-checks but fails any post-check, a proposer can only correct and submit the in-progress proposal in Research.gov.
How to check proposal submission status:
Until a proposal has been received and validated by NSF, the Authorized Organizational Representative may check the status of an application on Grants.gov. After proposers have received an e-mail notification from NSF, Research.gov should be used to check the status of a proposal that was submitted via Grants.gov.
