Registration for Electronic Submissions

OSP provides a secure web-based process for requesting registration in NSF FastLane and NIH eRA Commons (details for each system are below). Upon registration in:

• FastLane - you will receive an email from OSP with your temporary password and an email from FastLane with instructions on accessing the system.
• eRA Commons - you will receive emails from eRA Commons with your username, temporary password, and instructions on accessing the system.

Please allow at least 2 business days for processing. Begin the registration process ->

National Science Foundation (FastLane)

NSF FastLane is an interactive real-time system used to conduct business over the internet by the National Science Foundation. The system incorporates proposal functions (e.g., proposal preparation and submission, status information, submission of revisions, award and reporting functions, including notifications and requests, peer and panel review functions, sponsored programs office administration functions, and financial functions.

All proposals to NSF must be submitted through FastLane, and individual Principal Investigators must be registered in the system by their institution to have access to the proposal preparation and submissions functions. Proposal submissions, however, may only be made by an institution’s designated agent (OSP serves this function at NYU).

For those new to FastLane procedures, NSF has provided a demonstration site. You do not have to be registered with FastLane to use it.

National Institutes of Health (eRA Commons)

NIH eRA Commons is a web-based system to facilitate the discrete exchange of essential information between NIH and the grantee community. Like the NSF Fastlane system, the eRA Commons incorporates proposal functions (e.g., status information, submission of revisions, award and reporting functions), peer and panel review functions, sponsored programs office administration functions, and financial functions. Not yet implemented are proposal preparation and submission functions.

For those new to eRA Commons procedures, NIH has provided an eRA Commons Demo Facility, containing features of the actual eRA Commons but in a sample data environment.

NIH has recently announced plans to eliminate certain hard-copy notifications to Principal Investigators; henceforth, these notifications will be available only through the Commons:

• Summary Statements: Beginning October 1, 2005, Summary Statements will be accessible only through the Commons within approximately eight weeks of the Scientific Review Group (SRG) meeting.
• Review Outcome “Mailers”: Beginning February 1, 2006, notification letters (also known as “mailers”) regarding the review outcome of an application by the SRG will be accessible only through the Commons. SRG rosters and meeting dates will be available at the NIH Scientific Review Group (SRG) Roster Index or the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Study Section Roster Index. Scores will be posted in the Commons approximately five working days after the SRG meeting.

NIH will continue to send assignment and change of assignment mailers for the present; this information is also accessible on the eRA Commons.

To avoid delays in the e-notification process, all Principal Investigators and Individual Fellows should periodically check e-mail addresses for accuracy.

NOTE: This process does not apply to applications for the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.