FastLane

The National Science Foundation (NSF) uses an interactive real-time system (FastLane) to conduct business over the Internet. FastLane is the official system of NSF and use of the FastLane system is required for the exchange of information such as submitting and reviewing proposals, the submission of annual and final project reports, and all other post-award notifications and requests.

Getting Started

As a Stanford PI or Research Administrator, you may need some help getting started with FastLane. Check the menu below for the information you need (for example, you must have a password to access the site and you need to know which administrator at Stanford can provide that to you). If you need help once you are in FastLane, NSF has developed several help sites for things like basic instructions, a demo site, and help with the system itself; we have built links to that information for you. If you would like some hands-on help, take the online training class (available at the link on the left).

Contact one of the Stanford representatives, or the FastLane User Support Number (1-800-673-6188 8 am to 6 pm EST M-F) if you have questions about proposals and reports. If you prefer email, send to fastlane@nsf.gov; they strive for a same day or 24-hour turn-around on these messages.

If you have had trouble linking to FastLane, call the FastLane Availability (Recording): 1-800-437-7408. The FastLane User Support Number (1-800-673-6188 7 am to 9 pm EST M-F).

NSF - Federal Requirement for Responsible Conduct of Research Training 8/20/2010

Federal regulations (the America Competes Act) now require the proposing institution to certify that it has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct research. The Office of Sponsored Research will provide this certification when proposals from Stanford faculty are submitted to the NSF.

If you are a Principal Investigator who has NSF funding (or if you receive an NSF award), you are responsible for notifying all students and postdocs funded on your NSF projects that they must complete an RCR training course. The Financial Aid Office will also notify all Stanford recipients of individual NSF Fellowships of this requirement.

Trainees can meet this requirement either by completing a set of web-based, discipline-specific RCR modules or by completing an appropriate Stanford course.

The web-based RCR modules used at Stanford have been developed by the Collaborative Institutional Training Consortium (CITI). Information about accessing these modules is available on the Dean of Research Website. Students and postdocs who use the CITI tutorials to satisfy the NSF requirement should complete them within their first quarter of receiving NSF funding.

Alternatively, students who complete a Stanford course, listed in Stanford University's courses of instruction and focused on ethical research practices within a disciplinary area (such as (MED 255), Responsible Conduct of Research) will also satisfy the NSF requirement. Students who will satisfy this requirement by means of a Stanford course should also do so within their first quarter of NSF funding.

Questions about meeting this federal requirement should be directed to Ann George (anngeo@stanford.edu, 723-9721.

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