See below for FAQ's related to Research.gov Services.
Are
investigators and Sponsored Projects Officers seeing the same
information?
Where
can I find a description of the Proposal codes for
NSF
and/or NIFA?
Do
I need to create an account on Research.gov to access the
Research Spending & Results?
Where
can I find a description of the Research Spending & Results
fields?
What
should I do if I see incorrect data for an award record?
What
is the difference between Award Date and Award Start Date?
Can
I search for Contracts and Loans in addition to Grants on
Research.gov?
In
the Research Spending & Results, can I search for multi-year
awards?
In
the Research Spending & Results, will I be able to view
sub-award data on Research.gov?
1. Are
investigators and Sponsored Projects Officers seeing the same
information?
Research.gov is a role-based system that grants users access to information based on the permissions associated with their role. A user must have an investigator role (i.e. PI/PD) or a Sponsored Projects Officer role (i.e. SPO) in order to view any detailed grant application data. SPOs cannot view reviewer comments or panel summaries. The PI/PD can view this information once it has been released by the Program Officer (PO) or National Program Leader (NIFA). However, SPOs are given the ability to view all the grant applications submitted for the institutions in which they belong. For or more information on the different Research.gov roles and how they work, see the section on Research.gov Roles.
2. I
previously used my Social Security Number (SSN) to login to
Research.gov. Why can I no longer use it?
As of September 6, 2008, users are no longer able to log-in to Research.gov using their social security number. Instead, users should log-in using their NSF ID. To lookup your NSF ID please click here. Please note that users can only look up their own NSF user IDs and cannot retrieve IDs for other users.
NSF and the Research.gov team are dedicated to protecting the privacy of our users by reducing and eliminating, where possible, the use of SSNs. Doing this also helps us comply with federal-wide guidance, including:
OMB M06-16 for the “Protection of Sensitive Agency Information”
OMB M07-16 for “Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information”
U.S. Office of Personnel Management June 18, 2007 memo: “Guidance on Protecting Federal Employee Social Security Numbers and Combating Identity Theft”
In addition to eliminating the use of social security numbers as system log-in IDs, NSF is increasing protection where social security numbers must be used for business purposes and eliminating the use of SSNs in processes, systems, and files where no business need exists.
For questions or additional
information, please contact
the Research.gov team.
The Proposal Status Dashboard page shows the first ten applications with status date changes in the past six months. In order to view a complete list, click on the View All Recent Proposals link and change the received date range in the Search criteria.
4. Where can I find a description of the Proposal codes for NSF and/or NIFA?
Refer to the Research.gov Online Help for a description of the proposal status codes.
If you are not able to see the list of proposals in the View All Proposals page, verify that you have successfully activated your account with NIFA; first (refer to Research.gov Online Help for instructions on Activating an Account with an Agency. If you have successfully activated your account and are still experiencing problems, please Contact Research.gov for help.
6. I am the SPO role for my institution. Will I be able to view proposals for which I am the PI?
Yes, you will be able to view all proposals submitted by your institution, including ones for which you are the PI. When viewing your proposals, you will be able to view additional information such as Review Information if it has been released by the agency. However, if viewing proposals for which you are not the PI, then you will not be able to view the same type of information that you are able to view on the proposals for which you are the PI.
If you have the SPO role for your institution, then you should be able to view all proposals submitted by your institution. If you have the PI role for you institution, then you will have access to only the proposals for which you are the PI. For additional explanation of roles, refer to the Research.gov Online Help.
8. Do I need to create an account on Research.gov to access the Research Spending & Results?
No, the Research Spending & Results is a publicly available service offering available to all users.
The search results will only include awards that are active as of FY 1994 and beyond for NSF and active as of FY 2007 and beyond for NASA. If your search does not meet these criteria, the award record will not be displayed on Research.gov. Otherwise, if you believe that your search meets these criteria, then contact Research.gov for help.
Research Spending & Results currently makes grant award information searchable for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA). NSF plans to make award information available for other Federal research agencies that choose to partner with NSF on Research.gov in the future.
11. Where can I find a description of the Research Spending & Results fields?
Refer to the Research.gov Online Help document for a description of the search fields.
12. What should I do if I see incorrect data for an award record?
If you believe that the information on Research.gov is incorrect, contact Research.gov for help.
13. What is the difference between Award Date and Award Start Date?
The Award Date is the date the award is issued while the Award Start Date is the effective date of the award.
14. Can I search for Contracts and Loans in addition to Grants on Research.gov?
No, Research.gov currently enables users to search for Grants only.
15. In the Research Spending & Results, can I search for multi-year awards?
Yes, users can search for multi-year awards but Research.gov only displays awards active as of FY1994 and beyond for NSF and active as of FY2007 and beyond for NASA. Additionally, searching by a date range will narrow the results to awards with an award date within the date range entered.
16. In the Research Spending & Results, will I be able to view sub-award data on Research.gov?
The Research Spending & Results service does not provide information about sub-awards.
'Awardee' is the Legal name by which the entity is incorporated and pays taxes. 'Doing Business As' name is the business name of the entity.
If you attempt to log in one too many times using the incorrect username/password combinations, your account will be locked for a period of 60 minutes. You have one of many options to regain access to your account:
If you are a user with PI or SPO role, you can do one of the following:
Wait 60 minutes and try again,
Contact your Institution Administrator and request a password reset, or
Contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 and request to reset your password.
If you are a user with Institution Administrator role, you can do one of the following:
Wait 60 minutes and try again, or
Contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 and request to reset your password.
Following a password reset, you will be
prompted to change your password.
19. Are Recovery Act awards available in Research.gov?
Yes, you can search for awards made under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Recovery Act”) in the Research Spending & Results service. Select the available checkbox on the Quick Search or Advanced Search screen to search for only Recovery Act awards. Additional search criteria can be entered to further filter your search.
20. Does Research.gov use cookies and JavaScript?
Yes. Research.gov uses cookies and JavaScript. Research.gov uses "session cookies" to facilitate a visitor’s activity within a single session, but these cookies are not written as files to your computer’s hard drive and do not persist after you close your browser. Research.gov does not use "persistent cookies."
Index