Proposal submission guide
See our proposal submission guide to help you navigate entering proposal data into the system.
Review Guidelines
The merit review process enables NSF to make wise investments in all fields of science and engineering research and education. Please read the Merit Review Guidelines to determine if your proposal fits the merit review or broader impacts criteria that we use to make funding decisions.
To safeguard the integrity of the development and evaluation of proposals in the merit review process, we encourage you to also view the Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) Systems Memo that establishes guidelines for its use by reviewers and proposers.
Q&A videos
View this video on preparing a Phase I proposal or review the presentation slides.
View this video for submitting a Phase I proposal in Research.gov
Submission
Proposal submission is due by 5:00 PM submitter’s time on the specified due date.
Submission Deadlines:
September 18, 2024
November 6, 2024
March 5, 2025
July 2, 2025
November 5, 2025
Your full proposal (based on the project proposed in the associated Project Pitch) must be submitted within the submission period that is active on the date of your invitation or by the end of the submission period subsequent to the submission period in which the invitation was issued; for example, if a Project Pitch invitation is received on June 30, 2024, you may submit your full proposal by either of the two subsequent deadlines (September 18, 2024 or November 6, 2024).
Solicitations
Next steps
Ready to get started? You'll need to read the official policy document (the solicitation) which outlines the official requirements, key elements and supplemental information you'll need to draft your proposal. We also recommend that you start the registration process right away.
Read the call for proposals (solicitation)
NSF has one Phase I solicitation: the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR). SBIR proposals do not require that the startup partner with an eligible research institution. In an STTR proposal, the startup must perform a minimum of 40% of the research, as measured by the budget, and a minimum of 30% of the research must be performed by the partner research institution.
Read the SBIR/STTR solicitation
Register your company (FREE and required)
If your company hasn’t worked with the government before, you’ll need to register with these systems (we recommend the order listed below). Every step in our process, including all of these registrations, is free. You MUST have completed your SAM registration BEFORE you can begin entering your proposal in Research.gov. Start as soon as possible!
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System for Award Management (SAM)
Processing time: Up to three weeks
You MUST register to do business with the U.S. government through System for Award Management (SAM). When you register, you’ll have to share bank account information of the account where the NSF funds would be deposited. This registration process is free and takes only 10-15 minutes to initiate, but can take up to three weeks to complete. An active SAM.gov registration is needed to submit a proposal to NSF. To submit proposals to NSF SBIR/STTR, you only need to request “financial assistance” authority and do NOT need “contract” authority (which can be a much longer process to obtain). SAM registration must be renewed annually.
Note: Due to a large backload, SAM is currently experiencing delays in the creation and validation of Unique Entity Identifiers (UEI).Research.gov (Online Grant Management for the NSF Community)
Processing time: Up to 48 hours
Before applying, you must register your company with NSF in Research.gov. Only after registering with Research.gov can you login and begin preparing your proposal.
SBIR Company Registry
Finally, you need to register with the SBIR Company Registry (operated by the Small Business Administration). Post-registration, you’ll receive a Business Concern Control ID (SBC ID), which you’ll need to include in your Research.gov application.
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Ready to submit your proposal?
Research.gov allows you to create your proposal piece by piece, so there’s no need to have everything ready before you start. See our proposal submission guide to help you navigate the system.