Access to Sponsor Websites

The major federal funding agencies that sponsor research have extensive websites for communicating with researchers, posting opportunities and reviews, and managing their sponsorships. In order to best use these websites and apply for opportunities, researchers need to register with the sites; registration is best accomplished by contacting the Office of Research Administration (ORA). Please see below for specifics about the NIH and NSF websites; for other sites, such as the Department of Defense and American Heart Association, account assignment is done at the time of submission or presubmission working with the Office of Research Administration.

• National Institutes of Health - eRA Commons
• National Science Foundation - FastLane
  

National Institutes of Health – eRA Commons

A researcher planning to apply to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for funding is required to have an eRA Commons user account. For the purposes of exchanging research grants administration information, the NIH provides this "Commons." The Electronic Research Administration (eRA) Commons is a virtual, online meeting place where NIH extramural grantee organizations, grantees, and the public can receive and transmit information about the administration of biomedical and behavioral research. The eRA Commons is divided into both unrestricted and restricted portions that provide for public and confidential information, respectively.

To access the system, users need a username and password. If you are a researcher with a username and password already assigned and your account has been activated by the ORA, simply go to https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons to log in (left side of homepage). Your username and password are valid for as long as you are a member of Tufts University, as it is registered through the institution. If you do not have an eRA Commons account, please see below.

How To Get An eRACommons Account (For New Users)

The Office of Research Administration creates eRA Commons accounts with username and password for all Tufts faculty. If you require an account please contact Elizabeth Brady at (617) 636-6550 (for Boston/Grafton) or Suzanne Rocha at (617) 627-3683 (for Medford/Somerville). Only your email address is required to create an account. Once your account has been set up, you will receive an email directly from eRA Commons with your username and password.

back to top

National Science Foundation – FastLane

FastLane is the research community’s online portal to the National Science Foundation (NSF). FastLane covers the full range of transactions between a research organization, its researchers, and NSF. The public can search NSF awards and funding trends, apply for graduate research fellowships, submit nominations and letters of reference for awards, and work on the FastLane demonstration site. Researchers can prepare a letter of intent in response to an NSF solicitation, prepare and update a proposal, check on proposal status, submit post-award notifications and requests to NSF, report on award projects, sponsor a proposal for a postdoctoral fellowship, and submit letters of reference for a proposal. NSF reviewers and panelists can review a proposal, participate in a panel to make proposal-funding recommendations to NSF, and make travel and EFT arrangements to participate in a panel.

The Office of Research Administration recommends that submissions to NSF go through FastLane, rather than through Grants.gov.

With FastLane researchers can:

• Submit proposals over the Internet
  
• Track proposal progress
  
• Submit progress reports
  
• Conduct other NSF administrative functions

What Do I Need To Do To Use FastLane?

1. Contact the Office of Research Administration - Elizabeth Brady at (617) 636-6550 (for Boston/Grafton) or Suzanne Rocha at (617) 627-3683 (for Medford/Somerville) - to be registered with FastLane. You will need to have your email address, department, degree type, and degree year available so that you can be registered. Access to most features of FastLane is limited to University officials and registered PIs. By NSF policy, PIs must register through their University. NSF sends a confirmation email directly to the PI when registration is complete, and PIs will be given a PIN number to access restricted FastLane areas.
   
   
2. Be sure you have an internet connection and appropriate browser and other software. Please see Introduction to FastLane for details on the required software. Depending on the type and version of browser you have, you may need to install Macromedia Flash Player to view the contents of NSF FastLane.
   
   
3. Go to FastLane homepage.

If you wish to see information about proposals, awards and status, log in here.

For proposal review information, log in here.

If you are a member of a review panel and wish to find out more information about your panel, log in here.

Other useful links at NSF:
FastLane User's Guide
FastLane Proposal Preparation and Submission Guide
FastLane homepage
FastLane FAQ
NSF Grant Proposal Guide
NSF Deadlines and Target Dates
NSF FastLane Help System