If you remember the primary email address and password associated with your NSF ID, you may use that to sign into Research.gov and obtain your NSF ID from your profile.

New users can register for a new NSF account and obtain an NSF ID by selecting the “Register” link located on the top right of the Research.gov page. Please refer to the “Register for a New NSF Account” job aid for a walk-through of the specific steps. A Register for a New NSF Account video tutorial is also available.

If you know the primary email address or NSF ID for your account, you may recover the password by following the below steps:

• Select the "Sign In" link located on the top right of the Research.gov page
• Click "Sign In Using NSF Credentials"
• Enter your Primary Email Address or NSF ID and click "Next"
• Click "Forgot Password ?"
• Click “Send me an email” to have a verification email sent to the registered email address on your account. An email will be sent to you prompting a password reset. Select on the “Reset Password” link within the email and follow the instructions to reset your password

If you require additional assistance, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov.

You must know the primary email address or NSF ID to initiate password recovery, and you must have access to the primary email address to complete the password recovery process. Contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov to update your primary email address so you can receive the temporary password for your NSF account.

As of October 2024, all users will be required to use a multifactor authentication method to access their NSF account. Users will be prompted to set up their preferred security method during their next login. For more information on setting up your preferred security method, including guides and video tutorials, go to "About Research.gov Sign In".

As of October 2024, Incommon Federal users can continue to use their organization-issues credentials to sign into Research.gov if the participating organization requires multifactor authentication (MFA) for systems access.

If your organization does not require MFA to access your systems, you will not be able to use your organization-based credentials to sign into Research.gov. You will need to sign into Research.gov using your NSF ID and password and complete a one-time MFA enrollment process and then use the selected MFA method to sign into Research.gov each time. For more information on setting up your preferred security method, including guides and video tutorials, go to "About Research.gov Sign In".

NSF’s Account Management System requires verification of the primary email address and phone number for each existing NSF account. This is a short, one-time process unless the system identifies a data issue with your account.

To eliminate the creation of multiple accounts by the same user, the NSF Account Management System only allows a particular email address to be associated with one NSF account.

Please sign into the NSF account with the identified email address. If you have forgotten your password for this email account, you may recover the password by following the below steps:

• Select the "Sign In" link located on the top right of the Research.gov page
• Click "Sign In Using NSF Credentials"
• Enter your Primary Email Address or NSF ID and click "Next"
• Click "Forgot Password ?"
• Click “Send me an email” to have a verification email sent to the registered email address on your account. An email will be sent to you prompting a password reset. Select on the “Reset Password” link within the email and follow the instructions to reset your password

If you require additional assistance, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov.

You must have ongoing access to the email address (e.g., a Gmail address) listed as your primary email address to make changes to your account or to reset a password. The primary email address must be unique to you and cannot be a group email alias.

NSF does not recommend using a work email address for this purpose since you may move to another organization and have a new work email address. This email address and your NSF ID are linked to your account record and are searchable within NSF systems by the organization Administrators. Changes to this email address can be made on your My Profile page following successful registration.

You can change your primary email address by selecting the “My Profile” link located on the top right of the Research.gov home page after signing in. NSF will send a verification email to your new email address and a response is required for verification purposes within four hours from the time the change was made. If the primary email address is not verified within four hours, the last verified primary email address will be restored. You should choose a primary email account that you can maintain access to regardless of where you are working (e.g., Gmail address).

Yes, the Research.gov Account Management System supports you having multiple organizational affiliations. DO NOT register for another NSF account at the new organization. Instead, you can request that an organization-approved role at your new organization be added to your existing NSF account using the “Add a New Role” function.

You will need the System for Award Management (SAM) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) for the new organization to start that process. Alternatively, you can work with the new organization’s Administrator to assign any needed organization-approved roles at the organization to your existing NSF account.

If you are changing organizations, please ensure that the primary email address listed for your NSF account is not dependent on your place of employment. You must have ongoing access to the email address account (e.g., a Gmail address) listed as your primary email address to make changes to your account or to reset a password. You can establish a new work email address in connection with your organization-approved roles at the new organization.

Your primary email address can be updated at any time from the “My Profile” link located at the top right on the Research.gov homepage after signing in. Please note that updating the primary email address will require a verification step to confirm that you are the owner of that email account.

Yes, the Research.gov Account Management System supports you having multiple organizational affiliations, in addition to a role of Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow in your NSF account.

DO NOT register for another NSF account at the organization. Instead, you can request that an organization-approved role at the organization be added to your existing NSF account using the “Add a New Role” function.

You will need the SAM UEI for the organization to start that process. Alternatively, you can work with the organization’s Administrator to assign any needed roles at the organization to your existing NSF account.

If you are changing organizations, please ensure that the primary email address listed for your NSF account is not dependent on your place of employment. You must have ongoing access to the email address account (e.g., a Gmail address) listed as your primary email address to make changes to your account or to reset a password. You can establish a new work email address in connection with your organization-approved roles at the organization.

Your primary email address can be updated at any time from the “My Profile” link located at the top right on the Research.gov homepage after signing in. Please note that updating the primary email address will require a verification step to confirm that you are the owner of that email account.

After you requested a Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow role in Research.gov, the role is displayed in the “Active Role(s)” table on the “View My Roles” page. You can view your time zone by accessing “View My Roles” and selecting “Edit Your Contact Info.” Time zone is determined by the time zone you selected during your initial role request. If you are a Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow, and need to update your time zone, you must contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov for assistance. Changing the Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow work address in Research.gov will not change the time zone. For general guidance on proposal preparation and submission, see the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide.

Your work email address is where NSF will send official communications to you regarding proposals and awards in connection with a particular organization. You can edit your work email address by accessing “View My Roles” and selecting “Edit Your Contact Info.”

The “primary organization” indicates the organization a Principal Investigator (PI) is associated with for proposal submission. The primary organization defaults to the organization associated with the most recent PI role added to a user’s profile.

To change your primary organization, sign into Research.gov by clicking “Sign In” located at the top of the screen. Click “View My Roles” located on the left navigation bar. In the “Active Roles” table, locate the organization you wish to designate as your primary organization. Click on the “plus sign (+)” located to the left of the organization name to expand the row. Locate the PI role for the selected organization and click the “Primary Organization” checkbox to the right of the Date Added field.

If you are a reviewer, please refer to “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Provide Reviewer Profile Information, question #17” regarding your primary organizational affiliation.

To migrate your existing NSF account and establish access to features such as “My Profile,” you must first sign into Research.gov with your NSF ID and complete a short, one-time account verification process. Once you complete the verification process, you can then subsequently sign into your NSF account in Research.gov using your InCommon credentials. You will also have access to update your profile and can utilize the other Account Management System features.

To access the “View / Edit My Profile” page, click “My Profile” located at the top right on the Research.gov homepage after signing in. Then click on “View / Edit My Profile” located on the left navigation bar.

No, there are not currently plans to use ORCID for signing into Research.gov. However, you can store your ORCID iD in an optional field in your NSF account profile data within the Professional Information tab.

No, email addresses cannot be shared across different NSF accounts. Each NSF account must be associated with a unique email address.

If you are a PI, co-PI, Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow, or reviewer and would like to view or edit your demographic information, sign into Research.gov by clicking “Sign In” located at the top of the screen. Click “My Profile” located on the top of the screen.

Your demographic information is located on your View/Edit Profile page. Select the “Demographic Information” tab within your profile to view demographic information on your Account Management View/Edit Profile page in Research.gov. Click “Edit’ to enter or update your demographic information and click “Save” to capture your changes.

Note: Demographic Information is displayed only for individuals with a PI, co-PI or Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow role and for reviewers.

Submission of the requested demographic information is only required for PIs, co-PIs, Proposed Postdoctoral Fellows and reviewers.

For PIs, co-PIs and Proposed Postdoctoral Fellows, this information is captured as part of the role request process and is not a precondition of award.

For reviewers, this information is captured as part of the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information.

All demographic questions must be answered when requesting a PI, co-PI or Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow role. If demographic information is not provided for all demographic questions, the “Next” button will be disabled in the Role Request wizard until all demographic questions are answered.

All demographic questions must also be answered by reviewers as part of the one-time process to provide reviewer profile information. If demographic information is not provided for all demographic questions, the “Next” button will be disabled in the Provide Reviewer Information wizard until all demographic questions are answered.

Demographic Information is only being collected for PIs, co-PIs, Proposed Postdoctoral Fellows and reviewers.

NSF asks for demographic data relating to gender, ethnicity/race and disability to gauge whether our programs and other opportunities in science and technology are fairly reaching and benefiting everyone regardless of demographic category; and to ensure that those in under-represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs, meetings, vacancies, and other research and educational opportunities as everyone else.

The Account Management system now includes all meeting participants of NSF panel, site visit, advisory committee, subcommittee, and committee of visitors meetings and reviewers. NSF requires all meeting participants and reviewers to have an NSF account in Research.gov and complete a simple one-time process to provide their reviewer profile information.

To complete the one-time process to provide reviewer profile information, you must do the following:

• If you do not have an NSF account in Research.gov, you must register for one. Please refer to the “Register for a New NSF Account” job aid for step-by-step instructions with associated screenshots. A Register for a New NSF Account video tutorial is also available.​
• After signing into Research.gov, you will see a “Reviews & Meetings” tile on the Research.gov homepage.​
• Click the “Provide Reviewer Profile Information” link in the “Reviews & Meetings” tile to begin the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information. Information you previously provided to NSF will be pre-populated. After you complete this one-time process and sign into Research.gov the next time, the “Provide Reviewer Profile Information” link will no longer display in the “Reviews & Meetings” tile on the Research.gov homepage.
• Follow the registration instructions in the email to you from NSF (noreply@nsf.gov) with the subject “Review for NSF - Action Needed.” If you cannot locate the email, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov to have the email re-sent.​
• Additional guidance is available in the “Provide Reviewer Profile Information” job aid with step-by-step instructions and associated screenshots.
• This new process is limited to participants added to the specified meeting types as of March 2023 and reviewers assigned to proposals as of April 20, 2024. Participants in NSF meetings and events not part of merit review and/or under Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) procedures are not required to complete this process.

No. Completing your reviewer profile information in Research.gov is a one-time process, and the process is the same for all reviewers regardless of whether the individual is a meeting participant or ad hoc reviewer. After completing the one-time process, you can view and update the information at any time via My Profile in Research.gov.

If you have already completed the one-time process and you receive another email from NSF that requests for you to complete the process again, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov.

If the “Provide Reviewer Profile Information” link no longer displays in the “Reviews & Meetings” tile on the Research.gov homepage, this means that you have already completed the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information in Research.gov

After completing the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information, you can view or update this information at any time via My Profile in Research.gov.

The NSF email requesting you to provide your reviewer profile information is sent from the “noreply@nsf.gov” email address with the subject “Review for NSF - Action Needed.”

If you cannot locate this email or think you may have accidentally deleted it, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov to have the email re-sent.

Meeting participants who have not completed the one-time process to provide reviewer profile information or who have not completed meeting registration in the Travel & Reimbursement system will receive a weekly automated email beginning two weeks before the meeting. An automated email will also be sent the day before the meeting to remind the meeting participant about the requirement to complete the one-time process in order to register for the meeting and sign into the meeting each day. NSF program staff managing the meeting also receive a weekly automated email beginning two weeks before the panel and then on the day before the panel indicating completion status of the one-time process to provide reviewer information and meeting registration status for each meeting participant.

Reviewers assigned for ad hoc review of a proposal will not receive automated reminder emails from NSF regarding completion of the one-time process to complete reviewer profile information.

If you have any questions about the one-time process or need assistance, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov.

The invitation code is included in an email from NSF (noreply@nsf.gov) with the subject “Review for NSF - Action Needed.”

You will only receive an email containing an invitation code with instructions to register as a reviewer in Research.gov if you are invited by an NSF staff member to participate in a meeting or you are assigned to a proposal for ad hoc review. However, not all ad hoc reviewers will receive an invitation code.

Instead of using an invitation code, participants added to meetings and reviewers assigned to proposals on or after April 20, 2024, can alternatively use the email address, where they received their NSF reviewer correspondence, to provide reviewer profile information in Research.gov.

If you believe you should have received an email with instructions to provide reviewer profile information or you received an email in error, please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov.

All meeting participants will receive an invitation code but not all reviewers assigned to ad hoc reviews will receive an invitation code.

Instead of using an invitation code, participants added to meetings and reviewers assigned to proposals on or after April 20, 2024, can alternatively use the email address, where they received their NSF reviewer correspondence, to provide reviewer profile information in Research.gov.

Invitation codes included in the request to provide your reviewer profile information email are valid for 90 days after NSF sends the email to you.

If you did not receive an invitation code in the email or you did but prefer to enter the email address where you received the request from NSF, the period for which the email address can be entered is also 90 days after NSF sends the email to you.

Instead of using an invitation code, participants added to meetings and reviewers assigned to proposals on or after April 20, 2024, can alternatively use the email address, where they received their NSF reviewer correspondence, to provide reviewer profile information in Research.gov.

If the period to enter your invitation code or email address has expired, contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov.

You may be prompted to verify your email address after submitting your invitation code or email address by entering a one-time passcode that will be sent to the email address where you received your NSF reviewer correspondence.

Enter the one-time passcode provided in an email to you from NSF (noreplyadmin@nsf.gov) with the subject “NSF Email Verification - Your One-Time Passcode.” If you cannot locate this email, click the “generate a new one” link on the screen or contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov for assistance.

One-time passcodes are valid for 10 minutes after NSF sends the email to you.

If your one-time passcode has expired, click the “generate a new one” link on the screen to re-send it or contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov for assistance.

After completing the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information, you can view or update this information at any time via My Profile in Research.gov.

Meeting participants will be blocked from meeting registration and meeting sign-in via the Travel & Reimbursement System until the one-time process to provide reviewer profile information is completed.

Reviewers assigned for ad hoc review of a proposal(s) must complete the one-time process to access the proposal(s) to review in FastLane.

No, the one-time process will be the same except that profile information you previously provided to NSF will be pre-populated in your reviewer profile but it should be reviewed and updated as necessary.

A reviewer's organizational affiliations are provided to NSF after the reviewer has provided their reviewer profile information in Research.gov. The reviewer can view and update this information at any time via My Profile in Research.gov. Organization-approved roles (e.g., PI) are required for an individual to work on proposal and award activities in Research.gov and Grants.gov. If an individual has one or more organization-approved roles, the approving organization would also be listed automatically as an organizational affiliation for the reviewer during the one-time process to provide reviewer profile information.

Since your NSF account in Research.gov includes more than one email address and phone number (i.e., primary email/phone number and work email/phone number), providing reviewer/meeting participant contact preferences will ensure that NSF staff know how you would like to be contacted specifically for reviewer or meeting participant activities.

The “Preferred Email Address for Review/Meeting Activities” field email will be the address NSF will use for review activities related to proposal reviews, panels, site visits, advisory committees, subcommittees, and committees of visitors only. Adding this preferred email address will not affect your primary, secondary, or organizational email address information in the Account Management System.​

The “Preferred Phone Number for Review/Meeting Activities” field phone number may be used by NSF staff to contact you during an active proposal review, panel, site visit, advisory committee, subcommittee, or committee of visitors meeting if you are unreachable via email. This is not for texting purposes and will not affect your other contact information in the Account Management System.

No. Updates to the Primary Email Address or Phone Number fields do not impact information in your Preferred Email Address and Phone Number for Review/Meeting Activities fields and vice versa. You can view and update your contact information at any time via My Profile in Research.gov.

No. You are not required to have any organizational affiliations to be a reviewer or participant in a panel, site visit, advisory committee, subcommittee, or committee of visitors meeting. If you do not have any organizational affiliations, you would select “No. I have not been affiliated with any organizations in the past 12 months” in Step One when completing the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information.

If you are currently affiliated or have been affiliated with more than one organization in the past 12 months, you must select a primary organization from the list to help NSF staff manage reviewer selection for a particular ad hoc proposal review, panel, site visit, advisory committee, subcommittee, or committee of visitors meeting. If you have an organization-approved PI role, designating a primary organizational affiliation in your reviewer profile will not change your PI primary organization and will not affect any proposal preparation or submission activities in Research.gov or Grants.gov.

After completing the one-time process to provide your reviewer profile information, you can view or update this information at any time via My Profile in Research.gov.

Select the “Academic/Professional Information” tab and click “Edit” to add your new organizational affiliation. You cannot remove organizational affiliations in your reviewer profile, but you can indicate if you have not been affiliated with a particular organization in the previous 12 months by selecting the checkbox next to the organization.