FastLane Project Reports System 101 For Faculty and Staff Submitting Annual, Final or Interim Reports on National Science Foundation Projects May 1999

The Basics - Or What is Needed to Start With... n Workstation Software requirements: u Browser F Netscape 3.0 or above F MSIE 4.01 or above u PDF file generator F Adobe Acrobat or Distiller 3.01 or above F Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or above u Adobe Reader Without these elements, you will be unable to fully utilize FastLane

Project Reports System Topics n Overview of Reporting Requirements n Getting Started - What is Needed n Working the System n Submitting Reports

Why NSF Requires Project Reports n POINT ONE: It is NSF's intent that investigators concentrate efforts and resources on producing results. However, NSF needs to report those results to the people who supply funds to NSF and so to the investigator. NSF also needs to monitor what is or is not being accomplished through their programs.

Why NSF Requires Project Reports n POINT TWO: Project reports are also used to monitor progress on active awards and to evaluate new requests for funding in light of results from earlier NSF support.

Why NSF Requires Project Reports n POINT THREE: Information provided at all stages of reporting is used by the program officer, by NSF, and by other audiences - including Congress and many other non-scientific audiences - to report on and evaluate the results achieved by the program, its parent organization, and NSF.

NSF Required Project Reports n Annual Project Report: u Required at least for each year except the last of a multi-year award, annual project reports go to the program officer, who uses them to monitor and report on the progress of a project. n End-of-Award Report: u Required within ninety days after the award ends.

NSF Required Project Reports n With New Proposal: u If NSF funding has been received within the past five years, a report on results form the award considered most relevant to the new proposal is required with that proposal and is used by reviewers and NSF staff to evaluate the new proposal in light of past results. The Project Reports System is used to prepare such a report.

Before Accessing the System n NSF recommends reviewing the Reporting Categories prior to beginning work on a report submission….. This Checklist is also available at:

Reporting Categories: A Checklist n Participants: Who has been involved? u What people have worked on the project? u What other organizations have been involved as partners? u Have you had other collaborators or contacts?

Reporting Categories II: n Activities and Findings: What have you done? What have you learned? u What were your major research activities? u What are your major research findings? u What research training has the project helped provide? u What other educational and outreach activities have you undertaken?

Reporting Categories III: n Products: What has the project produced? u What have you published as a result of this work? F Major Journal Publications F Books and other one-time publications u What Web site(s) or other Internet site(s) reflect this project? u What other specific products have you developed?

Reporting Categories IV: n Contributions: How has the project contributed? u To the development of your own discipline(s) u To other disciplines of science or engineering? u To education and development of human resources? u To physical, institutional, and information resources for science and technology? u To the public welfare beyond science and engineering?

NSF Recognizes That……….. ….it is likely that nothing significant will be reported in a number of categories. It is expected - - and the option of clicking a “Nothing Significant” button rather than making an entry has often been provided throughout the system. NOTE: The system can only test whether something is entered in the appropriate blanks. Whether what is entered makes sense or is sufficient is between you and your NSF program officer.

NSF Project Reports System Access n For PIs or Co-PIs: u Award Number (seven-digit number assigned by NSF) u PI or Co-PI Last Name u PI or Co-PI PIN n Other Project Participants (who are registered users): u Award Number u FastLane User SSN u Award PIN (issued by the PI/Co-PI)

Where to Get Started n Access the FastLane web site at: ( n Under the PI/Co-PI Functions, click on Project Reports System to log into FastLane

Logging In PI/Co-PI Login Here

Logging In Others Login Here

Not There Yet……... n An informational screen appears first n Click on the “Continue” button to proceed

Choosing the Type of Report n Annual is required at least once for each year except for last year of multi-year award. Reports go to Program Officer. n Final is required within 90 days after an award ends. n Interim is for updating at any time, including after award expiration

Real Life Report Preparation n Login and choose type of report to be submitted n Assign Award a PIN n Provide the Award Number and Award PIN to those who need access to work on report What Must the PI/CoPI Do Before Staff Can Help? Anyone with a FastLane PIN and necessary information from the PI/CoPI can work on a project report in FastLane.

Creating Award PIN Award PIN Created by Clicking Here

Assigning (or Changing) Award PIN Enter and Re-enter PIN, then click “Continue”

Award PIN Confirmation n A confirmation screen will appear when a PIN has been successfully assigned to an award u Click on the “Continue” button to return to the initial “Project System Control” screen n Provide the Award Number and Award PIN to those who need access to work on report

Now to Really Start A Report ….. To begin work, click on any selection listed under “Prepare Report”

Report System Screen Clues Navigation Boxes identify current category and allow for quick moves “What?” buttons provide information on what is being asked to do in a specific context “Why?” buttons explain why NSF is asking for particular information

Project Participants: Who has been involved? n This component will cover three specific areas: u People on the project u Other organizations involved as partners u Other collaborators or contacts

For The People Involved n This section will: u Display previously entered participants who have worked on the project (start to present date) u Provide an opportunity to revise roles (including deleting), effort levels, or demographic data for each participant, if needed, when participant selected and “Review/Revise” button clicked. u Allow for adding new people by clicking “Yes” in response to “Are any other persons involved with the project?”

Project Participants ….. Click on participant’s name and then “Review/Revise” button (usually at bottom of page)

For Other Organizations Involved n This section will: u Display previously entered organizations reported as partners in the project u Provide an opportunity to revise information on any organization or, if not involved, to delete any organization. u Allow for adding new organizations by clicking “Yes” in response to “Are any other organizations involved with the project?”

Participating Other Organizations ….. To check or change information, select the organization and click “Review/Revise”

Adding Other Organizations ….. To ADD Organizations, click “Yes”

Adding Other Organizations ….. Enter Organization name then click “Continue”

When Other Organizations Have Been Added n When the name of an organization to be added is entered, then: u Confirmation of the organization’s name will be done through a “Select Partner Organization” screen u Information about the partnership will be requested. u And, finally, the added organization will appear on listing of other organizations for the project.

For Other Collaborators or Contacts Involved n This section will: u Display text box showing previously reported collaborators or contacts u Provide an opportunity to revise information in the text box, if necessary.

Other Collaborators or Contacts ….. Enter information in text box and click “Save and Continiue” or Click “Nothing (Yet) to Report” to proceed

Moving Onto Activities & Findings ….. To continue work, click on the next selection listed under “Prepare Report”

Activities and Findings: What have you done? What have you learned? n This component covers the specifics of the project’s activities and findings: u Major research activities u Major research findings u Research training provided u Educational and outreach activities undertaken

Reporting Activities & Findings ….. Click on the “Continue” button to start this section

Reporting Major Activities & Findings ….. Enter or upload as a PDF file new/revised information as needed and then click “Save and Continue” (at bottom of screen)

Major Activities and Findings Using PDF Files n PDF (Portable Document Format) files can be used to answer either of the questions related to Activities and Findings. n One PDF file is to be used for the Activities question and one PDF file for the Findings question. n Response as PDF is optional - the text box can be filled out instead. NOTE: The answer must be either a PDF file or as text - not both. If a PDF file is provided as the answer, then the entire response (text, graphics, equations, pictures) must be in the PDF file

Reporting Training and Development ….. Enter text and click “Save and Continue” or Click “No Change”

Reporting Outreach Activities ….. Enter text and click “Save and Continue” or Click “No Change”

And Completing the Rest….. n You will find that completing the following sections will be very similar to components you have already completed within the Project Reports System u PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS u CONTRIBUTIONS u SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS - required when submitting an Annual Project Report

Ready for Report Submission ….. Click here to run an automatic check of report prior to submission

Is It Ready for Submission? n If report is not ready for submission, FastLane will identify which sections must be completed prior to submission u Opportunity to complete the report is provided by clicking on links for the missing categories n If report is ready for submission then: u Certification text for Annual and Final Reports will be displayed (no certification for Interim reports) F Check the box to certify and submit report

No, It’s Not Ready ….. Click on link to complete missing information or “Return” button to go back to the reporting system control screen

It’s Ready to Go ….. Check the Certification box and click on “Submit” button or Click “Return” to go back to reporting system control screen

Just What Will NSF “See”? Click here to review and submit completed report

Just What Will NSF “See”? Scroll to review what NSF will view and submit completed report

Just What Will NSF “See”? Click “Submit” to send to NSF or Click “Return” to go back to project system control screen to make changes

And, Finally - Just in General n Don’t be fooled by the name. FastLane is not faster. u It does make some aspects of project management and proposal preparation easier, but the learning curve is steep n Don’t suffer in silence. If something weird seems to be happening, contact OSR - the problem may be on FastLane’s end of things, not yours!