If Congress continues the trend of the last several years, the Congressional appropriations should reflect strong support for research and provide increased funding to programs that fund university-based research. The National Science Foundation has recently added several new functions to FastLane. The most important recent changes are highlighted below. As with virtually all FastLane functions, the password reset function is available all the time. Users no longer need to contact the Sponsored Projects Office for a new password.
Users can now add senior personnel to their revised proposal budgets.
Request for Supplemental Funding Last October, FastLane added a new module for award supplements. The PI no longer enters a request for a supplement through Notifications and Requests. To request a supplement, the PI selects the existing award at the beginning of the process, creating a temporary proposal in FastLane. The PI must provide, at a minimum, a summary of the work to be accomplished, a justification and a budget. When SPO submits the supplement, a new proposal is created.