Research.gov proposal status question

[research_prof]

I have noticed that if a proposal is submitted through research.gov, the website provides a bit more detailed status than submitting through fastlane. For example, for the proposals I have submitted through research.gov, I can see that they have been sent for review (status "Submitted to NSF (Due Date Passed or Assigned for Review)"). I could also see when the proposals were simply submitted, but had not been sent for review.

My question is the following: do you guys know if there is a separate status message that will tell me if the panel has been held?

PS: I have tried looking at the research.gov documentation and FAQs, but I could not find anything about the status messages.

[born_a_prof]

I don't think so, but if it is NSf, you can take a reasonable guess by looking here:https://www.nsf.gov/events/advisory.jsp.
Find the panel date ~30 days after your research.gov status turned from "not yet sent for review" to "due date passed".

[research_prof]

I don't think so, but if it is NSf, you can take a reasonable guess by looking here:https://www.nsf.gov/events/advisory.jsp.
Find the panel date ~30 days after your research.gov status turned from "not yet sent for review" to "due date passed".

Yup.. I have been also "guesstimating" based on that, but I just wanted to see if there is something more accurate. I recall senior colleagues have told me that fastlane actually had a status message saying that a panel has been held.

[research_prof]

Update: Today the proposal changed its status date and it is about 4 days after the last panel held by the PO handling my proposal. This PO had scheduled several panels that I suppose were for the program I had applied to.

Now the status on research.gov does not show "Submitted to NSF (Due Date Passed or Assigned for Review)" anymore, but it simply shows "Pending". I expect that a rejection will be coming my way soon.

[aspiring.academic]

You're going to drive yourselves insane thinking you can read into anything date change or arbitrary status on research.gov

I made that mistake in the past. They literally mean nothing to anyone who isn't internal to the organization

[research_prof]

You're going to drive yourselves insane thinking you can read into anything date change or arbitrary status on research.gov

I made that mistake in the past. They literally mean nothing to anyone who isn't internal to the organization

You are right and thank you for pointing that out. However, I have experienced first-hand and have heard from senior colleagues that when there is a status date change and a proposal is still pending without hearing back from the PO after a panel, this is a rejection.

I am sad, because I submitted this proposal with a very experienced colleague, who said several times that it was a very good proposal and I made sure to satisfy all the criteria mentioned in the solicitation. Meh... Moving to Canada where funding rates are actually reasonable may be the way to build a strong research career. Getting funding from NSF is simply impossible.

[aspiring.academic]

I would love to see this place become more optimistic.
The depressing tone of some messages is a bit much and off-putting.

For every person that claims no contact before a status change to be a sign, there's someone else who has experienced something different. The takeaway is that we just don't know, be patient, and keep the faith.

I'm not familiar with Canadian federal funding. However, securing NSF funding is very competitive, and it's very frustrating to be turned down when you believe strongly in your work. All I can say is to keep trying. Persistence has a funny way of paying off. My first three proposals to the NSF were declined — it happens.

[fizzycist]

I would love to see this place become more optimistic.
The depressing tone of some messages is a bit much and off-putting.

For every person that claims no contact before a status change to be a sign, there's someone else who has experienced something different. The takeaway is that we just don't know, be patient, and keep the faith.

I'm not familiar with Canadian federal funding. However, securing NSF funding is very competitive, and it's very frustrating to be turned down when you believe strongly in your work. All I can say is to keep trying. Persistence has a funny way of paying off. My first three proposals to the NSF were declined — it happens.

+1!

I was awarded only one small grant from NSF from my first 12 tries. Then a spurt of success, then repeat. overall success rate ~24%.

My fastlane shows (from most recent to earliest):
Pending
Pending
Pending
Not Invited
Declined
Awarded
Invited
Not Invited
Awarded
Awarded
Declined
Declined
Withdrawn
Declined
Declined
Declined
Not Invited
Declined
Awarded
Declined
Declined
Declined

[research_prof]

My first 12 NSF proposals are pretty much like yours. Rejections....

[research_prof]

As expected. The rejection came. No email from NSF. Had to log in to research.gov. Research.gov is barely working..

[research_prof]

The regular funny comment: "The selected scientific use case is not novel enough.". Really? So since this is not novel, I suppose it has been done several times in the past. Can you please point me to previous projects then that did what I proposed?

It is the easiest comment in the world to say something "is not novel enough". But this is not a paper anymore--it is a proposal for federal funding. So better be ready to justify your statements. But I guess if the PO does not care, then why would the reviewer care about writing and returning a review like that?

[BoMiu]

I would love to see this place become more optimistic.
The depressing tone of some messages is a bit much and off-putting.

For every person that claims no contact before a status change to be a sign, there's someone else who has experienced something different. The takeaway is that we just don't know, be patient, and keep the faith.

I'm not familiar with Canadian federal funding. However, securing NSF funding is very competitive, and it's very frustrating to be turned down when you believe strongly in your work. All I can say is to keep trying. Persistence has a funny way of paying off. My first three proposals to the NSF were declined — it happens.

+1!

I was awarded only one small grant from NSF from my first 12 tries. Then a spurt of success, then repeat. overall success rate ~24%.

My fastlane shows (from most recent to earliest):
Pending
Pending
Pending
Not Invited
Declined
Awarded
Invited
Not Invited
Awarded
Awarded
Declined
Declined
Withdrawn
Declined
Declined
Declined
Not Invited
Declined
Awarded
Declined
Declined
Declined

You have an impressive track record. I have applied for NSF 10 times and got only one success so far. The 10th one is pending, but a status change appears today, so a rejection is imminent. I know there are exceptions to this, but it is almost always true.