GRFP Reference Letter Submission Guide
All Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) reference letters are submitted in the Reference
Letter Submission module in Research.gov. All reference letters must be submitted to NSF by
the annual deadline in late October.
Starting the Reference Letter Process
• Nominated GRFP reference letter writers will receive a system-generated email from the "Rgov-No-
Reply@nsf.gov" sender email with "NSF Fellowship Reference Letter Request" in the subject line.
• The email includes an Invitation Code required to access the Reference Letter Submission module in
Research.gov.
• A confirmation email is sent to the GRFP Applicant after the reference letter request email is sent to
the nominated writer. The GRFP Applicant can track reference letter submission status in the GRFP
module.
Example System-generated GRFP Reference Letter Request Email
Instructions
Invitation Code
Step
1
: Register for a new NSF account in Research.gov.
Note: Skip to Step 2 on page 3 if you already have an NSF account in Research.gov. Use the
NSF ID Lookup tool to check if you have an existing NSF account. If needed, contact the NSF Help
Desk for account verification assistance
at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except
federal holidays) or via
rgov@nsf.gov.
Follow the steps below to create a new NSF account. There is also a three-minute Register for a New
NSF Account video tutorial and Register for a New NSF Account job aid for a detailed walk-through of
steps with associated screenshots.
• Open Research.gov.
• Click “Register” located at the top of the screen.
• Enter the requested information on the Account Registration page (one-time process)
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NSF Account Registration page
NSF
ID Lookup
tool link
NSF account
Primary
Email field
Save &
Preview
button is enabled after
age confirmation
box is checked
NSF Account Primary Email Address Tips:
• Your NSF account primary email address will be used for NSF account notifications including
password resets.
• Please make sure you have ongoing access to this email account (e.g., Gmail address).
• It is critical that you have continued access to this email account if you change organizations.
• NSF account holders can update their NSF account primary email address without NSF Help
Desk assistance after registration.
• After previewing your account registration information, click Submit.
Submit button is enabled after the
I’m not a robot box is checked
Use the Edit button to make
changes
Preview Account Registration
screen to verify N SF account
information
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• You will receive an Account Registration Confirmation on the screen.
• You will then receive two system-generated emails at your NSF account primary email address.
o One email will contain your new NSF ID for your NSF account.
o The second email will have your temporary password so you can sign in to Research.gov.
Follow instructions provided in the email to change your temporary password.
Confirmation message indicates
successful NSF account creation
System -generated email is sent to
the NSF account primary email
address with temporary password to
sign in to Research.gov
Step
2
: Sign in to Research.gov and access the Reference Letter Submission module.
• Open Research.gov.
• Click Sign In located at the top of the screen to enter NSF account credentials.
Sign in with your NSF account
primary email or NSF ID and your NSF
account password
Sign In button is enabled after
credentials are entered
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• You will be on the Research.gov homepage after signing in.
• Click the Manage Reference Letters (Writers) link under Fellowships.
• You will be navigated to the Reference Letter Submission module.
Manage Reference
Letters (Writers) link
Step
3
: Enter Invitation Code to Add GRFP Applicant.
• Enter the Invitation code from your NSF Fellowship Reference Letter Request email to the
Invitation Code field on the Manage Reference Letters page. Be sure not to add extra blank spaces
at the end of the Invitation Code. The system will only validate 10 characters in the Invitation Code
field.
• Click the Add Applicant button to continue.
• Note: This process must be repeated for each GRFP applicant (i.e., if you are nominated to write a
reference letter for two GRFP applicants, you will enter the Invitation Code from the NSF
Fellowship Reference Letter Request email corresponding to each Applicant).
Example NSF Fellowship Reference Letter Request email
Add Applicant button is enabled when
10 -character Invitation Code is entered
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• A success message will display on the Manage Reference Letters page after a GRFP Applicant is
added to the Applicants Requesting Reference Letters table.
• The Reference Letter Status (Not Started, In Progress, or Submitted to NSF) column in the
Applicants Requesting Reference Letters table will update as the status changes.
Success message indicates reference
letter nomination acceptance for the
specified GRFP Applicant
GRFP Applicant is added to Applicants
Requesting Reference Letters table.
Status is “Not Started ” after an
Applicant is initially added.
Additional Verification Step May be Required to Add GRFP Applicant
• If the “To” email address on a system-generated GRFP Reference Letter Request
email does not match your NSF account primary email address, an additional
quick verification step is needed to add the GRFP Applicant to the Applicants
Requesting Reference Letters table.
• If you have been nominated by more than one GRFP Applicant, this process would
be repeated for each Applicant when the “To” email address on the system-
generated GRFP Reference Letter Request email does not match your NSF
account primary email address.
Enter the One -Time
Password emailed to you
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Step
4
: Select GRFP Applicant to upload the reference letter.
• Click on the Applicant Name linked in the Applicants Requesting Reference Letters table to go
to the Reference Letter Applicant Detail page to upload the reference letter.
Click on GRFP Applicant
name (blue link)
• Reference Letter Applicant Detail page includes information about the Applicant, Fellowship,
reference letter due date, and reference letter instructions.
• Reference letter must be uploaded as a PDF.
Reference Letter Due
Date
GRFP Applicant
and Fellowship
information
Reference Letter
instructions
GRFP Reference Letter Submission Guide
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Step
5
: Upload GRFP Applicant reference letter.
• Use the Browse button to select the reference letter PDF file to upload.
Clicking the
Browse b utton
opens the file
selection feature
• A success message is generated after the PDF file is uploaded if no file compliance errors are
detected (e.g., attempted file upload of a file format other than PDF)
• The uploaded file linked at the bottom of the page may be:
• Viewed by clicking the file link. Please ensure the upload file is for the intended
Applicant. Reference letters cannot be updated after submission to NSF.
• Deleted by selecting the trash can icon.
File upload succes
message
s
View the uploaded
PDF
Delete the uploaded
PDF for re -upload
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Step
6
: Submit reference letter to NSF.
• After confirming that the correct reference letter has been uploaded, use the Submit to NSF button to
complete the submission.
• A modal will display to confirm that you are ready to submit the reference letter for the specified
Applicant. No changes can be made to the reference letter after it is submitted to NSF.
Submit to NSF
button
Confirm submission
to NSF
• A success message is generated after reference letter submission.
• The reference letter status is changed to “Submitted to NSF” for the Applicant on the Applicants
Requesting Reference Letters table.
• System-generated confirmation email is sent to the reference letter writer and to the GRFP Applicant
to notify of the reference letter submission.
Reference letter
submission success
message
Reference letter
status updated to
“Submitted to NSF ”
Questions?
• Questions about the GRFP reference writer process should be directed to the GRF
Operations Center (website: https://nsfgrfp.org) at 1-866-NSF-GRFP (1-866-673-4737) or
by email to info@nsfgrfp.org.
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Signing in to Research.gov with
Organization Credentials or
Login.gov Credentials
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Using Organization Credentials to Sign in to Research.gov
After registering for an NSF account in Research.gov, you can sign in to Research.gov with your
organization-issued credentials if your organization is an InCommon Federation participant and
integrated with NSF. Please check the Organization drop-down on the Research.gov Sign In page to
view the list of InCommon Organizations that participate/integrate with NSF.
• Only InCommon Federation participants can use their organization-issued credentials to sign in to
Research.gov.
• If you are signing in with your organization-issued credentials, you will be prompted to link your
credentials to your NSF account if they are not already linked.
• Please see the About the InCommon Integration at Research.gov page to learn more.
• If you have questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Eastern Time; Monday – Friday except federal holidays) or via rg[email protected].
Sign in with your Organization
credentials
Sign In button is enabled after
credentials are entered
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Using Login.gov Credentials to Sign in to Research.gov
After registering for an NSF account in Research.gov, you can sign in to Research.gov with your
Login.gov credentials.
• Login.gov is a Federal shared service platform that provides multi-factor authentication for users
to sign in to participating government agency systems.
• Accessing Research.gov through Login.gov enables Reference Writers to have a single username
and password for participating Federal systems.
• After Login.gov credentials (username and password) are entered, the Login.gov system will
require the Reference Writer to provide a second factor such as a security key, authentication
application, or a one-time security code the Reference Writer receives by phone or by text to
complete the authentication. For more information, please see the Login.gov Help Center
Authentication Options page.
• When signing in to Research.gov with Login.gov credentials the first time, the Reference Writer’s
Login.gov account and NSF account will automatically be linked if the same primary email is used
for both accounts. If Research.gov does not detect a primary email address match for both
accounts, the Reference Writer will be prompted to complete a one-time process to link their
Login.gov account to an existing NSF account.
• If you have questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Eastern Time; Monday – Friday except federal holidays) or via rg[email protected].
Sign in with Login.gov
credentials
Sign In button is
enabled after
credentials are
entered
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