NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF) Program NSTRF18+Phase+A+Application+Submission+Instructions
User Manual: Pdf
Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 6
![](asset-1.png)
NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF) – Fall 2018
[NSTRF18]
Phase A - Application Submission Instructions
The applicant is required to complete each of the following steps (detailed further below) for
NSTRF18 Phase A application submission:
Step 1 – Register in NSPIRES
Step 2 – Affiliate with the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office
Step 3 – Input Cover Page Application Information in NSPIRES
Step 4 – Upload Required Elements of the NSTRF18 Phase A Application to NSPIRES
Step 5 – Submit Application
Important Notes You Should Review Prior to Initiating Application Submission
It is recommended that Steps 1, 2, and the Program Specific Data section in Step 3 be completed far
in advance of the NSTRF18 deadline. Affiliation (Step 2) must be requested by October 30, 2017, to
guarantee an approved affiliation by the November 2, 2017, application submission deadline.
Prior to completing Step 4, the applicant is encouraged to review the Final Verification Checklist on
the last page of these instructions to ensure that application components are in compliance with
solicitation requirements.
Concurrent with the Steps 1 – 5, the applicant must request three Letters of Recommendation (LOR)
be sent via email to NASA, as specified in the NSTRF18 solicitation. The Letters may be submitted via
email at any time prior to the NSTRF18 solicitation deadline.
In NSPIRES, errors ( ) indicate problems that will prevent application submission to NASA. Errors
must be corrected in order to submit. You must select the button in order to
update the error status of your application.
Warnings ( ) are meant as indicators for checking an application prior to submission to NASA. They
indicate potential discrepancies based on typical application requirements. Any actions taken
because of warnings are at your discretion.
![](asset-2.png)
STEP-BY-STEP SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1 – Register in NSPIRES
The applicant, hence forth referred to as ‘you’ in these instructions, must be registered with
NSPIRES and activate his/her account.
1. To register, go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com and click on the “Registration Information” link in
the Member Login Box on the right side of the page
2. Click on the yellow “Begin Registration” button on the Registration Information page and
complete the requested information to obtain an account
3. Activate your account by responding to the instructions provided in an automatic email sent by
the NSPIRES system
Step 2 – Affiliate with the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office
Note: You may complete Step 2 at any time prior to submitting your application to NASA. Please note
that you will not be able to submit your application (Release to Org - see Step 5) unless you have a
confirmed association with the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office. It is your responsibility to request
this affiliation well in advance of the application due date. You must request affiliation no later than
October 30 in order to guarantee an approved affiliation by the November 2 application submission
deadline. Affiliations will be approved by the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office during regular
business hours: Monday through Friday from 8 AM - 6 PM Eastern Time.
1. Log into NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com) using your User Name and Password in the
Member Login Box
2. Select the “Account Management” link on the NSPIRES Welcome page
3. Select “Affiliations” on the Account Management page
4. Click on the “Add Affiliations” on the Current Affiliations page
5. Type in “NSTRF Proposal Submission Office” and click “Search”
6. Select the radio button for “NSTRF Proposal Submission Office” under the search results and
click the “Select” button
7. Verify that you have selected NSTRF Proposal Submission Office and click “Continue”
8. Complete the Affiliation Address Book Data. Select a choice from each of the following four
pull-down menus:
– “Courier Shipping Addresses”
– “Mailing Addresses”
– “Emails”
– “Phones”
Each pull-down menu will be pre-populated with data you entered when you registered with
NSPIRES.
9. Click “Continue”
10. Click “OK” on the Affiliations page
Return to the Affiliations page in the Account Management section of NSPIRES to confirm that your
affiliation request has been approved. A status of “confirmed” allows you to link your application to
the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office.
![](asset-3.png)
Step 3 – Input Cover Page Application Information in NSPIRES
Note: NSPIRES will automatically generate the NSPIRES Cover Page for your application following the
completion of this step.
1. Log into NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com) by entering your User Name and Password in
the Member Login Box, or, if already logged into NSPIRES, click the “Proposals” link on the
black bar at the top of the NSPIRES page
2. Select “Proposals” link (skip this step if you already clicked the Proposals link in #1)
3. Click “Create Proposal”
a. Select “Solicitation” and click “Continue”
b. Select the radio button for the specific solicitation - “NASA Space Technology Research
Fellowships (NSTRF) – Fall 2018” - and click “Continue”
c. Enter the “Proposal Title” and click “Continue”
d. Link the application to the submitting organization named NSTRF Proposal Submission
Office by clicking the button next to this name, and click “Continue”
(Note: For NSTRF18 Phase A applications, your submitting organization must be the
NSTRF Proposal Submission Office and NOT your academic institution).
If you do not yet have a confirmed affiliation with the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office,
you may also click the “Do Not Link At This Time” button so that you can continue with
your application.
(Note: Item 9 below describes how to link your application to the NSTRF Proposal
Submission Office at a later time.)
e. If the proposal was linked to the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office, NSPIRES will display
Submitting Organization Information for verification. Click “Continue”
4. Verify the Proposal Title and the Solicitation Announcement on the Confirm Proposal Creation
page and click “Save”
5. On the View Proposal page (Note: the applicant will be identified as the PI for the NSTRF18
Phase A application)
a. Select “Proposal Summary” link in the Proposal Cover Page section
b. Select “Edit”
c. Type, or cut and paste, the application summary into the “Proposal Summary” text box
(4000 character limit)
d. Click “Save,” and click “OK”
6. On the View Proposal page
a. Select the “Business Data” link in the Proposal Cover Page section
b. For each section of the “Business Data” element
i. Click “Edit” to access the section
ii. Provide the information requested in each field
iii. Click “Save”
c. Click “OK”
7. On the View Proposal page
a. Select the “Program Specific Data” link in the Proposal Cover Page section
b. Select “Edit”
c. Complete ALL required (*) questions (Note: Refer to Privacy Act Statement in the NSTRF18
solicitation)
![](asset-4.png)
Note: You must complete ALL required questions for NSPIRES to save your answers. You may
change your answers at a later time by clicking the Edit button in a subsequent session.
d. Click “Confirm” when input is completed
e. Click “OK”
8. On the View Proposal page
a. Select “Proposal Team” link in the Proposal Cover Page section
b. Under the PI heading, select the link that has the PI’s (i.e. applicant’s) name
c. Click the “Edit Team Member” button
d. Answer the two questions that follow the section entitled “U.S. Government Agency &
International Participation”
e. Click “Done”
(Note: No team members should be listed on the NSTRF18 Phase A application except for you,
the applicant, as PI)
9. Follow this step if you selected “Do Not Link At This Time” in Item 3d above, and you now need
to link your application to the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office:
a. Access your NSTRF18 application in NSPIRES by clicking on the “Proposals” link on the
NSPIRES Welcome page after you login to NSPIRES.
b. Click on the application title you are planning to submit for the NSTRF18 solicitation
c. On the View Proposal page, click the “Link Organization” button
d. On the Create Link to Submitting Organization page, click the radio button next to NSTRF
Proposal Submission Office and click “Continue”
e. Verify the information on the Organization Link Confirmation page and click “Continue”
(Note: The application is now linked to the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office. The “Release to
Org” button should now be viewable on the View Proposal page.)
Please note that the Proposal Summary, Business Data, Program Specific Data and Proposal Team
are required Cover Page elements for an NSTRF application. The NSPIRES Budget Form element is
NOT APPLICABLE to this solicitation, and no budget information is required for NSTRF18 Phase A
applications. Budget information will be required for Phase B applications (for those applicants
invited to submit Phase B applications) only.
Step 4 – Upload Required Elements of the NSTRF18 Phase A Application to NSPIRES
1. On the View Proposal page, in the Proposal Attachments section
a. Click “Add”
b. Select “Proposal Document” as “Attachment Type” from the drop down list
c. Browse and select your application document
The document that you upload must be a single PDF document that includes (see Section 9 –
Application Procedures – Phase A of the NSTRF18 solicitation for additional details):
2 - Personal Statement
3 - Project Narrative
4 - Degree Program Schedule
5 - Curriculum Vitae
6 - Transcripts
7 - GRE general test scores
![](asset-5.png)
Note: NSPIRES will automatically generate the NSPIRES Cover Page for your application (see Step
3).
d. Click “Upload” and click “OK”
e. Optional: Click “Generate” to review your application in draft form prior to submission
f. Click to update status for each element
Step 5 – Submit Application
NOTE: Releasing your application to the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office formally submits your
Phase A application to NASA and the application will be locked (i.e. you will not be able to make
further updates). Click the “Release to Org” button only if you intend to formally submit your
application to NASA.
1. Select “Proposals” link
a. On the Current Proposals/NOIs page
i. Select the “Proposal Title” to be released
b. On the View Proposal page
i. Click “Release to Org” button. If you do not see the “Release to Org” button,
please check your affiliation status with the NSTRF Proposal Submission Office
(see Step 2) and make sure that you have linked the proposal to the NSTRF
Proposal Submission Office (see Step 3).
ii. Click “Release”
iii. Click “OK”
c. Logout of NSPIRES
The “Release to Org” step must occur by the submission deadline specified in the NSTRF18
solicitation. The NSTRF Proposal Submission Office will submit the full Phase A application to NASA.
It will take 1 – 2 business days for the application to display “Submitted” status in NSPIRES.
Applicants will receive an automatic email from NSPIRES verifying submission of the Phase A
application.
For assistance, you may contact the NSPIRES Help Desk at Phone: (202) 479-9376 or E-mail:
nspires-help@nasaprs.com. The Help Desk is staffed, Monday to Friday, from 8 AM to 6 PM ET.
In addition, you are encouraged to view step-by-step NSPIRES video tutorials; they are available at
http://nspires.nasaprs.com/tutorials/index.html.
![](asset-6.png)
NSTRF18 Application Final Verification Checklist
The following checklist is provided to help the applicant ensure that all components are in
compliance with the solicitation requirements. Please note that this is only for final verification –
refer to the above NSTRF18 Phase A Application Submission Instructions for the specific details.
Items completed well in advance of the Nov 2 application submission due date
___ Letter of Recommendation (LOR) Instructions provided to three Letter Writers (no more than
one from NASA/JPL)
- Also provide LOR Writer with email address and application title as entered in NSPIRES
___ Registered in NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com)
___ Affiliated NSPIRES account with the “NSTRF Proposal Submission Office” (not the university)
___ NSPIRES Proposal Cover Page application information complete
___ Proposal Summary
___ Business Data
___ Team Member: U.S. Government Agency & International Participation questions
___ NSPIRES 53 Program Specific Data questions complete (in one sitting)
___ Application linked to the “NSTRF Proposal Submission Office” (not the university)
Single PDF file verified to contain only the following, and in this order:
___ Personal Statement, limited to 2 pages
___ Project Narrative, limited to 5 pages (additional page(s) for references permitted)
___ Degree Program Schedule, limited to 1 page, with focus on the academic plan (research
milestones permitted but not required)
___ Curriculum Vitae, limited to 2 pages
___ Undergraduate Transcripts (complete and current; official or unofficial)
___ Graduate Transcripts (if applicable, complete and current; official or unofficial)
___ GRE general test score verification (legible; personal data blacked out; official or unofficial)
Responses to all 53 Program Specific Data Questions re-verified
___ Check that all fields have the responses you intended, and specifically note the following.
___ PSD 25 – Degree seeking reflects entire intended period of study with a single research topic
___ PSD 26 – # Years seeking compliant with section 5 requirements
___ PSD 29 – Profile selection compliant with section 4 requirements
___ PSD 30 – Profile selection justification clearly articulated
___ PSD 32 – Distinction between master’s and doctoral research clearly articulated, if applicable
Finally
___ Upload single PDF file to NSPIRES (by applicant, not the university)
___ Submit application according to Step 5 (see instructions above) in NSPIRES (by applicant, not
the university) well before due time
- Proposal due November 2, 2017: 6:00 pm ET, 5:00 pm CT, 4:00 pm MT, 3:00 pm PT
- Avoid waiting until last minute – late proposals (due to internet outages, computer
problems, misreading instructions, etc.) are not guaranteed acceptance
___ Verify that you have received two emails from the NSPIRES system after releasing the proposal
___ First email – notifying you that the proposal has been released
___ Second email – notifying you that the proposal has been submitted