1   Introduction

When responding to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), applicants may find that their Proposal contains proprietary information. Marking a Proposal as containing proprietary information adds a layer of security for the applicant and any reviewers who might have a conflict of interest.

The purpose of this document is to provide step-by-step instructions for users to follow to mark a Proposal as containing proprietary information.

2   Prerequisites

Before a Proposal can be marked as containing proprietary information, the following criteria must be met:

• The user must have an active external user account
• The user must be assigned to the Proposal
• A decision has not been made on the Proposal

3   Locating a Proposal

Use the following steps to locate a Proposal.

1. Log in to the PAMS External website at: https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/webpamsepsexternal/login.aspx

2. Navigate to the Proposals tab. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. PAMS Homepage, Proposals

3. Locate the Proposals section and click View My Proposals. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Proposals, View My Proposals

4. PAMS will navigate to the My Proposals page, which displays all Proposals to which you are assigned in PAMS. Browse the grid or use the Search above the grid to locate the Proposal for which you would like to mark proprietary information. Once you have found the Proposal, click Mark as Proprietary Information in the Actions/Views menu in the Options column. (Figure 3)

Figure 3. My Proposals, Mark as Proprietary Information

4   Marking Proprietary Information

Upon clicking Mark as Proprietary Information on the My Proposals page, PAMS will navigate to the Proprietary Information page, which contains a Proposal header and a Mark as Proprietary Information section. (Figure 4) Use the following steps to mark a Proposal as Proprietary Information.

Figure 4. Proprietary Information

1. In the Does this Proposal contain Proprietary Information? field, select the appropriate Yes/No radio button.

2. Click Update and Continue in the bottom right corner of the page.

3. PAMS will return to the My Proposals page and display a green success message confirming that you have successfully updated the proprietary information selection. (Figure 5)

Figure 5. My Proposals, Success