NSF – Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL)

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Dana Desonie

Date Due: 11/07/18, 11/06/19

Amount: various from $150,000 for one year to up to $5M for up to 5 years

Summary: The Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments for public and professional audiences; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and develop understandings of deeper learning by participants (National Resource Council, 2012). To achieve the greatest return on its investments, the AISL program encourages projects that will “raise the bar” in the fields of informal STEM education. It invests in projects that advance the leading edge of the field and address its most critical challenges

Keywords: STEM, education, innovation

Solicitation number: 17-573

Limitations: Individual and instituiton can be lead on no more than 3 proposals

URL: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2017/nsf17573/nsf17573.htm

Buckminster Fuller Institute — Socially-Responsible Design Challenge Seeks Innovations that Solve the World’s Most Pressing Needs – not announced yet for 2018

Posted on August 10, 2017 by atgause

Date Due: 03/01/17

Amount: $100,000

Summary: Recognized as “Socially-Responsible Design’s Highest Award”, the Fuller Challenge invites activists, architects, artists, designers, entrepreneurs, scientists, students and planners from all over the world to submit their innovative solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing problems… Winning the Fuller Challenge requires more than a stand-alone idea or innovation. BFI seeks whole-system solutions that demonstrate a clear grasp of the ‘big-picture’ and focus on a well-defined need of critical importance. If, for example, a proposal emphasizes a new design, material, process, service, tool, or technology, it is essential that it be part of an integrated strategy that simultaneously addresses key social, environmental, and economic factors.

Keywords: innovation, humanities

URL: https://bfi.org/challenge/about (email to express interest in the 2017 competition)

 

NSF — Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)

Posted on July 11, 2017 by atgause

Date Due: 09/05/17, 2nd Wednesday in August annually thereafter

Amount:up to $400,000 (Exploratory, up to 2 years), up to $1.2M (Strategies, up to 3 years), up to $2M (Successful Project Expansion and Dissemination, 3 to 5 years)

Summary: As the nation continues to expand the horizon of opportunities and possibilities through advances in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the need for a more diverse and well-prepared STEM workforce is also expanding1. The challenge of preparing citizens for the expanding workforce and the changing workplace environments calls for new innovations in STEM education2. ITEST is a research and development program that supports projects to promote PreK-12 student interests and capacities to participate in the STEM and information and communications technology (ICT) workforce of the future. The ITEST program supports research on the design, development, implementation, and selective spread of innovative strategies for engaging students in technology-rich experiences that: (1) increase student awareness of STEM occupations; (2) motivate students to pursue appropriate education pathways to STEM occupations; or (3) develop disciplinary-based knowledge and practices, or promote critical thinking, reasoning skills, or communication skills needed for entering STEM workforce sectors. ITEST projects may adopt an interdisciplinary focus that includes multiple STEM disciplines, focus on a single discipline, or focus on one or more sub-disciplines. The ITEST program supports projects that provide evidence for factors, instructional designs, and practices in formal and informal learning environments that broaden participation of students from underrepresented groups in STEM fields and related education and workforce domains. Projects that actively engage business and industry partners to better ensure that PreK-12 experiences foster the knowledge and skill-sets needed for emerging STEM occupations are strongly encouraged.

Keywords: technology, innovation, engineering, STEM, education

Limitations: An individual may serve as the PI for no more than one ITEST proposal during any given funding period.

Solicitation number: 17-565

~Due date is 09/05/17, 2nd Wednesday in August annually thereafter

URL: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2017/nsf17565/nsf17565.htm

NSF – Chemical Synthesis (SYN)

Posted on July 11, 2017 by atgause

Date Due: 09/30/17

Amount: Not Specified

Summary: The Chemical Synthesis program focuses on the development of new, efficient synthetic methodologies and on the synthesis of complex and/or challenging molecules.  Typical synthetic targets involve novel structures, structures displaying unique properties, or structures providing pathways to discover and elucidate new phenomena.  Examples of supported research areas include the development of innovative reagents, catalysts for synthetic transformations, discovery of new synthetic methods, target-oriented synthesis, green synthesis, and synthesis of novel organic, organometallic, and inorganic structures.

Research in this program will generate fundamental knowledge of chemical synthesis that enables the development of new avenues of basic chemical research and transformative technologies. Submissions that address national needs for sustainability are encouraged.  Examples include the development of new synthetic methods using earth-abundant and inexpensive chemicals, fundamental studies that improve our understanding of rare earth elements, and the conversion of non-petroleum based resources into useful building blocks.

Keywords: chemistry, innovation

Solicitation number: PD 09-6878

~Due date is  09/30/17, annually thereafter

URL: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503419

NSF — Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12)

Posted on July 6, 2017 by atgause

Date Due: 11/14/17, 11/14/18, 2nd Wednesday in November annually thereafter

Amount: Level 1: $450,000 for up to 3 years, Level 2: $3,000,000 for up to 4 years; Level 3: $5,000,000 up to 5 years

Summary: DRK-12 invites proposals that address immediate challenges that are facing preK-12 STEM education as well as those that anticipate radically different structures and functions of preK 12 teaching and learning.

The DRK-12 program has three major research and development strands: (1) Assessment; (2) Learning; and (3) Teaching.  The program recognizes the synergy among the three strands and that there is some overlap among them. However, PIs should identify a clear focus of the proposed research efforts (i.e., assessment, learning, or teaching) consistent with the proposal’s main objectives and research questions.

The program supports five types of projects: (1) Exploratory, (2) Design and Development, (3) Impact, (4) Implementation and Improvement, and (5) Conferences and Syntheses.  All five types of projects apply to each of the three DRK-12 strands.

Keywords: STEM, education, students, innovation

Solicitation number: 17-584

~Amount is Level 1: $450,000 for up to 3 years, Level 2: $3,000,000 for up to 4 years; Level 3: $5,000,000 up to 5 years

~Due date is 12/05/17, first Monday in December annually thereafter

URL: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2017/nsf17584/nsf17584.htm

NSF – Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research (CESER)

Posted on July 6, 2017 by atgause

Date Due: Open

Amount: Not Specified

Summary: The overall goal of the Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research (CESER) program is to foster the development of innovative cyberinfrastructure (CI) technologies and new means of leveraging existing CI resources to catalyze emerging areas of potentially transformative science and engineering research, including NSF priority areas, national strategic initiatives, and international collaborative research.

A key programmatic objective of CESER is to support early-stage efforts by collaborative teams of domain scientists and cyberinfrastructure developers/implementers to identify and address cyberinfrastructure needs in new research areas through the development and deployment of pilot, experimental, and innovative hardware or software systems or other unique cyberinfrastructure activities that enable new pathways to discovery.

Another program objective is to encourage holistic, systematic, and multidisciplinary CI approaches to address new opportunities to enable science and engineering research. Projects that integrate multiple cyberinfrastructure disciplines – such as computing, data infrastructure, software, workflow systems, and networking – to address an emerging scientific challenge are particularly welcomed.

CESER will also support projects that aim to expand the spectrum of research disciplines that, and users who, engage and contribute to a dynamic and enduring national research cyberinfrastructure ecosystem.

Activities proposed to this program should not be appropriate for funding by any other current programs/solicitations, and should be able to demonstrate the potential to evolve into innovative, scalable, highly useful and usable cyberinfrastructure. Eligible projects and unique activities should address a clearly identified and described scientific rationale, explain and support the potential for transformative impacts on science or engineering research, research training, education or broader impacts, and provide a convincing explanation of why the project is not suitable for other NSF programs or solicitations.

Keywords: engineering, innovation, interdisciplinary, cyber

Notes: Before developing a proposal intended for this program, investigators are strongly encouraged to discuss their ideas with the cognizant program officer associated with the CESER program to ensure that CESER is the appropriate venue for the proposal.

Solicitation: PD 17-7684

URL: Posted in National Science Foundation "NSF", No Specific Due Date, Undetermined Tagged , , ,

NEH – Humanities Connections

Posted on October 20, 2016 by jehollow

Date Due: 10/05/17 for projects beginning May 2018, updated guidelines will be posted at least two months in advance

Amount: $100,000

Summary: Humanities Connections grants seek to expand the role of the humanities in the undergraduate curriculum at two- and four-year institutions, offering students in all academic fields new opportunities to develop the intellectual skills and habits of mind that the humanities cultivate. Grant projects focus on connecting the resources and perspectives of the humanities to students’ broader educational and professional goals, regardless of their path of study. Through this new grant program, NEH invites proposals that reflect innovative and imaginative approaches to preparing students for their roles as engaged citizens and productive professionals in a rapidly changing and interdependent world.

Grants support the development and implementation of an integrated set of courses and student engagement activities focusing on significant humanities content. A common topic, theme, or compelling issue or question must link the courses and activities. The linked courses (a minimum of three) may fulfill general education or core curriculum requirements but could also be designed primarily for students in a particular major or course of study. The Humanities Connections program gives special encouragement to projects that foster collaboration between humanities faculty and their counterparts in the social and natural sciences and pre-service or professional programs in business, engineering, health sciences, law, computer science, and other non-humanities fields.

Humanities Connections projects have two core features: 1. faculty from at least two separate departments or schools at a single institution must collaborate to devise new curricular arrangements; and 2. projects must include provisions for high-impact student engagement activities that relate directly to the topic(s) of the linked courses. These activities could include individual or collaborative undergraduate research projects; opportunities for civic engagement; or a structured experience with community-based, project-based, or site-based learning. Community organizations and cultural institutions can play key roles in this regard.

Keywords: humanities, innovation, community

Limitations: 1. Faculty must come from at least two separate departments or schools in a single institution and 2. Projects must include provisions for high-impact student engagement activities.

Solicitation number: 20161005-AK

URL: http://www.neh.gov/grants/education/humanities-connections