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 — Engineering and Systems Design (ESD)

Posted on July 11, 2017 by atgause

Date Due: 09/15/17, annually thereafter; 01/24/18, annually thereafter

Amount: Not Specified

Summary: The Engineering and Systems Design (ESD) program supports fundamental research leading to new engineering and systems design methods and practices for specific global contexts.  In particular, ESD seeks intellectual advances in which the theoretical foundations underlying design and systems engineering are operationalized into rigorous and pragmatic methods for a specific context.

In addition, the program funds the rigorous theoretical and empirical characterization of new or existing methods for design and systems engineering, identifying in which global contexts and under which assumptions these methods are effective and efficient.  Such a global context includes both a domain (such as energy systems, consumer products, cyber-physical systems) and an economic, socio-political, environmental and technological context.

Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to: (1) Design for X, where X is either a specific domain or a specific concern; (2) Novel information and communication technologies; (3) Novel modeling formalisms and algorithms; (4) Novel integrated frameworks for design and systems engineering.

Keywords: engineering, energy, economics, technology, environment

Solicitation number: PD 17-1464

~Due date is 09/15/17, annually thereafter; 01/24/18, annually thereafter

URL: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13340

NSF — Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Dana Desonie

Date Due: 08/03/18, annually thereafter; 02/02/18, annually thereafter

Amount: $400,000

Summary: STS research focuses on the intellectual, material, and social facets of STEM. Such research endeavors to understand how scientific knowledge is produced and sanctioned, and how it is challenged and changes. It explores broader societal ramifications and underlying presuppositions. STS research studies how materials, devices, and techniques are designed and developed; how and by whom they are diffused, used, adapted, and rejected; how they are affected by social and cultural environments; and how they influence quality of life, culture, and society. STS research explores how socio-cultural values are embedded in science and technology, and how issues of governance and equity co-evolve with the development and use of scientific knowledge and technological artifacts. The STS program supports proposals across the broad spectrum of STS research areas, topics, and approaches. Examples include, but are by no means limited to:

1. Societal aspects of emerging high-tech technologies and low-tech technologies.

2. Issues relating to equity, ethics, governance, sustainability, public engagement, user-centeredness, and inclusiveness.

3. Integration of traditional STS approaches with innovative perspectives from the arts or humanities.

4. Ethical, policy, and cultural issues regarding big data, surveillance and privacy in an increasingly networked world, and

5. The science of broadening participation in STEM disciplines.

~ Amount is $400,000 (total direct costs) over 2 to 3 years

Keywords: STEM, technology, humanities

Solicitation number: 15-506

Limitations: Pre-proposals: No more than two in a year as PI, co-PI or PI of a subaward

URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15506/nsf15506.htm