Research and Training

Limit: 2 // M. Arora ( Community, Environment, and Policy) , M.Wetherell (School of Information)

The internal deadline has been extended to May 1, 2024. 

The submission of this funding program is coordinated by RII with the assistance of the UA Foundation. For more information, please contact Cyndi Laughren.

The APS Foundation supports programs that enhance academic achievement in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Since 1981, the Foundation has invested more than $44 million in projects throughout Arizona that help prepare students to compete in a 21st century economy.
A workforce proficient in STEM skills is critical to attracting and retaining high-quality businesses and industries to the state. The APS Foundation targets projects that help educators increase content knowledge in STEM subjects as well as the ability to transfer this knowledge effectively to students.

Average funding amount: ~ $75,000

How we evaluate potential programs:
Organizations must be registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity in good financial and public standing. Programs should demonstrate their ability to improve educational outcomes, increase access and/or offer an innovative approach to learning.
All grantees will have specific reporting requirements and must submit a final evaluation before they can be considered for additional funding.

Please note, the APS Foundation will not support:
• Individuals
• Individual K-12 schools
• Religious organizations, churches and programs that are purely denominational in purpose
• Political, labor or fraternal organizations, associations or civic service clubs
• Legislative, lobbying or advocacy efforts or organizations
• Private or family foundations
• Animal shelters or agencies
• Foundations or organizations which are grant-making entities or that distribute funds to other nonprofit organizations (pass through)
• Start-up organizations defined as nonprofits whose ruling year has been granted by the IRS for less than three years
• Organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, protected veteran status or any other classification protected by law
• Health organizations whose primary focus is funding programs or services for a specific disease or illness
• Sports teams or sporting programs
• Scouting troops
While not a part of our traditional grant program, the APS Foundation occasionally supports capital requests of our long-standing partners on an invite-only basis.

Institutionally Coordinated  // Limit: 3 // Tickets available: 1

Please contact RDS for more information. 

CJ Knox (Arizona Astrobiology Center)
U. Ricoy (Neuroscience)

*Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: Implementation and Evaluation Proposals: Eligible institutions may submit up to a total of three IEP proposals per solicitation deadline, regardless of level. UArizona is not eligible for the  Educational Instrumentation (EI) Track.

The Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Program is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a cross-divisional effort with multiple funding opportunities that support the nation's colleges that have been designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions. This program is part of a Foundation-wide effort to accelerate improvements in the quality and effectiveness of undergraduate education in all STEM fields including the learning, social, behavioral, and economic sciences. With Congressional support, the NSF uses this program to build capacity at institutions of higher education that typically do not receive high levels of NSF grant funding.

Implementation and Evaluation Projects (IEP) Track

The track welcomes projects looking to implement, adapt, or study promising practices and also invites theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous research projects on undergraduate experiences in STEM at HSIs. IEP projects include activities that are anticipated to support research and efforts to improve the HSI undergraduate experience for STEM majors and for non-majors enrolled in STEM courses.

Examples include, but are not limited to, the following types of activities:

• redesigning STEM courses, degree programs, student support systems, or practices;
• developing new STEM courses, certificates, minors and degree programs;
• enacting professional development for faculty, staff, and administrators to implement student-centered pedagogy, advising, leadership or other practices;
• conducting research studies to better understand aspects of undergraduates' STEM experiences in the focal areas of the HSI:ELPSE solicitation (courses, programs, departments, and schools/colleges);
• developing institutions' understanding of their students, practices, and HSI designation, particularly institutions that have been recently classified as HSIs; and
• building out the data infrastructure and methodologies that would allow an institution to collect and conduct thorough analyses of student data.

Proposals can focus on improving student learning and outcomes, broadening participation of historically underrepresented student groups in STEM at HSIs, or other efforts aligned with the HSI:ELPSE solicitation's areas of focus. The IEP track is intended to be a broad opportunity, and encourages the submission of high-risk, high reward approaches with transformative potential.

Common Expectations for Level 1 and Level 2 IEP Projects: There are two funding levels that determine the maximum budget, timeline, and scope for the proposed projects. The following elements are expected within all IEP proposals, regardless of funding level:

• Proposals are expected to address at least one of the goals of the HSI program and be aligned with one or more of the areas described above: Courses, Curricula, and Pedagogy; or Institutional Structures and Pathways.
• Proposals should be evidence-based, which could include indigenous knowledge and other traditions that may be transmitted outside of the traditional scholarly literature. Project components should be supported as appropriate by a review of the relevant literature.
• Proposals should be situated in the context of the institution and must include an Institutional Data Narrative as part of the proposal's 15-page Project Description that uses data, disaggregated to the extent that is feasible for proposers,to provide insights into the institution and its students.
• Activities, supports, evaluation and, if required, research plans must be designed using an intersectional lens. Specifically, proposers are encouraged to discuss how the project components account for students' intersecting membership in populations described by demographic characteristics and/or lived experiences (e.g., low-income, commuter, parenting, first-generation, or veteran status).
• Collaborative proposals from either single or multiple institutions must use a portion of the Management Plan to describe the roles of all senior personnel as well as the nature of the collaboration between institutions. It is imperative that all collaborating institutions have a clear and appropriate voice in the leadership and execution of the project as it applies to their students.
• All IEP proposals must include a detailed evaluation plan, executed by an experienced and independent evaluator, that will provide both formative and summative feedback on the project's progress towards its stated goals. Each evaluation plan should include clear evaluation questions, quantitative and/or qualitative data streams beyond baseline institutional research data, specified methods for data analysis, and a mechanism for providing a written evaluation report to the project team at least annually. Please see "Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions" below for additional information about the expectations for project evaluation.
• All IEP proposals that plan to financially support undergraduate or graduate students, for instance as tutors, peer mentors, research assistants, or other trainees must include a student mentoring plan of maximum 1 page as a supplemental document. This document should discuss specific strategies that will be utilized to provide academic, professional, and other valuable types of mentoring to these students. A student mentoring plan is not required if a project solely intends to provide incentives to students serving as research subjects without additional training requirements or duties.

Proposals may involve single operational units or departments of a college or multiple disciplines within a single division, school, or college at the institution. Collaborative proposals from multiple institutions or organizations are also welcome. Please see the Proposal Preparation Section below for additional guidelines regarding the submission of a complete proposal.

IEP Level 1: Up to 3 Years with a maximum budget of $500,000.

Awards at this level will support early-stage or exploratory projects that look to enrich the student experience, improve teaching and learning, broaden participation in undergraduate STEM, or improve student outcomes at HSIs. While IEP Level 1 proposals should be evidence-based as discussed above, they may be more exploratory and would generally be of a smaller scale than IEP Level 2 proposals.

The core activities of Level 1 projects may be wholly novel or may center on the replication and validation of promising approaches or high impact practices that may be novel at the institution. While STEM education or broadening participation research plans are welcome in Level 1 IEP proposals, they are not required. However, in the absence of a research plan, proposals must describe a plan to generate knowledge through the analysis and broad dissemination of data and outcomes obtained through project evaluation.

Level 1 IEP proposals are welcome to submit letters of collaboration from internal or external partners including faculty, administrators, corporations, non-profits or other entities as appropriate. These letters should adhere to the guidelines outlined in Chapter II.D.2.i.(iv) of the NSF PAPPG and should not be letters of support as described in that section.

IEP Level 2: Up to 5 Years with a maximum budget of $1,000,000

IEP Level 2 projects are supported for up to five years and should include efforts that are beyond the proof-of-concept stage and have potential to result in sustainable positive outcomes that align with the goals of the HSI program. Level 2 projects have a scale and scope beyond what would typically be expected for IEP Level 1 projects.

Level 2 projects must include substantial educational research plans intended to generate new knowledge that may improve our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs, to meet the goals of enhancing the quality of undergraduate student experiences in STEM, and/or improving the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing STEM degrees at HSIs. Research plans should include specific and actionable research questions, be theoretically grounded, and draw from data streams that look beyond those traditional institutional research measures. The HSI program has no methodological preference and welcomes qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies as appropriate given the foci of each proposed study.

Specific plans to sustain and institutionalize successful project components should be included as part of the Project Description. All IEP Level 2 proposals must include letters of support from upper-level institutional administrators, at the Dean level or higher, with responsibility for faculty affairs and/or undergraduate STEM education in the proposal's focal unit(s). These letters should outline concrete mechanisms and institutional commitments for institutionalization and sustainability of the project activities and should be uploaded as supplemental documents.

Level 2 IEP proposals are welcome to submit additional letters of collaboration from internal or external partners including faculty, administrators, corporations, non-profits or other entities as appropriate. These letters should adhere to the guidelines outlined in Chapter II.D.2.i.(iv) of the NSF PAPPG and should not be letters of support as described in that section.

 Limit: 1 // J. Denno (Cyber Convergence Center) 

NCAE-Cs may submit one proposal which provides a response to one or two focus areas identified below. The total proposal submission per NCAE-C may not exceed $250,000.00 ($125,000.00 for each project). Any proposals exceeding this limit will automatically be rejected. 

 Universities designated under the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C)  which includes  National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and  National Centers of Academic Excellence – Research,  and  National Centers of Academic Excellence – Cyber Operations  (hereinafter referred to as NCAE-Cs) 

The Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Scholarship Program (CySP) is authorized by Chapter 112 of title 10, United States Code, Section 2200. The purpose of the program is to support the recruitment of new cyber talent and the retention of current highly skilled professionals within the DoD cyber workforce. Additionally, this program serves to enhance the national pipeline for the development of cyber personnel by providing grants to institutions of higher education. The DoD Cyber and Digital Services Academy (DCDSA) will partner with the DoD CySP/DCDSA in 2024. 

Regionally and nationally accredited U.S. institutions of higher education, designated under the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) and known as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, Research, and/or Cyber Operations (hereinafter referred to as NCAE-Cs) are invited to submit proposals for developing and managing a full-time, institution-based, grant-funded scholarship program in cyber-related disciplines for Academic Year 2024- 2025. NCAE-Cs may propose collaboration with other accredited institutions, and are encouraged to include accredited post-secondary minority institutions. NCAE-Cs must be in good standing with the NCAE-C Program Office and not be delinquent on any required documentation by the NCAE-C Program Office. 

Consistent with 10 U.S.C. 2200b, NCAE-C proposals to this solicitation may also request modest collateral support for purposes of institutional capacity building to include faculty development, laboratory improvements, and/or curriculum development, in cyber-related topics to providing a strong foundation for a DoD CySP/DCDSA/DCDSA. [Special note: Requirements for proposing modest capacity building support are detailed in ANNEX II.] 

To continue the development of a strong foundation for recruitment scholarship program during the Academic Year 2024-2025, students falling into one of the following categories may apply: 

• • Rising second-year NCAE-C Community College students who will be transitioning into a bachelor’s degree program at a 4-year NCAE-C 
• • Current individuals who hold a non-cyber related bachelor’s or graduate degree, cross training into cyber by pursuing an associate’s degree. 
• • Juniors or Seniors pursuing a bachelor's degree (Sophomore's promoting to a Junior in Fall 2024 are eligible to apply) 
• • Students in their first or second year of a master's degree; or 
• • Students pursuing doctoral degrees. 

Traditional National Guardsmen and reservists are eligible to apply under the recruitment program. Current DoD civilians and active duty military members are only eligible for the retention program. Applications for the retention program are processed under a different memorandum. NCAE-C are not required to forward or handle retention student applications. These individuals may also participate in the retention community college program. 

Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) participants are eligible to apply as long as they do not currently have a service obligation with their ROTC activities. 

Employees of non-DoD federal agencies are ineligible for either program. 

Limit: 1 //  S. Radovick ( Health Sciences)

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) will award Institutional Research Career Development (K12) programs through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA). The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage institutions to propose creative and innovative institutional research career development programs designed to prepare an outstanding heterogeneous pool of promising later stage postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty scholars in clinical and translational science who have made a commitment to independent research careers (i.e., tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions), and to facilitate their timely transition to more advanced support mechanisms, e.g., K08, K23, R01, R03, etc. Applicants must submit both a UM1 application to PAR-21-293: Clinical and Translational Science Award and a K12 application to this FOA.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) allows appointment of Scholars (K12) proposing to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial; or proposing a separate ancillary clinical trial; or proposing to gain research experience in a clinical trial led by another investigator, as part of their research and career development.

With this solicitation for the K12 application, a separate, companion FOA solicits applications for a required UM1 (PAR-21-293). A UM1 hub application without the required companion K12 application will not be reviewed. The required K12 application will only be awarded if the UM1 application is awarded. Initial and resubmission of K12 will be accepted concurrently or if the UM1 application is awarded.

The application must provide a specific plan describing the partnership between the UM1, the required K12 and any optional components. The applicant institution must be the UM1 applicant. The UM1 institution must have a strong and high-quality research program in the area(s) proposed under this K12 FOA and must have the requisite faculty, staff, potential scholars and facilities on site to conduct the proposed institutional program. In many cases, it is anticipated that the proposed program will complement other ongoing career development programs occurring at the applicant institution and that a substantial number of program faculty will have active research projects in which participating scholars may gain relevant experiences consistent with their research interests and goal.

The sponsoring institution must assure support for the proposed program. Appropriate institutional commitment to the program includes the provision of adequate staff, facilities, and educational resources that can contribute to the planned program.

The PD/PI should be an established investigator in the scientific area in which the application is targeted and capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed program. The PD/PI will be responsible for the selection and appointment of trainees to the approved research training program, and for the overall direction, management, administration, and evaluation of the program. The PD/PI will be expected to monitor and assess the program and submit all documents and reports as required. The PD/PI has responsibility for the day to day administration of the program and is responsible for appointing members of the Advisory Committee (when applicable), using their recommendations to determine the appropriate allotment of funds.

Only one K12 application will be awarded if the UM1 application is awarded. If the UM1 is awarded and the initial K12 is not, the K12 application may be resubmitted. If the UM1 (A0) application is not awarded, then the K12 (A0) will not be awarded.

NCATS solicits the submission of one set of companion applications. With this FOA for the K12 application, a separate, companion FOA seeks applications for a required UM1 (PAR-21-293: Clinical and Translational Science Award). The UM1 and initial K12 applications must be submitted concurrently; a K12 application without the required companion UM1 application will not be reviewed. The required K12 application will only be awarded if the UM1 application is awarded. 

No Applicants   //  Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Only one application per institution (normally identified by having a unique entity identifier (UEI) or NIH IPF number) is allowed.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH.  The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs.

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this NOFO will support educational activities with a primary focus on:

• Courses for Skills Development

This R25 program will support the development and implementation of short courses to prepare nurse scientists, and scientists in aligned fields, to conduct firearm injury prevention research in support of the NINR Strategic Plan (https://www.ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan). Applications for courses that build on the existing knowledge, approaches, methods, and techniques related to injury prevention to advance research specifically in the area of firearm injury are encouraged. Proposed courses should include content related to inequities in firearm injuries (e.g., race, ethnicity, socioeconomic position, gender, geography, and their intersections) and research at the individual, community, institutional, and structural levels.

This NOFO requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP), which will be assessed as part of the scientific and technical peer review evaluation. Applications that fail to include a PEDP will be considered incomplete and will be withdrawn.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the NOFO instructions carefully and view the available PEDP guidance material.

Budgets are limited to $200,000 direct costs per year and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is three (3) years

Limit: 1 // B.  Ellerman ( UArizona Forge)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers $50,000 to $200,000 in prize awards for impactful and inclusive approaches to foster a thriving, collaborative national innovation support ecosystem to advance research and development (R&D) from ideas to impact.

By fostering connections between entrepreneurs, advisors, mentors, partners, philanthropies, corporations, investors, and other shared resources, the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) will catalyze strategic ecosystem partnerships to build community and organizational capacity for the successful launch, growth, and scale of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)-based entrepreneurs and startups.

Competition Goals:

• Increase the pipeline and success of STEM/R&D-focused entrepreneurs and small businesses;
• Increase the success of STEM/R&D-focused entrepreneurs in accessing capital and resources to advance their businesses;
• Incentivize innovation ecosystem stakeholders to provide equitable access to resources for underserved communities and industries;
• Catalyze partnerships and relationships between stakeholder groups to strengthen the national innovation ecosystem; and
• Connect both new and established participants in the national innovation ecosystem.

Prizes awarded in Two Stages:

Stage One: $50,000 cash prizes will be awarded to organizations (Catalysts) to catalyze relationships between aligned stakeholders (Ecosystem Partners) that lead to the development of Growth Accelerator Partnerships. Catalysts work collaboratively with Ecosystem Partners to bring additional resources, deepen network connections, and develop strategies that amplify the impact and success of the Growth Accelerator Partnership and the STEM/R&D-focused entrepreneurs and small businesses they serve.  

SBA welcomes Stage One submissions from a broad range of organizations with a collaborative vision to nurture a national ecosystem for equitable access to entrepreneurship.
 
Stage Two: $50,000 to $150,000 cash prizes awarded to Growth Accelerator Partnerships to provide assistance to entrepreneurs that transition R&D into the marketplace. The Growth Accelerator Partnership will provide startups and small businesses additional support and resources. 

SBA will accept Stage Two submissions from Growth Accelerator Partnerships; submissions will be prepared jointly by Stage One Catalysts and Ecosystem Partners and will present their proposal to successfully accelerate the launch, growth, and scale of diverse STEM/R&D-focused small businesses.

 Limit: 1 //  A. Ganchorre (Assistant Dean, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Students Affairs) 

The purpose of the Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) is to provide scholarships to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, mentoring, and training committed multicultural scholars, resulting in either baccalaureate degrees within the food and agricultural science disciplines. The goals and objectives of the scholarships are to encourage outstanding students from groups that are historically underrepresented and underserved to pursue and complete baccalaureate degrees in food and agricultural sciences, that would lead to a diverse and highly skilled work force. This may include the teaching and preservation of traditional ecological knowledge.

Underrepresented/underserved groups are those whose representation among food and agricultural professionals is disproportionately less than their proportion in the general population as indicated in standard statistical references, or as documented on a case-by-case basis by national survey data (e.g., the U.S. Department of Education's Digest of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Agricultural Education Information Systems, etc.).

The need for this program is supported by the USDA 2020-2025 Employment Opportunities in Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources, and the Environment. The report indicates shortages of graduates in the food and agricultural disciplines, and a corresponding need to fill an estimated 57,400 annual openings for individuals with baccalaureate or higher degrees in food, renewable energy, and environmental specialties between 2020 and 2025.

Through scholarships, MSP aims to increase the participation of any group historically underrepresented in USDA mission areas and prepare them for the professional and scientific workforce in the food and agricultural sciences.

USDA/NIFA is soliciting applications for student education that will:

1. Prepare graduates to meet the demand for highly qualified personnel entering the workforce related to the food and agricultural sciences;

2. Support more undergraduates in transitioning to graduate education in USDA mission sciences;

3. Contribute to the reduction of the disparity among underrepresented and underserved populations entering graduate schools to better reflect the demographics of the U.S. and enable higher education to remain globally competitive;

4. Promote student success within food and agricultural disciplines at the undergraduate level; and

5. Focus on social support structure, and professional mentoring to ensure entry into food and agricultural science areas and completion of graduate education or high level of competitiveness for the workforce.

No applicants  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Duplicate or multiple submissions are not allowed.

NIFA requests applications for the Higher Education Challenge (HEC) Grants Program for FY 2022 to enable colleges and universities to provide the quality of education necessary to produce baccalaureate or higher degree level graduates capable of strengthening the nation’s food and agricultural scientific and professional workforce.

The purpose of the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program, under assistance listing 10.217, is to strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, to respond to identified state, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development.

Specifically, applications submitted to this grants program must state how the funded project will address the HEC Program Goals:
1. To strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, to respond to identified State, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development;
2. To attract and support undergraduate and graduate students in order to educate the students in national need areas of the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development;
3. To facilitate cooperative initiatives between two or more eligible institutions, or between eligible institutions and units of State government or organizations in the private sector, to maximize the development and use of resources such as faculty, facilities, and equipment to improve food and agricultural sciences teaching programs, or teaching programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development;
4. To design and implement food and agricultural programs, or programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development, to build teaching, research, and extension capacity at colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments;
5. To conduct undergraduate scholarship programs to meet national and international needs for training food and agricultural scientists and professionals, or professionals in rural economic, community, and business development; and
6. To increase the number and diversity of students who will pursue and complete a postsecondary degree in the food and agricultural sciences.
7. To enhance the quality of instruction for baccalaureate degrees, master’s degrees, and first professional degrees in veterinary sciences, in order to help meet current and future workforce needs in the food and agricultural sciences.
8. To conduct graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs to attract highly promising individuals to research or teaching careers in the food and agricultural sciences.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Eligible institutions shall submit only ONE lead proposal per UEI number. Eligible institutions that have multiple and/or different UEI numbers shall submit no more than one lead proposal from each different UEI number.

The Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) is administered through NASA's Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). Through MUREP, NASA provides financial assistance via competitive awards to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), and other MSIs, as required by MSIfocused Executive Orders. These MSI recipient institutions then provide their students financial assistance to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

MUREP investments enhance the research, academic and technology capabilities of MSIs through multiyear cooperative agreements. Awards assist faculty and students in research and provide authentic STEM engagement related to Agency missions. Additionally, awards provide NASA specific knowledge and skills to MSI students who have historically been underrepresented and underserved in STEM. MUREP investments assist NASA in meeting the goal of a diverse workforce through student participation in internships and fellowships at NASA Centers and the Agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The NASA OSTEM MUREP Program solicits proposals from four-year colleges/universities designated by the U.S. Department of Education as MSIs. (see the NASA MSI List) for the MUREP Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) awards. MIRO develops significant scientific, engineering, and/or technology research centers. The purpose of MIRO is to strengthen and develop the research capacity and infrastructure of MSIs in areas of strategic importance and value to NASA’s mission and priorities. MIRO awards promote STEM literacy and enhance and sustain the capability of institutions to perform NASA-related research and education. Additionally, MIRO strengthens student participation in research at MSIs in order to develop and diversify the next generation of the STEM workforce. MIRO awards directly support research pertinent to NASA’s five Mission Directorates (MDs) – Aeronautics Research, Exploration Systems Development, Space Operations, Science, and Space Technology.

Limit: 2 // E. Enikov (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering), C. Atkins (Student Engagement and Recruitment)

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 2

The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Program is designed to encourage development and implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative approaches to STEM graduate education training. The program seeks proposals that a) explore ways for graduate students in STEM master's and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers, or b) support research on the graduate education system and outcomes of systemic interventions and policies.

IGE projects are intended to generate the knowledge required for the customization, implementation, and broader adoption of potentially transformative approaches to graduate education. The program supports piloting, testing, and validating novel models or activities and examining systemic innovations with high potential to enrich and extend the knowledge base on effective graduate education approaches.

The program addresses both workforce development, emphasizing broad participation, and institutional capacity-building needs in graduate education. Strategic collaborations with the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, national laboratories, field stations, teaching and learning centers, informal science organizations, and academic partners are encouraged.