Completed

Limit: 3  // PIs: 
O. Zhupanska (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering)
E. Butcher (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering)
H. Fasel (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering)

For more information about this funding program, please contact:

• Cody Nicholls, PhD, Associate Director, National Security Programs
• Nate Gahr, Senior Director, National Security Programs

UArizona may submit three (3) applications.

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), in the Department of Defense (DOD), released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 DOD Research and Education Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI).  As you know, this effort is DOD’s premiere program in providing support to advance basic research at HBCUs and MIs.  In particular, this FOA seeks to:

• Improve the programs and capabilities of HBCUs/MIs in science and engineering disciplines relevant to DOD;
• Increase the participation of HBCUs and MIs in flagship DOD research programs by furthering HBCU/MI capacity; and
• Increase the number of underrepresented minority graduates in STEM fields relevant to the Department.

Principal Investigators (PIs) should consider novel approaches for proposed projects, with a focus on enhancing the capabilities of their institutions to develop stronger STEM programs to better HBCU/MI participation in competitive defense research programs.  The ultimate goal of the program is to promote STEM research to underrepresented students and encourage them to pursue STEM careers in disciplines of importance to DOD.  Proposed research should align with the areas of interests that have been identified by each of the branches, which can be found in previous broad agency announcements (BAAs) from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).  More information on each of these BAAs can be found in the full solicitation.  

DOD anticipates awarding a total of $50 million, up to $1 million per grant, for a performance period of 48 months. 

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1 // PI:  M. franco (Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Initiatives)

The submission for this funding program is coordinated by the Office of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Initiatives.
Please contact Riley McIsaac, Associate Director of Grants Development, for more information.

The purpose of this program is to equitably improve postsecondary student outcomes, including retention, transfer (including successful transfer of completed credits), credit accumulation, and completion, by leveraging data and implementing, scaling, and rigorously evaluating evidence-based activities to support data-driven decisions and actions by institutional leaders committed to inclusive student success.

This grant program seeks to fund evidence-based (as defined in this notice) strategies that result in improved student outcomes for underserved students (as defined in this notice). The program has two absolute priorities that correspond to varying evidence standards. This multi-tiered competition invites applicants that are in the “early phase” or “mid-phase/expansion” of their evidence-based work to support students through degree completion. This grant also supports the evaluation, dissemination, scaling, and sustainability efforts of the activities funded under this grant.

In this competition, eligibility is limited to institutions that are designated as eligible under the HEA titles III and V programs, nonprofits that are not IHEs or associated with an IHE in partnership with institutions that are designated as eligible under the HEA titles III and V programs, States in partnerships with institutions that are designated as eligible under the HEA titles III and V programs, and public systems of institutions. Institutions designated as eligible under titles III and V include Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities (TCCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and other institutions with high enrollment of needy students and below average full-time equivalent (FTE) expenditures—including community colleges. The Department believes that targeting funding to these IHEs is the best use of the available funding because these institutions disproportionately enroll students from groups who are underrepresented among college completers, such as low-income students. Supporting retention and completion strategies at these institutions offers the greatest potential to close gaps in postsecondary outcomes. Additionally, these under resourced institutions are most in need of Federal assistance to implement and evaluate evidence-based postsecondary college retention and completion interventions.

Early-Phase

Early-phase grants provide funding to IHEs to develop, implement, and test the feasibility of a program that prior research suggests is likely to improve relevant outcomes, for the purpose of determining whether an initiative improves student retention and completion of postsecondary students. Early-phase grants must “demonstrate a rationale” (as defined in this notice) and include a logic model (as defined in this notice), theory of action, or another conceptual framework that includes the goals, objectives, outcomes, and key project components (as defined in this notice) of the project, and that demonstrates the relationship between such proposed activities and the relevant outcomes the project is designed to achieve. The evaluation design will be assessed on the extent to which it would meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Evidence Standards with or without reservations. The evaluation of an Early-phase project should be an experimental or quasi-experimental design study (both as defined in this notice) that can determine whether the program can successfully improve postsecondary student success outcomes for underserved students.

Early-phase grantees during their grant period are encouraged to make continuous and iterative improvements in project design and implementation before conducting a full-scale evaluation of effectiveness. Grantees should consider how easily others could implement the proposed practice, and how its implementation could potentially be improved. Additionally, grantees should consider using data from early indicators to gauge initial impact and to consider possible changes in implementation that could increase student outcomes.

Mid-Phase/Expansion

Mid-phase/Expansion grants are supported by moderate evidence (as defined in this notice) or strong evidence (as defined in this notice), respectively. These grants provide funding to IHEs to improve and/or expand initiatives and practices that have been proven to be effective in increasing postsecondary student retention and completion. Mid-phase/Expansion projects should provide vital insight about an intervention's effectiveness, such as for whom and in which contexts a practice/intervention is most effective. Mid-phase grantees should also measure the cost-effectiveness of their practices using administrative or other readily available data.

Mid-phase/Expansion grant projects are distinctly situated to provide insight on scaling an initiative to a larger population of students or across multiple campuses.

These grants must be implemented at a multi-site sample (as defined in this notice) with more than one campus or in one campus that includes at least 2,000 students. Project evaluations must evaluate the effectiveness of the project at each site.

Mid-phase/Expansion grants must meet the “moderate evidence” threshold or “strong evidence” standard and include a logic model that demonstrates the relationship between the key project components and the relevant outcomes the project is designed to achieve. Mid-phase/Expansion grants are also required to submit an evaluation design that will be assessed on the extent to which it would meet WWC Evidence Standards without reservations.

Note that all research that meets the strong evidence standard also meets the moderate evidence standard. As such, the effective evidence standard for Absolute Priority 2 is moderate evidence. However, we encourage applicants to propose projects based on strong evidence and to expand services even beyond the scale requirements under Absolute Priority 2. We have combined the two types of grants into a single tier given funding limitations and the fact that this is the first year of implementing a tiered evidence structure in this program.

All Grant Tiers

PSSG applicants should consider how these evidence-based practices are implemented and the impact these practices have on their student population given their context. PSSG applicants seek to explore the effectiveness of practices/strategies that can improve student persistence and retention, leading to degree completion.

The evaluation of a PSSG project should be designed to determine whether the program can successfully improve postsecondary student persistence, retention, and completion. As previously stated, the evaluation design for early phase applications will be assessed on the extent to which it could meet WWC Evidence Standards with or without reservations while the evaluation design for mid phase/expansion applications will be assessed on the extent to which it could meet WWC Evidence Standards without reservations.

The Department intends to provide grantees and their independent evaluators with technical assistance in their evaluation, dissemination, scaling, and sustainability efforts. This could include grantees and their evaluators providing to the Department or its contractor updated comprehensive evaluation plans in a format as requested by the technical assistance provider and using such tools as the Department may request. Grantees will be encouraged to update this evaluation plan at least annually to reflect any changes to the evaluation. Updates must be consistent with the scope and objectives of the approved application.

PSSG applicants should consider their organizational capacity and the funding needed to sustain their projects and continue implementation and adaptation after Federal funding ends.

Priorities: This notice contains two absolute priorities and one competitive preference priority. We are establishing the absolute priorities and competitive preference priority for the FY 2023 grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1). Applicants have the option of addressing the competitive preference priority and may opt to do so regardless of the absolute priority they select.

Absolute Priorities: For FY 2023 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, these priorities are absolute priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet one of these priorities.

These Priorities are:

Absolute Priority 1 (AP1)—Applications that Demonstrate a Rationale. “Early-phase”.

Under this priority, an applicant proposes a project that demonstrates a rationale to improve postsecondary success for underserved students, including retention and completion.

Absolute Priority 2 (AP2)—Applicants that Demonstrate Moderate Evidence, “Mid-phase” or Strong Evidence, “Expansion”.

Under this priority, an applicant proposes a project supported by evidence that meets the conditions in the definition of “Moderate Evidence” or “Strong Evidence,” to improve postsecondary success for underserved students, including retention and completion. Projects under this priority must be implemented at a multi-site sample or include at least 2,000 students.

(a) Applicants addressing this priority must:

(1) identify up to two studies to be reviewed against the WWC Handbooks (as defined in this notice) for the purposes of meeting the definition of moderate evidence or strong evidence;

(2) clearly identify the citations and relevant findings for each study in the Evidence form; and

(3) ensure that all cited studies are available to the Department from publicly available sources and provide links or other guidance indicating where each is available.

Institutionally coordinated  // Limit: 2 // PI: A. Zabludoff (Astronomy)

Institutionally coordinated submission. Contact RDS for more information.
Number of pre-proporsals allowed as lead institution: two

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced tremendously and today promises personalized healthcare; enhanced national security; improved transportation; and more effective education, to name just a few benefits. Increased computing power, the availability of large datasets and streaming data, and algorithmic advances in machine learning (ML) have made it possible for AI research and development to create new sectors of the economy and revitalize industries. Continued advancement, enabled by sustained federal investment and channeled toward issues of national importance, holds the potential for further economic impact and quality-of-life improvements.

The 2023 update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan, informed by visioning activities in the scientific community as well as interaction with the public, identifies as its first strategic objective the need to make long-term investments in AI research in areas with the potential for long-term payoffs in AI. AI Institutes represent a cornerstone Federal Government commitment to fostering long-term, fundamental research in AI while also delivering significantly on each of the other eight objectives in that strategy. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) identifies AI Institutes as a key component of a bold, sustained federal push to scale and coordinate federal AI R&D funding and to reinforce the foundation of technical leadership in AI.

This program is a multisector effort led by the National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the Simons Foundation (SF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Defense (DOD) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E)), Capital One Financial Corporation (Capital One), and Intel Corporation (Intel).

This program solicitation expands the nationwide network of AI Research Institutes with new funding opportunities over the next two years. In this round, the program invites proposals for institutes that have a principal focus in one of the following themes aimed at transformational advances in a range of economic sectors, and science and engineering fields:

• Group 1 - Awards anticipated in FY 2024:
  • Theme 1: AI for Astronomical Sciences
     
• Group 2 - Awards anticipated in FY 2025:
  • Theme 2: AI for Discovery in Materials Research
  • Theme 3: Strengthening AI

Limit: 2  // PIs: 
H. W .Tseng (College of Medicine Tucson -Medical Imaging) 
X. Yan (Materials Science) 

The Moore Inventor Fellows fellowship focuses on supporting scientist-inventors at a critical prototyping stage to capture opportunities that otherwise might be missed. We seek to provide freedom and support to promising inventors with the most compelling ideas to pursue creative and disruptive innovations.

The scope of this call is intentionally wide: proposed projects do not need to fall within our current funding priorities but should be broadly within the program areas of foundation interest (science, environmental conservation and patient care). Patient care inventions should resonate with our focus on improving the experience and outcomes of patients with solutions that improve clinical diagnosis.

Eligibility: Candidates must be faculty, research scientists, postdocs or other full-time staff who can receive funding through their institutions. Candidates must be no more than 10 years past receiving their terminal advanced degree in their field (M.S., Ph.D. or M.D.) Please see the Moore Inventor Fellows FAQ for more information regarding candidate eligibility and exceptions.

Funding: Fellows will receive funding for three years at a level of $200,000 per year from the Moore Foundation. In addition to funds for the fellow, the foundation will provide $25,000 each year to the institution to cover costs associated with administering the grant award, resulting in a total three-year award of $675,000. Host institutions are required to contribute $50,000 in annual support of the inventor’s work

 Limit: 1  // PI selected:  J. Rainbow ( College of Nursing) - Competitive Resubmission 

The Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators program is led by the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. The nationally ranked UC Davis Graduate School of Management partners with us to provide expertise in leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship. This highly synergistic partnership across schools focuses on preparing the next generation of leaders who are inspired and committed to make a positive impact.

A $37.5 million award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation funds the program. One of the foundation’s early investments was the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. With this new school, the foundation sought to advance health and ignite leadership through innovative education, transformative research and bold system change. The fellowship program builds on that vision, and with the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, offers a dynamic opportunity for development in leadership and innovation.

Limit: 1  // PI selected:  M. Eichenfield (Optical Sciences)

Number of applications allowed per institution: 1

The NSF is introducing the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL) concept as an overarching shared infrastructure designed to facilitate the translation from basic science and engineering to the resultant technology, while at the same time emphasizing and advancing its scientific and technical value. The NQVL aims to develop and utilize use-inspired and application-oriented quantum technologies. In the process, NQVL researchers will explore quantum frontiers, foster Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) workforce education and training, engage in outreach activities at all levels, and promote broadening participation, diversity, equity, and inclusion in QISE, thereby lowering barriers at all entry points of the research enterprise.

The engagement of the entire United States (U.S.) QISE community will be necessary for this initiative to succeed, and, indeed, the project is designed to include participation from a full spectrum of organizations who have expertise to contribute. In particular, NSF recognizes that the involvement of industry partners is essential and will welcome these to be a part of the overall structure. Partnerships with other U.S. Federal agencies under the NQI umbrella are also encouraged.

This solicitation lays out a vision for the entire NQVL program that includes Quantum Science and Technology Demonstration (QSTD) projects, support for enabling technologies through Transformative Advances in Quantum Systems (TAQS), as well as a central coordination hub. Proposals for Pilot phase QSTDs are solicited at this time.

This opportunity is for Pilot phase QSTD proposals only.
QSTD Pilot awards may be funded at a level up to $1,000,000 for 12 months per project.

Limit: 3  // PIs selected: 
Shafae & Satam (Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing)
H.Rastgoftar (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering)
Y. Vitaliy (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering) 

Number of applications allowed per institution: 3

The Department of Defense (DoD) is soliciting applications for the acquisition of equipment/instrumentation under the Fiscal Year 2024 Research and Education Program for HBCU/MI. The Research and Education Program is designed to enhance the research capabilities of HBCUs and MIs and to strengthen their STEM education programs. The purpose of funding under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to (1) support the acquisition of equipment/instrumentation to augment existing capabilities or to develop new capabilities in research areas of interest to DoD, and (2) attract students to pursue studies leading to STEM careers. Although funding provided under this FOA cannot be used for student support, in order to further DoD’s objective of attracting students to pursue studies leading to STEM careers, applicants must address the impact of the requested equipment/instrumentation on student participation in research. 

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

UArizona may submit one proposal to the  to the GSI track. UA not eligible for research reactor track.

The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) mission is to advance nuclear energy science and technology to meet U.S. energy, environmental, and economic needs. DOE intends to facilitate the education and training of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy-makers through graduate and undergraduate study, two-year programs, and R&D that is relevant to the Department and the U.S. nuclear energy industry in general. Within Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), the specific goals of this Infrastructure FOA are: 

• To support, maintain, or enhance the institution’s capacities to attract and teach high quality students interested in nuclear energy-related studies;
• Build the institution’s research or education capabilities; and
• Enhance the institution’s capabilities to perform R&D that is relevant to NE’s mission.

The average GSI award will be approximately $250,000 for the total project period. No Cost Share / 1:1 Cost Match >$250k**. 

Limit: 1  // PI:  M. Brogden (Human Rights Practice Program)

The U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana, through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out virtual and in-person peacebuilding and conflict resolution education programs in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo. This program is in support of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, authorized by the Global Fragility Act. Overall, grant-making authority for this project is contained in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. 

This program will engage early and mid-career professionals by offering a menu of virtual courses in English and French that include information adaptable to the range of countries and contexts. Central topics will include social cohesion, conflict resolution, media literacy and misinformation, engaging government from local to national level, and inclusivity. The online/hybrid course on conflict resolution will include 500 young community leaders with at least half from Ghana and the remainder from the other four countries specified. Recruitment should target regions and communities most vulnerable to conflict and instability but may include geographically diverse participants. 

The courses will be followed by interactive conversations via chat or social media platforms to form a network of similarly-minded individuals willing to develop activities or policies integrating course principles in their own institutions or communities. An in-person training and networking opportunity will then be offered to 60 participants to come together and discuss more deeply the topics of the courses. The material may include U.S. authored content and reflect the diversity of opinion in the United States and underscore U.S. fundamental values of democracy and freedom. Speakers and instructors may include U.S. citizens and experts who have experience in West Africa and the United States.

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

The goal of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program is to provide structured activities to prepare a diverse cohort of research-oriented students to transfer from associate degree-granting institutions to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions and complete a baccalaureate degree in disciplines related to the biomedical sciences. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) provides support to eligible, domestic institutions to develop and implement effective, evidence-informed approaches to biomedical training and mentoring that will keep pace with the rapid evolution of the research enterprise. NIGMS expects that the proposed research training programs will incorporate didactic, research, mentoring, and career development elements. This program requires strong partnerships between at least two post-secondary educational institutions offering science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degrees. At least one partner must be an institution that offers the associate degree as the highest STEM degree and the other partner(s) must offer baccalaureate degrees in biomedically relevant STEM fields. Upon completion of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training program, trainees are expected to be well positioned to pursue research-oriented biomedical higher degree programs or enter careers in the biomedical research workforce.

Training related expenses are limited to a maximum of $10,000/trainee/year. The maximum cap for the TRE portion of the proposed budget is $100,000/year.