STEM, Education, Training

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1 // R. Buchan (Molecular and Cellular Biology)

The purpose of the Beckman Scholars Program is to provide an in-depth, sustained undergraduate research experience in chemistry, biochemistry, biological, and medical sciences, or some interdisciplinary combination of these subjects, for exceptionally talented, full-time undergraduate students at accredited U.S. four-year colleges and universities; young people who ultimately will become prominent leaders in their scientific and professional pursuits. The Program’s financial support for a student and mentor over 15 continuous months of research, in conjunction with the Annual Beckman Symposium, offers an academically stimulating and unique educational experience.

Since 1998, more than 148 different universities or colleges have received Institutional Beckman Scholar awards supporting over 1,778 student and mentor teams. Each Institutional Award spans a three-year period, with 2 student/mentor teams selected by the institution each year, regardless of Carnegie Classification (this is an update to the program which applies only to institutions awarded in 2022-forward).

Institutional 2025 Beckman Scholars Awards will be made to support approximately 14 universities and colleges, for an anticipated total of 84 undergraduate students over the three-year period. The Foundation plans to notify awardees in late December 2024 and formally announce awards the following January.

We encourage you to share this information with appropriate individuals at your institution.

Invited institutions that have not applied for two or more consecutive years will be removed from the invitation list for a minimum of two years.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is an independent, private foundation established by Dr. and Mrs. Beckman in 1977. The mission of the Foundation is to make grants to non-profit U.S. research institutions to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, and particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments, and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science.

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1 // M. Franco (HSI Initiatives)

The Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA) Program provides grants to: (1) expand postbaccalaureate educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students; and (2) expand the postbaccalaureate academic offerings as well as enhance the program quality in the institutions of higher education that are educating the majority of Hispanic college students and helping large numbers of Hispanic and low-income students complete postsecondary degrees.

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 2

An eligible organization may submit only two (2) proposals. FORECAST does not accept separately submitted collaborative proposals. Any collaboration among organizations should be through a subaward.

The Focus on Recruiting Emerging Climate and Adaptation Scientists and Transformers (FORECAST) grant opportunity seeks proposals for three tracks. Track 1 supports a coordination hub for rising seniors from emerging research institutions or historically excluded groups. Track 2 supports master's student cohorts at emerging research institutions with mentorship and capacity building. Planning grants will build capacity for future cohort programs. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents. Proposals will be evaluated based on meeting the objectives of building a workforce ready to address climate challenges through engagement and resilience efforts. Deadlines are June 11, 2024 for receipt of proposals.

Awards will support senior undergraduate and master's students through intentional professional development activities. Track 1 will coordinate a national cohort while Track 2 focuses on individual institution cohorts. Work is expected to be performed at emerging research institutions in order to build capacity and support diverse groups that have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Places of performance will include research institutions partnering to establish future cohort programs through FORECAST planning grants.

proposals that exceed the organizational eligibility limit will be returned without review. Potential PIs are advised to contact their institutional office of research regarding processes used to select proposals for submission.

Organizations participating only as evaluators or subawardees on projects are excluded from this limitation.

Institutionally Coordinated  // Limit: 2 

 D. Glickenstein (Mathematics) - Competitive Resubmission, Track 3:  Inter-institutional Consortia

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 2

An institution may submit up to two proposals (either as a single institution or as a subawardee or a member of an inter-institutional consortia project (lead or co-lead) for a given S-STEM deadline. Multiple proposals from an institution must not overlap with regard to S-STEM eligible disciplines. See Additional Eligibility Information below for more details (see IV. Eligibility Information).
Institutions with a current S-STEM award should wait at least until the end of the third year of execution of their current award before submitting a new S-STEM proposal focused on students pursuing degrees in the same discipline(s).
The above restrictions do not apply to collaborative planning grant proposals.

Summary: The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable low-income students with academic ability, talent or potential to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the number of academically promising low-income students who graduate with a S-STEM eligible degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular1 activities that have been shown to be effective supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM.

Social mobility for low-income students with academic potential is even more crucial than for students that enjoy other economic support structures. Hence, social mobility cannot be guaranteed unless the scholarship funds the pursuit of degrees in areas where rewarding jobs are available after graduation with an undergraduate or graduate degree.

The S-STEM program encourages collaborations, including but not limited to partnerships among different types of institutions; collaborations of S-STEM eligible faculty, researchers, and academic administrators focused on investigating the factors that affect low-income student success (e.g., institutional, educational, behavioral and social science researchers); and partnerships among institutions of higher education and business, industry, local community organizations, national labs, or other federal or state government organizations, as appropriate.

S-STEM Eligible Degree Programs
Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Engineering, and Associate of Applied Science
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Applied Science
Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Engineering
Doctoral (Ph.D. or other comparable doctoral degree)

S-STEM Eligible Disciplines
Disciplinary fields in which research is funded by NSF, including technology fields associated with the S-STEM-eligible disciplines (e.g., biotechnology, chemical technology, engineering technology, information technology, etc.).
The following degrees and disciplines are excluded: 

• Clinical degree programs, including medical degrees, nursing, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and others not funded by NSF, are ineligible degrees.
• Business school programs that lead to Bachelor of Arts or Science in Business Administration degrees (BABA/BSBA/BBA) are not eligible for S-STEM funding.
• Masters and Doctoral degrees in Business Administration are also excluded.

No Applicants // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2 

*The close date will be updated after the official RFA is posted.
One USO may submit separate applications for a maximum of two OSIs.

he United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for cooperative agreements and grants from qualified entities to implement the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program.

ASHA provides assistance to overseas schools, libraries, hospital centers , and centers of excellence to highlight American ideas and practices, to provide concrete illustrations of the generosity of the American people, to further USG public diplomacy, and to catalyze collaboration between U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries.

ASHA awards grants and cooperative agreements to existing partnerships between U.S. not-for-profit non-governmental organizations and institutions overseas founded or sponsored by United States citizens (referred to as “Overseas Institutions,” or “OSIs”). These partnerships enable OSIs to benefit from the expertise and experience of USOs while ensuring projects are locally owned and sustained. These partnerships help mitigate investment and construction risk, and contribute to sustained returns.
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Limit: 1 //  T. Solomon (Family and Community Medicine)

PO has confirmed this is a limited submission, only the last application received from UArizona will be reviewed. 

The purpose of this program is to add to the number of Indian health professionals serving Indians by encouraging Indians to enter the health professions and removing barriers to serving Indians.

Allowable activities

• Provide outreach and recruitment of people to serve Indian communities in the health professions. Include recruitment and outreach at elementary and secondary schools as well as community colleges located on Indian reservations that your program will serve

• Incorporate a program advisory board of representatives from the Tribes and communities you will serve

• Provide summer preparatory programs for Indian students who need enrichment in the subjects of math and science needed to pursue training in the health professions

• Provide tutoring, counseling, and support to students who are enrolled in a health career program of study at your college or university

• Employ qualified Indians in the program, to the maximum extent feasible. Describe the college or university’s ability to meet this requirement

• Address the opioid crisis, which is an HHS priority, by educating and training students in opioid addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery

In Review // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2 

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.

Submit ticket request   // Limit: One nomination per College

Major divisions (e.g., College of Arts and Sciences, Medical School) of an institution may nominate only one applicant each year.

The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas.

The William T. Grant Foundation’s mission is to support research to improve the lives of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. They pursue this mission by supporting research within two focus areas. Researchers interested in applying for a William T. Grant Scholars Award must select one focus area: Reducing Inequality or Improving the Use of Research Evidence

Applicants should have a track record of conducting high-quality research and an interest in pursuing a significant shift in their trajectories as researchers. Recognizing that early-career researchers are rarely given incentives or support to take measured risks in their work, this award includes a mentoring component, as well as a supportive academic community.

Awards are based on applicants’ potential to become influential researchers, as well as their plans to expand their expertise in new and significant ways. The application should make a cohesive argument for how the applicant will expand his or her expertise. The research plan should evolve in conjunction with the development of new expertise, and the mentoring plan should describe how the proposed mentors will support applicants in acquiring that expertise. Proposed research plans must address questions that are relevant to policy and practice in the Foundation’s focus areas. Award recipients are designated as William T. Grant Scholars. Each year, four to six Scholars are selected and each receives up to $350,000, distributed over five years.

Areas of Interest

The Foundation supports research in two distinct focus areas: 1) Reducing inequality in youth outcomes, and 2) Improving the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people.  Proposed research must address questions that align with one of these areas.

Focus Area: Reducing Inequality

In this focus area, we support studies that aim to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people, especially on the basis of race, ethnicity, economic standing, language minority status, or immigrant origins.

Focus Area: Improving the Use of Research Evidence

While an extensive body of knowledge provides a rich understanding of specific conditions that foster the use of research evidence, we lack robust, validated strategies for cultivating them. What is required to create structural and social conditions that support research use? What infrastructure is needed, and what will it look like? What supports and incentives  foster research use? And, ultimately, how do youth outcomes fare when research evidence is used? This is where new research can make a difference. 

Eligibility

Applicants must have received their terminal degree within seven years of submitting their application. We calculate this by adding seven years to the date the doctoral degree was conferred. In medicine, the seven-year maximum is dated from the completion of the first residency.

Applicants must be employed in career-ladder positions. For many applicants, this means holding a tenure-track position in a university. Applicants in other types of organizations should be in positions in which there is a pathway to advancement in a research career at the organization and the organization is fiscally responsible for the applicant’s position. The award may not be used as a post-doctoral fellowship.

Institutionally Coordinated  // Limit: 3

Please contact RDS for more information. 

CJ Knox (Arizona Astrobiology Center)
EJ Lee (Electrical and Computer Engineering) 
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 //  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.