STEM, Education, Training

Limit: 2  // PIs: 
J. Wolfe (Mathematics) 
H. Monroe (Center for Recruitment and Retention of Mathematics Teachers)

UA may submit two proposals.
The submission of this funding program is coordinated by RII with the assistance of the UA Foundation.

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.

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

UArizona may submit one proposal to this funding program. 

The national cyberinfrastructure (CI) ecosystem is essential to computational- and data-intensive research across all science and engineering (S&E) domains. The CI ecosystem is highly dynamic, driven by rapid advances in a wide range of technologies, increasing volumes of highly heterogeneous data, and escalating demands for CI resources and services by the research community. Innovations in CI are consequently key catalysts for new modes of discovery and play a critical role in ensuring U.S. leadership in science, engineering, economic competitiveness, and national security, consistent with NSF's mission. It is thus imperative that CI innovations become available, in a coordinated and sustainable manner, as part of the NSF-funded advanced CI ecosystem.

The Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem of Support and Services (ACCESS) program provides an array of national-scale CI services to the S&E research community, including integrated coordination of users’ requests for computational and data resources; integration of resource providers’ systems; deployment of technical support; monitoring of system usage; user training; and communication and outreach to the CI and research communities. The ACCESS program is envisioned to include a process to enable breakthrough CI innovations of recognized value to researchers to be translated into production-quality sustained services that are deployed and made available to the user community from applicable NSF-funded resource providers. Such a process would also include methods to prioritize which innovations to translate to production services and to identify when these services should be taken out of service or replaced.  

This CITAP solicitation is focused on the translation of innovative research CI software – such as system software, libraries, application codes, and software enabling data services. NSF seeks proposals that aim to design, test, and subsequently operate a pathway service within the ACCESS program that manages and accelerates the translation of promising research CI software to production-quality services across the NSF advanced CI ecosystem in support of the NSF S&E research community. CITAP proposals are expected to create a new workflow process (represented notionally in Figure 1 below) within the ACCESS program that: (1) identifies novel CI software from diverse sources in a strongly community-informed way; (2) establishes an open and merit-based process for selecting and prioritizing/sequencing which of the identified innovations are of highest and most immediate value to users of the advanced CI ecosystem and can be feasibly translated to production level and made available for use by researchers using ACCESS resources; and (3) establishes an operational process that translates innovations into production services, including creation of partnerships where necessary to address each of the technical challenges and intellectual property (IP) considerations faced when integrating novel CI software within the advanced CI ecosystem.

Examples of translation challenges include (but are not limited to): awareness by potential users who could benefit from the technology; systems engineering and software deployment; an initial launch period of collaborative maintenance; anticipation of user support that will be necessary; engagement of people or possibly organizations needed to sustain and upgrade the software/service in response to changes in technology and/or feedback from users and communities served; and determination of when the relative use or value of the software has decreased to an extent that decommissioning is warranted. The pathway must also be designed to evolve as the types of systems and services that are part of the NSF-funded production advanced CI ecosystem evolve and expand.

Limit: 1  // PI selected: T. M. Bishop (Cooperative extension Gila County - Globe / Gila County - Payson, 4-H Youth Development)

UArizona may submit one proposal.

NIFA requests applications for the Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program for fiscal year (FY) 2023 to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education. The anticipated amount available for FY 2023 is approximately $960,000 and will support funding for the initial year. Continuation funding of similar funding levels may be awarded for an additional three years provided performance has been satisfactory, appropriations are available for this purpose, and continued support is in the best interests of the Federal government and the public. Applications should be submitted for the full four years. USDA is not committed to fund any particular application or to make a specific number of awards.

The disciplines of agriculture and education have been related for much of our nation's history. When most Americans lived on farms or in small towns, students often did farm chores before and after school. Old schoolbooks have numerous agricultural references. As the farming population began to decline, agricultural emphasis decreased in educational materials as well.

A core group of educators and agriculturalists pushed for more youth education about agriculture. They recognized the interlocking role of farming and food and fiber production with environmental quality, which included wildlife habitat, clean water, and the preservation of forests.

NIFA's AITC serves nearly five million students and 60,000 teachers in developing awareness and skills as they relate to food, agriculture, and disciplines supportive of the agricultural enterprise. AITC supports this awareness through workshops, conferences, field trips, farm tours, and other educational activities and includes working with state AITC organizations and activities engaged in a variety of issues relating to agricultural literacy.

This notice identifies the objectives for AITC projects, deadlines, funding information, eligibility criteria for projects and applicants, and application forms and associated instructions.

W. Parent-Johnson (Family and Community Medicine) //  Limit: 1  

UArizona may submit one proposal to this funding program. 

The purpose of the RPED Grant Program is to improve rates of postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion among rural students through development of career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations in the region.

For rural students, and particularly low-income and underserved rural students, barriers to accessing postsecondary education include difficulties in accessing high speed internet, transportation, child care, and healthcare; as well as challenges of experiencing poverty, food insecurity, and housing insecurity. Furthermore, many rural students who do decide to attend college are first-generation students who lack sufficient college preparation in high school,[4] and are unfamiliar with the inner workings of postsecondary institutions, including the college application process and how to finance a college education.[5] These students may feel underprepared for higher education and typically face challenges once in college; many experience hurdles that leave them unable to complete their programs.[6] Accordingly, these inequities in college readiness and knowledge may discourage individuals from underserved student populations from continuing their education beyond high school.[7] These and other challenges may negatively affect rural students' ability to be academically successful and in turn be competitive in the job market.[8] 

Many of these challenges result from geographic isolation, distance from services, and a lack of resources and institutions to support community members. Rural communities are often located in education deserts, which may limit students' exposure or convenient access to postsecondary institutions.[9] For many rural students, transportation is a barrier to accessing colleges where they can earn a bachelor's degree, and thus they begin their postsecondary education at 2-year colleges

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

The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program aims to advance the job quality of the American workforce by providing disadvantaged, underserved, low-income, or other hard-to-reach, at-risk workers hazard awareness, avoidance, and control training to protect them from on-the-job hazards, and to inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the OSH Act.

The program and this funding opportunity announcement prioritizes investment and funding to train workers and employers impacted by working in high-hazard industries, industries with high fatality rates, or whose workforce has historically had disadvantaged access to occupational safety and health training, including young workers, temporary, minority, low literacy, limited-English speaking, and other disadvantaged and hard-to-reach workers and worker communities. The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program seeks to increase access to life-saving training by encouraging grantees to provide the training in other languages.

Applications submitted under this FOA are competing for a Targeted Topic Training grant. Targeted Topic Training grant applicants must propose to develop and conduct instructor-led training addressing one of the OSHA-specified training topics for an audience identified in this funding opportunity. 

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

The program and this funding opportunity announcement prioritizes investment and funding to train workers and employers impacted by working in in high-hazard industries, industries with high fatality rates, or whose workforce has historically had disadvantaged access to occupational safety and health training, including young workers, temporary, minority, low literacy, limited-English speaking, and other disadvantaged and hard-to-reach workers and worker communities. The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program seeks to increase access to life-saving training by encouraging grantees to provide the training in other languages.

The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program seeks applications based on proven strategies to reach the target training populations while also developing innovative solutions to expand access. 

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

The Susan Harwood Grant Program awards funds to qualifying organizations who have demonstrated capabilities to achieve the program’s performance expectations outlined in this FOA. This includes experience in employing subject matter experts, delivering and administering adult training programs, recruiting students, and managing grants. Following the grant awards, OSHA monitors each organization’s progress in achieving their performance goals and training targets. OSHA accomplishes this by conducting orientation meetings, training material reviews, training observations, program and financial monitoring visits, and quarterly and year-end report reviews.

Applicants must propose to develop new training materials addressing one of the OSHA-specified training topics. The materials must include learning objectives, course matrices, presentation/training materials including videos, instructor and participant guides, student handouts, training evaluations, and learning assessments. Grantees must validate the training materials in a live classroom training session. 

J. Hinton (Nursing)

UArizona may submit one proposal to this funding program.

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention (NEPQR)-Simulation Education Training (SET) Program. The purpose of the NEPQR-SET program is to enhance nurse education and strengthen the nursing workforce by increasing training opportunities for nursing students through the use of simulation-based technology, including equipment, to increase their readiness to practice upon graduation. This training expands the capacity of nurses to advance the health of patients, families, and communities in rural or medically underserved areas experiencing diseases and conditions such as stroke, heart disease, behavioral health, maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, and obesity. Program Goal The goal of the NEPQR-SET program is to increase the number and capacity of nursing students to address the health care needs and improve patient outcomes of rural and/or medically underserved populations. Program Objectives Implement or expand academic-clinical partnerships to create experiential learning opportunities that prepare nursing students to efficiently address health equity for rural and underserved populations. Increase the diversity of the nursing workforce to better address the needs of the populations they serve by recruiting and supporting students and faculty, including those from diverse populations. For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations

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

UArizona may submit one proposal to this funding program. 

The OPPE is committed to ensuring underserved communities can equitably participate in USDA programs. Differences in demographics, culture, economics, language, and other factors preclude a single approach to identifying solutions that can benefit underserved farmers and ranchers. Grants are provided to nonprofit community-based organizations, higher education institutions, and eligible Tribal entities with at least three (3) years of documented experience, preceding the submission date of an application. Eligible entities working with underserved farmers and ranchers or military veteran farmers and ranchers can improve their ability to start and maintain successful forestry and/or agricultural-related operations. With 2501 Program funding, eligible entities can provide education, training, and technical assistance and extend outreach and education efforts to connect with and assist underserved and military veteran farmers and ranchers to provide them with information on available USDA resources.

Limit: 2  // PIs: 
M. Kwinn   ( Systems and Industrial Engineering /Engineering Management)
H. Budinoff (Systems and Industrial Engineering)

UArizona may submit two proposals to this funding program. 

VentureWell Course and Program (C&P) Grants of up to $30,000 are awarded to US higher education institutions to support curriculum to grow and expand the entrepreneurial ecosystem in order to engage students in science and technology (S&T) innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E). Ideally, C&P Grant funding should act as a catalyst for increased entrepreneurial activity and help faculty and universities leverage other opportunities to launch and/or grow their I&E ecosystems. 

C&P grants may be used to strengthen existing curricular programs or to build new, pedagogically inclusive courses and programs that engage student teams in developing and pursuing scalable solutions to real-world needs through S&T I&E. The end goal is to support diverse groups of faculty, staff, and students in collaborating to develop novel inventions and technologies that have positive environmental and social impact.

Activities supported by C&P grants should lead to effective courses and programs that are sustained by the institution, lead to the formation of student teams by leveraging experiential learning practices, and expand opportunities for learning across S&T I&E.

C&P grant proposals may include plans to create or improve an individual course, course sequence, minor, major, certificate program, or other co- and extracurricular programs, including non-credit programs, that are directly tied to and support I&E-focused curriculum. S&T focus area may include, but are not limited to:

• General (science- and technology-based) entrepreneurship
• Sustainable technologies (new materials, clean tech, green energy, and chemistry innovation)
• Climate change solutions (technology to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change), especially technologies that support communities most impacted by climate change
• Biomedical and healthcare innovation
• Technologies that address poverty alleviation and basic human needs