National Science Foundation (NSF)

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

An institution may submit only one proposal in response to this solicitation per target date.

The Geospace Section of the NSF Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) offers funding for the creation of new tenure-track faculty positions within the disciplines that comprise the AGS Geospace programs to ensure their vitality at U.S. universities and colleges. The aim of the Faculty Development in geoSpace Science (FDSS) is to integrate topics in geospace science including solar and space physics and space weather research into natural sciences or engineering or related departments at U.S. institutions of higher education (IHE). FDSS also stimulates the development of undergraduate or graduate programs or curricula capable of training the next generation of leaders in geospace science. Geospace science is interdisciplinary in nature and FDSS awardees will be expected to establish partnerships within multiple parts of the IHE.
 

Update 1/27/2025 - This funding opportunity has been archived

Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2

Limit on number of proposals per organization description 

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

Proposals may only be submitted by certain types of PIs. Please see solicitation for details.

Focus On Recruiting Emerging Climate and Adaptation Scientists and Transformers (FORECAST) seeks to facilitate the transition from status quo graduate career preparation to a student-centered model with a particular emphasis on building entrepreneurial and innovation capacity at emerging research institutions (ERIs). Transformers are scientists ready to tackle the challenges the nation and world are facing due to climate change. This opportunity will adopt the spirit of multiple directives for the research community; for example, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report on Earth System Science and the Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education report on Engaged Research. These directives call on the research enterprise to support the building of a robust scientific workforce ready to work with communities in addressing societal challenges. Through convergence research approaches to address societal challenges, the transdisciplinary researchers engaged in FORECAST will foster community resilience and the translation of research outcomes for societal benefits, as well as gain a broader understanding of the governmental context related to these issues. A new generation of scientists trained in "engaged research" will be expected to have a national impact in communities that may be disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. The program will build cohorts of innovative scholars from the full spectrum of diverse talent at emerging research institutions to include groups historically excluded in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Participants, who are senior students in undergraduate programs and students who are in master's degree programs, will be supported through intentional professional development activities. FORECAST participants must be US citizens or permanent residents.

FORECAST proposals will fall into three categories: Track 1, Track 2, and FORECAST Planning grants. Track 1 will support one Coordination Hub, to coordinate support for rising seniors from emerging research institutions (ERIs) or historically excluded and underserved groups as part of a national cohort to participate in structured professional development opportunities. Track 2 projects will support cohorts of Master's degree students at ERIs. Mentorship and capacity building should be central to the cohort approach. FORECAST Planning grant proposals will build capacity at ERI institutions and with the appropriate partners to undertake the activities necessary to establish a future FORECAST track 2 cohort.

Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

*UA may submit one proposal under the Research Partnerships track. There is no institutional limitation on the Technology Translation track.

If you don’t have a demonstrated and substantial industry relationship as required for a PFI submission, please reach out to Brian Adair(link sends e-mail) or Lindsay Ridpath(link sends e-mail), to help develop those connections so that your proposal is competitive. PFI proposals are accepted three times per year and you may be better served by strengthening your industry relationship and waiting for the next cycle.


The Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program within the Division of Translational Impacts (TI) offers researchers from all disciplines of science and engineering funded by NSF the opportunity to perform translational research and technology development, catalyze partnerships and accelerate the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace for societal benefit.

The Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) track seeks to achieve the same goals as the PFI-TT track by supporting instead complex, multi-faceted technology development projects that are typically beyond the scope of a single researcher or institution and require a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary, synergistic collaboration. A PFI-RP project requires the creation of partnerships between academic researchers and third-party organizations such as industry, non-academic research organizations, federal laboratories, public or non-profit technology transfer organizations or other universities. Such partnerships are needed to conduct use-inspired research on a stand-alone larger project toward commercialization and societal impact. In the absence of such synergistic partnership, the project’s likelihood for success would be minimal.

The intended outcomes of both PFI-TT and PFI-RP tracks are: a) the commercialization of new intellectual property derived from NSF-funded research outputs; b) the creation of new or broader collaborations with industry (including increased corporate sponsored research); c) the licensing of NSF-funded research outputs to third party corporations or to start-up companies funded by a PFI team; and d) the training of future innovation and entrepreneurship leaders.


 

The please be aware of important revisions in the PFI program recently announced in solicitation NSF 23-538, as outlined below:

NSF Lineage Requirement
Innovation Corps (NSF I-CorpsTM) Teams awards no longer convey the lineage required to submit a PFI proposal.
All proposals submitted to the PFI program must meet a lineage requirement by having NSF-supported research results in any field of science and engineering: Principal Investigator (PI) or a co-PI must have had an NSF award that ended no more than seven (7) years prior to the full proposal deadline date or be a current NSF award recipient. The proposed technology development project must be derived from the research results and/or discoveries from this underlying NSF award.

Award Information
The funding amounts in both tracks of the PFI program have significantly increased. Specifically:

• PFI-Technology Translation (PFI-TT) projects will be funded for up to $550,000 for 18-24 months per award; and
• PFI-Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) projects will be funded for up to $1,000,000 for 36 months.
   

New full proposal deadlines
The PFI solicitation has three revised deadlines each year:

• May 2, 2023
  First Tuesday in May, Annually Thereafter
• September 5, 2023
  First Tuesday in September, Annually Thereafter
• January 4, 2025
  First Tuesday in January, Annually Thereafter

Limit: 1// R. Liang (Wyant College of Optical Sciences)

*UA may submit one proposal under the Research Partnerships track. There is no institutional limitation on the Technology Translation track.

If you don’t have a demonstrated and substantial industry relationship as required for a PFI submission, please reach out to Brian Adair(link sends e-mail) or Lindsay Ridpath(link sends e-mail), to help develop those connections so that your proposal is competitive. PFI proposals are accepted three times per year and you may be better served by strengthening your industry relationship and waiting for the next cycle.


The Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program within the Division of Translational Impacts (TI) offers researchers from all disciplines of science and engineering funded by NSF the opportunity to perform translational research and technology development, catalyze partnerships and accelerate the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace for societal benefit.

The Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) track seeks to achieve the same goals as the PFI-TT track by supporting instead complex, multi-faceted technology development projects that are typically beyond the scope of a single researcher or institution and require a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary, synergistic collaboration. A PFI-RP project requires the creation of partnerships between academic researchers and third-party organizations such as industry, non-academic research organizations, federal laboratories, public or non-profit technology transfer organizations or other universities. Such partnerships are needed to conduct use-inspired research on a stand-alone larger project toward commercialization and societal impact. In the absence of such synergistic partnership, the project’s likelihood for success would be minimal.

The intended outcomes of both PFI-TT and PFI-RP tracks are: a) the commercialization of new intellectual property derived from NSF-funded research outputs; b) the creation of new or broader collaborations with industry (including increased corporate sponsored research); c) the licensing of NSF-funded research outputs to third party corporations or to start-up companies funded by a PFI team; and d) the training of future innovation and entrepreneurship leaders.


 

The please be aware of important revisions in the PFI program recently announced in solicitation NSF 23-538, as outlined below:

NSF Lineage Requirement
Innovation Corps (NSF I-CorpsTM) Teams awards no longer convey the lineage required to submit a PFI proposal.
All proposals submitted to the PFI program must meet a lineage requirement by having NSF-supported research results in any field of science and engineering: Principal Investigator (PI) or a co-PI must have had an NSF award that ended no more than seven (7) years prior to the full proposal deadline date or be a current NSF award recipient. The proposed technology development project must be derived from the research results and/or discoveries from this underlying NSF award.

Award Information
The funding amounts in both tracks of the PFI program have significantly increased. Specifically:

• PFI-Technology Translation (PFI-TT) projects will be funded for up to $550,000 for 18-24 months per award; and

• PFI-Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) projects will be funded for up to $1,000,000 for 36 months.
   

New full proposal deadlines
The PFI solicitation has three revised deadlines each year:

• May 2, 2023
  First Tuesday in May, Annually Thereafter

• September 3, 2024
  First Tuesday in September, Annually Thereafter

• January 2, 2025
  First Tuesday in January, Annually Thereafter

Limit: 5* // Tickets Available: 2

L. Davis (Arizona Institute for Resilience) - Design & Development Launch Pilots (DDLPs)

J. Thangavelautham (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering) - Collaborative Change Consortia

M. Franco  ( HSI Initiatives) - Alliances

*Only 1 submission per project type/institution:

1. Design & Development Launch Pilot = $600K for up to 2 years.
2. Collaborative Change Consortia = $5M for up to 5 years.
3. Alliances = $10M for up to 5 years.
4. Network Connectors = $500K for up to 2 years.
5. Conferences = $100k for 1 year.

NSF INCLUDES is a comprehensive, national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) discovery and innovation, focused on NSF's commitment to ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in STEM fields, as communicated in the NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2022 - 2026. The vision of NSF INCLUDES is to catalyze the STEM enterprise to work collaboratively for inclusive change, resulting in a STEM workforce that reflects the diversity of the Nation's population. More specifically, NSF INCLUDES seeks to motivate and accelerate collaborative infrastructure building to advance equity and sustain systemic change to broaden participation in STEM fields at scale. Significant advancement in the inclusion of groups that have historically been excluded from or under-served in STEM will result in a new generation of STEM talent and leadership to secure the Nation's future and long-term economic competitiveness.

With this solicitation, NSF offers support for five types of projects that connect and contribute to the National Network: (1) Design and Development Launch Pilots, (2) Collaborative Change Consortia, (3) Alliances, (4) Network Connectors, and (5) Conferences. The NSF INCLUDES National Network is a multifaceted collaboration of agencies, organizations, and individuals working collectively to broaden participation in STEM. The NSF INCLUDES National Network serves as a testbed for designing, implementing, studying, refining, and scaling collaborative change models and is composed of:

• NSF INCLUDES funded projects
• Other NSF funded projects
• Subcommittee on Federal Coordination in STEM Education (FC-STEM) agencies
• Scholars engaged in broadening participation research and evaluation, and
• Organizations that support the development of talent from all sectors of society to build an inclusive STEM workforce.

All NSF INCLUDES funded projects must operationalize five design elements of collaborative infrastructure - (1) shared vision, (2) partnerships, (3) goals and metrics, (4) leadership and communication, and (5) expansion, sustainability, and scale - to create systemic change that will lead to the substantially broadened participation of individuals from historically excluded and undeserved groups in STEM.

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1 //  K. Luxbacher  (Mining and Geological Engineering)

The NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program creates regional-scale, technology-driven, inclusive innovation ecosystems throughout the United States by accelerating key technologies, addressing regional, national, societal, and/or geostrategic challenges, driving economic growth, creating and retaining quality jobs, expanding equitable pathways into careers, and strengthening national competitiveness and security. Each NSF Engine represents a formal coalition of regional partners, led by a full-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO), tasked to carry out an integrated and comprehensive set of activities spanning use-inspired research, translation of innovation to practice, entrepreneurship, workforce development, community engagement, and ecosystem building, to nurture and accelerate the growth of regional innovation ecosystems grounded in technological innovation and regional, national, societal, and/or geostrategic challenges. The mission of an NSF Engine must be clearly rooted in regional interests and reflect the aspiration that a regional innovation ecosystem can help build strong communities where all residents can thrive. This includes the equitable development of regional talent, intentional community engagement, and attention to impacts on a region’s identities and cultures. The NSF Engines program is a placed-based innovation funding initiative, where the emphasis on “regions” expresses NSF’s aim to stimulate innovation-driven economic growth within a particular place or region of service. The emphasis of the NSF Engines program further includes creating new business and economic growth in sectors that are critical to American competitiveness and in those regions of America that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past several decades.

UArizona is not eligible for this opportunity. 
For more information, please contact RDS. 

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.

Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 1

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.

Limit: 4 * // Tickets Available: 3

Track 1: P. Haenecour ; T. Bheemasetti

Track 2: J. Schaibley

Track 3: M. Ibañez-Mejia 

Internal deadline has been extended to June 26, 2024.

*Number of proposals allowed per organization: Four.

• No more than two submissions in Track 1 (Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,000 and less than $1,400,000).
• No more than one submission in Track 2 (Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,400,000 up to and including $4,000,000). 
• Track 3: Track 3 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,0001 and less than or equal to $4,000,000 that include the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment and instrumentation to conserve or reduce the consumption of helium. Institutions may submit no more than one Track 3 proposal. Submission of a Track 3 proposal does not impact limits that apply for Track 1 and Track 2 proposals.

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program (MRI Program Website) serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training in our Nation's institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations. An MRI award supports the acquisition of a multi-user research instrument that is commercially available through direct purchase from a vendor, or for the personnel costs and equipment that are required for the development of an instrument with new capabilities, thereby advancing instrumentation capabilities and enhancing expertise for instrument design and fabrication at academic institutions. MRI instruments are, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs.

MRI provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur. MRI also provides support to obtain next-generation research instruments by developing instruments with new capabilities that open new opportunities to advance the frontiers in science and engineering research. Additionally, an MRI award is expected to enhance research training of students who will become the next generation of instrument users, designers and builders.

An MRI proposal may request from NSF up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Each performing organization may submit in revised "Tracks" as defined below, with no more than two (2) submissions in Track 1 and no more than one (1) submission in Track 2. For the newly defined Track 3, no more than one (1) submission per competition is permitted.  As a result, it is now possible for an institution to submit up to four MRI proposals within the Track limits as described above.

• Track 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than $100,000[1] and less than $1,400,000.
• Track 2: Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,400,000 up to and including $4,000,000.
• Track 3: Track 3 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,000[1] and less than or equal to $4,000,000 that include the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment and instrumentation to conserve or reduce the consumption of helium. Track 3 is an institutionally coordinated submission and won't be part of the internal competition.
  
  
  Institutions may submit no more than one Track 3 proposal. Submission of a Track 3 proposal does not impact limits that apply for Track 1 and Track 2 proposals.

Cost sharing requirements for new awards in the MRI Program are waived for a period of 5 years beginning with the FY 2023 MRI competition. Institutional submission limits for Track 1, Track 2 and Track 3 proposals remain.

The MRI Program especially seeks broad representation of groups, institutions, and geographic regions that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines. Proposals from women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities and early-career PIs are encouraged, as are proposals that benefit early-career researchers and proposals with PIs from geographically underserved regions, including EPSCoR jurisdictions. Additionally, proposals are encouraged from under-resourced institutions, including from emerging research institutions, where MRI can significantly build capacity for research