PURPOSE:

The Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Branch of the Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) Division was established to significantly increase the number and competitiveness of underrepresented minorities engaged in biomedical research.  To facilitate the training and development of students, faculty, and/or researchers from groups underrepresented in the biomedical research enterprise of this nation, the MARC Branch will provide program-related support in three key areas:  a) scientific conferences, b) scientific short courses, or c) other well-defined ancillary training activities that further the MARC mission. 

LIMITATIONS

An applicant institution may not submit more than one application at any time. Eligible institutions may only receive one MARC Ancillary Training award which may not be transferred from one institution/organization to another.

BUDGETARY LIMITATIONS:

There are no specific budget limitations; however, the requested direct costs must be reasonable, well documented, fully justified and commensurate with the scope of the proposed program.  Applicants requesting direct costs of $ 500,000 or more for any one year must follow NIH policy (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-004.html). 

PURPOSE:

The Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program was created in response to a legislative mandate of increasing the numbers of underrepresented (UR) faculty, investigators and students engaged in biomedical and behavioral research, and to broaden the opportunities for their participation in biomedical and behavioral research. To accomplish this goal, the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program provides institutional grants to establish research training programs at institutions with research intensive environments that will increase the preparation and skills of UR students in the biomedical and behavioral sciences as they academically advance in the pursuit of the Ph.D. degree in these fields.

LIMITATIONS

An applicant institution may not submit more than one application at any time. Eligible institutions may only receive one IMSD award. Research education programs may not be transferred from one institution to another.

BUDGETARY LIMITATIONS:

There are no specific budget limitations; however, the requested direct costs must be reasonable, well documented, fully justified and commensurate with the scope of the proposed program. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this funding opportunity may not exceed five years.

PURPOSE:

The goal of the ADVANCE program is to develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce.

Institutional Transformation (IT)

Institutional Transformation awards are expected to include innovative systemic organizational approaches to transform institutions of higher education in ways that will increase the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers.  These awards support comprehensive programs for institution-wide change.  IT projects must include a research component designed to study the effectiveness of the proposed innovations in order to contribute to the knowledge base informing academic institutional transformation (see additional ADVANCE merit review criteria).

Institutional Transformation Catalyst (IT-Catalyst)

IT-Catalyst awards are designed to support institutional self-assessment activities, such as basic data collection and analysis and policy review, in order to identify specific issues in the recruitment, retention and promotion of women faculty in STEM academics within their institution of higher education.   This type of work is fundamental for institutions that plan to undertake institutional transformation.  The institution's need for external resources to undertake institutional self assessment and policy review will specifically be evaluated using an additional ADVANCE merit review criterion.

Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID)

Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination awards may focus on one institution or organization, or they may be a partnership between several institutions and/or organizations.  PAID projects can focus on all STEM disciplines, several disciplines, or only one discipline, including the social and behavioral sciences.   Projects may have an international, national, state or local scope.  Previous or current funding from ADVANCE is not a prerequisite for submitting a PAID proposal (see additional ADVANCE merit review criteria).  PAID awards support activities such as:

• Adaptation and implementation of materials, tools, research, and practices that have been demonstrated to be effective in increasing the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers.
• Dissemination and diffusion of materials, tools, research, and practices, to the appropriate audiences, that have been demonstrated to be effective in increasing the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers.  Please note that simply making materials, tools, research, and practices available to others is not effective diffusion and dissemination.  Rather, an effort to teach and/or train individuals and groups how to adopt or adapt the information is expected as well.
• Scientific research designed to advance understanding of gender in the STEM academic workforce (PAID-Research).

LIMITATIONS

Proposers may submit only one Institutional Transformation proposal or one IT-Catalyst proposal.  There is no limit on the number of PAID proposals that can be submitted.

PURPOSE:

The Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) program accepts proposals for research and educational projects to improve ethics education in all of the fields of science and engineering that NSF supports, especially in interdisciplinary or inter-institutional contexts.  Proposals must focus on improving ethics education for graduate students in those fields, although the proposed programs may benefit advanced undergraduates in addition to graduate students.

LIMITATIONS

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

• Only colleges and universities located and accredited in the U.S. or U.S.-based professional associations are eligible to apply to this program. Other types of organizations can be included only as non-lead collaborators or sub-awardees. In addition, accredited U.S. colleges and universities and U.S. professional associations can be non-lead collaborators or sub-awardees.

PI Limit:

NSF expects project teams to include persons with appropriate expertise. This might include expertise in the domain or domains of science or engineering on which the project focuses, in ethics, in educational research, and in pedagogy.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

An eligible organization, as defined above, may submit only one proposal as the lead organization. Organizations submitting more than one proposal as the lead organization will be notified and given one week from notification to select one proposal for consideration. If one is not selected in that time period, all of those proposals will be returned without review. There is no limit on the number of proposals under which an organization may be included as a non-lead collaborator or sub-awardee

BUDGETARY LIMITATIONS

The maximum award amount is expected to be $300,000 inclusive of indirect costs; maximum duration is expected to be 36 months. Projects that include partnerships (for example, between universities and scientific societies) for the purpose of disseminating best practices in graduate ethics education will be eligible for a maximum award amount of $400,000.