Group items tagged

The General & Age Related Disabilities Engineering (GARDE) program supports fundamental engineering research that will lead to the development of new technologies, devices, or software that improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Research may be supported that is directed toward the characterization, restoration, and/or substitution of human functional ability or cognition, or to the interaction of persons with disabilities and their environment. Areas of particular interest are disability-related research in neuroengineering and rehabilitation robotics. Emphasis is placed on significant advancement of fundamental engineering knowledge that facilitates transformative outcomes. We discourage applications that propose incremental improvements. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Program Director prior to submitting a proposal.

The General & Age Related Disabilities Engineering (GARDE) program supports fundamental engineering research that will lead to the development of new technologies, devices, or software that improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Research may be supported that is directed toward the characterization, restoration, and/or substitution of human functional ability or cognition, or to the interaction of persons with disabilities and their environment. Areas of particular interest are disability-related research in neuroengineering and rehabilitation robotics. Emphasis is placed on significant advancement of fundamental engineering knowledge that facilitates transformative outcomes. We discourage applications that propose incremental improvements. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Program Director prior to submitting a proposal.

NSF seeks to strengthen the future U.S. Engineering workforce by enabling the participation of all citizens through the support of research in the science of Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE). The BPE program is a dedicated to supporting the development of a diverse and well-prepared engineering workforce. BPE focuses on enhancing the diversity and inclusion of all underrepresented populations in engineering, including gender identity and expression, race and ethnicity (African Americans/Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders), disability, LGBTQ+, first generation college and socio-economic status.

The Research on Education and Learning (REAL) program represents the substantive foci of three previous EHR programs: Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE), Research in Disabilities Education (RDE), and Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE). What is distinctive about the new REAL program is the emphasis placed on the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to (a) understand, (b) build theory to explain, and (c) suggest interventions (and innovations) to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning, and participation. The program supports advances in research on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning and education by fostering efforts to explore all aspects of education research from foundational knowledge to improvements in STEM learning and learning contexts, both formal and informal, from childhood through adulthood, for all groups, and from the earliest developmental stages of life through participation in the workforce, resulting in increased public understanding of science and engineering. The REAL program will fund research on, human learning in STEM; learning in STEM learning environments, and broadening participation research.

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program 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 or development of a multi-user research instrument that is, 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 develop next-generation research instruments 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 up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Beginning with the FY 2018 competition, each performing organization may submit in revised "Tracks" as defined below, with no more than two submissions in Track 1 and no more than one submission in Track 2.rack 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,000. Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,000,000 up to and including $4,000,000.Consistent with the America COMPETES Act of 2007 Cost sharing of precisely 30% of the total project cost is required for Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education and for non-degree-granting organizations.

The Research on Education and Learning (REAL) program represents the substantive foci of three previous EHR programs: Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE), Research in Disabilities Education (RDE), and Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE). What is distinctive about the new REAL program is the emphasis placed on the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to (a) understand, (b) build theory to explain, and (c) suggest interventions (and innovations) to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning, and participation. The program supports advances in research on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning and education by fostering efforts to explore all aspects of education research from foundational knowledge to improvements in STEM learning and learning contexts, both formal and informal, from childhood through adulthood, for all groups, and from the earliest developmental stages of life through participation in the workforce, resulting in increased public understanding of science and engineering. The REAL program will fund research on, human learning in STEM; learning in STEM learning environments, and broadening participation research.

PAESMEM recognizes individuals for their mentoring of persons from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, persons with disabilities, persons from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, and early career scientists and engineers. Historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields include African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, and Native Alaskans. These are groups who might not otherwise have considered or had access to opportunities in STEM education or careers. 

Despite significant increases in the proportion of women pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral degrees, women are significantly underrepresented as faculty, particularly in upper ranks, and in academic administrative positions, in almost all STEM fields.  The problems of recruitment, retention, and advancement that are the causes of this underrepresentation vary by discipline and across groups of women faculty (e.g., by race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born and foreign-trained status, and faculty appointment type).  The ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of all women faculty in academic institutions.  Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in areas such as policy, practice, culture, and organizational climate.

Despite significant increases in the proportion of women pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral degrees, women are significantly underrepresented as faculty, particularly in upper ranks, and in academic administrative positions, in almost all STEM fields.  The problems of recruitment, retention, and advancement that are the causes of this underrepresentation vary by discipline and across groups of women faculty (e.g., by race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born and foreign-trained status, and faculty appointment type).  The ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of all women faculty in academic institutions.  Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in areas such as policy, practice, culture, and organizational climate.

Focus on diversity among women faculty: The ADVANCE program is centrally focused on funding projects to support systemic change for gender equity in STEM academic careers. Barriers to gender equity may not be identical for all groups of women faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, however. For example, African-American women, Hispanic/Latina women, and Native American women are underrepresented as tenured and tenure-track faculty in STEM disciplines compared to white women, and the challenges to recruitment, retention, and advancement may not be the same for these groups of women. All ADVANCE proposals are expected to address intersectionality and should offer strategies to promote gender equity for all faculty. Intersectionality is a concept found in the social sciences which recognizes that gender does not exist in isolation from other characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born and foreign-trained status, faculty appointment type, etc.

Focus on diversity among women faculty: The ADVANCE program is centrally focused on funding projects to support systemic change for gender equity in STEM academic careers. Barriers to gender equity may not be identical for all groups of women faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, however. For example, African-American women, Hispanic/Latina women, and Native American women are underrepresented as tenured and tenure-track faculty in STEM disciplines compared to white women, and the challenges to recruitment, retention, and advancement may not be the same for these groups of women. All ADVANCE proposals are expected to address intersectionality and should offer strategies to promote gender equity for all faculty. Intersectionality is a concept found in the social sciences which recognizes that gender does not exist in isolation from other characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born and foreign-trained status, faculty appointment type, etc.

In support of its mission, Zonta is inviting applications for its Amelia Earhart Fellowship from women of any nationality who are pursuing a PhD. Fellowships of $10,000 are awarded to thirty-five women each year and may be used at any university or college offering accredited postgraduate courses and degrees. The program aims to help talented women pursuing advanced studies in the typically male-dominated fields of aerospace-related sciences and engineering achieve their educational goals. The fellowship is intended to help these women invest in state-of-the-art computers to conduct their research, purchase expensive books and resource materials, and participate in specialized studies around the globe. Women of any nationality pursuing a PhD/doctoral degree who demonstrate a superior academic record in the field of aerospace-related sciences or aerospace-related engineering are eligible to apply. Applicants must be registered in a full-time PhD./doctoral program when funds are received in September and not be on track to graduate before April.

CAREER:The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from early-career faculty at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply. PECASE: Each year NSF selects nominees for the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from among the most meritorious recent CAREER awardees. Selection for this award is based on two important criteria: 1) innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology that is relevant to the mission of NSF, and 2) community service demonstrated through scientific leadership, education, or community outreach. These awards foster innovative developments in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to the scientific missions of the participating agencies, enhance connections between fundamental research and national goals, and highlight the importance of science and technology for the Nation's future. Individuals cannot apply for PECASE. These awards are initiated by the participating federal agencies. At NSF, up to twenty nominees for this award are selected each year from among the PECASE-eligible CAREER awardees most likely to become the leaders of academic research and education in the twenty-first century. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy makes the final selection and announcement of the awardees.

The grand challenge of broadening participation in STEM is to transform the STEM enterprise at all levels in order to fully engage the nation's talent for the ultimate improvement of the STEM enterprise. As a comprehensive national initiative, NSF INCLUDES aims to address the various complex equity and inclusion-related challenges and opportunities that characterize the nation's cultural and linguistic diversity, with a specific emphasis on the aforementioned groups. The goal is to achieve impact at the national level. Viewing inclusion as an asset and opportunity for social innovation, NSF is particularly interested in using approaches to scaling and growth, such as collective impact, networked improvement communities, and strategic partnerships. The objective is to develop networks that involve representative organizations and consortia from different sectors that are committed to a common agenda that comprehensively solves a specific STEM-inclusion problem. The long-term goal of NSF INCLUDES is to support innovative models, networks, partnerships, technical capabilities and research that will enable the U.S. science and engineering workforce to thrive by ensuring that traditionally underrepresented and underserved groups are represented in percentages comparable to their representation in the U.S. population.

ABC Wildlife humanely manages urban wildlife and insects in the interest of human health and safety from an environmental sustainability perspective with a love of nature and a deep respect for all living things. ABC Wildlife has offered humane wildlife removal services to the Chicagoland area for over 35 years.  As a woman-owned corporation operating in a largely male field, ABC Wildlife understands the remarkable impact women can have when allowed to break through. We want to pave the way for other women pursuing their dreams in the scientific world, which is why ABC Wildlife is introducing a scholarship designed to increase the number of women studying and influencing the future of science, including technology, engineering and math.

The U.S. Mission to UNESCO (USUNESCO) announces the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a new program to design and administer a three-year grants program aimed at identifying, developing, and expanding the most promising grassroots-led initiatives in Africa to help address the persistent gender gap in science, technology, engineering, arts/design, and math (STEAM) fields. The targeted African countries for the proposed grants program would be: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. This program aims to make progress toward eventually achieving gender parity in STEAM-related fields so that more African women and girls are empowered by the socioeconomic benefits derived from acquiring expertise in these fields and so that more women and girls contribute to innovation by creating, rather than just using, technology.

For many decades, an increasing number of women have obtained STEM doctoral degrees, however, women, particularly women of color, continue to be significantly underrepresented in almost all STEM academic positions.  While the degree of underrepresentation varies among STEM disciplines, women's advancement to senior professorial ranks and leadership roles is an issue in all fields.  The underrepresentation of women is also a critical issue for the nation, at large, as its need to develop a globally competitive and diverse workforce increases. Research has shown that women's representation and advancement in academic STEM positions are affected by many external factors that are unrelated to their ability, interest and technical skills (Spencer, et al, 1999; Halpern and Tan, 2001; Hyde, 2005; National Academy of Sciences, 2007).  Such factors include, but are not limited to: stereotype threat, societal impacts, organizational constraints of academic institutions; differential effect of work and family demands; implicit and explicit bias; and lack of women in academic leadership and decision-making positions.  The cumulative effect of such diverse factors has been to create infrastructural barriers that impact the number of women entering, persisting and advancing in STEM careers. Thus, the goal of the ADVANCE program is to develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce.  ADVANCE also has as its goal to seminally contribute to and inform the general knowledge base on gender equity in the academic STEM disciplines.

The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter is to alert the community to the continued opportunities to submit proposals to conduct research previously solicited by NSF's Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) and Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) programs. The solicitation containing information on these opportunities is the Research on Education and Learning (REAL) Solicitation (NSF 13-604) with a deadline for new proposals on January 10, 2014.

The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Professional Fellows Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA or "the Bureau") invites proposal submissions for the FY 2018 TechWomen program to empower, connect, and support the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The exchange program uses a mentorship model to support emerging STEM leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa. Organizations applying for this federal award should demonstrate the capacity to recruit, select, and place in mentorships a total of approximately 100-110 women from select countries in these regions to participate in a five- to six-week intensive peer-mentoring program in the United States. The mentoring experience should focus on advancing the status of professional women in the STEM fields through project-based peer mentorships, skill building, networking opportunities, and enhancement activities. Funding will also support follow-on activities in the participants' home countries that inspire and encourage girls and university-age women interested or working in STEM-based careers, engage young women using technology in their professions, and support former participants of the program ("alumnae"). Special emphasis should be placed on finding creative ways to involve alumnae in strengthening a network of female STEM professionals, building professional standards and capacity, and inspiring the next generation of girls interested in STEM careers by exposing them to female role models. Award applicants must exhibit their ability to manage all program logistics and overseas follow-on programming.

This program supports research and extension projects that have robust collaborations to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields that are relevant to USDA priorities identified by the Secretary: (i) Promotion of a safe, sufficient, and nutritious food supply for all Americans and for people around the world; (ii) Sustainable agricultural policies that foster economic viability for small and mid-sized farms and rural businesses, protect natural resources, and promote value-added agriculture; (iii) National leadership in climate change mitigation and adaptation; (iv) Building a modern workplace with a modern workforce; and (v) Support for 21st century rural communities

Zonta Anchorage is a chartered club of Zonta International, a global service organization of executives in business and the professions working to advance the status of women. In support of its mission, Zonta is inviting applications for its Amelia Earhart Fellowship from women of any nationality who are pursuing a PhD. Fellowships of $10,000 are awarded to thirty-five women each year and may be used at any university or college offering accredited postgraduate courses and degrees. The program aims to help talented women pursuing advanced studies in the typically male-dominated fields of aerospace-related sciences and engineering achieve their educational goals. The fellowship is intended to help these women invest in state-of-the-art computers to conduct their research, purchase expensive books and resource materials, and participate in specialized studies around the globe.

The NSF ADVANCE program contributes to the National Science Foundation's goal of a more diverse and capable science and engineering workforce.1 In this solicitation, the NSF ADVANCE program seeks to build on prior NSF ADVANCE work and other research and literature concerning gender, racial, and ethnic equity. The NSF ADVANCE program goal is to broaden the implementation of evidence-based systemic change strategies that promote equity for STEM2 faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. The NSF ADVANCE program provides grants to enhance the systemic factors that support equity and inclusion and to mitigate the systemic factors that create inequities in the academic profession and workplaces. Systemic (or organizational) inequities may exist in areas such as policy and practice as well as in organizational culture and climate. For example, practices in academic departments that result in the inequitable allocation of service or teaching assignments may impede research productivity, delay advancement, and create a culture of differential treatment and rewards. Similarly, policies and procedures that do not mitigate implicit bias in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions could lead to women and racial and ethnic minorities being evaluated less favorably, perpetuating historical under-participation in STEM academic careers and contributing to an academic climate that is not inclusive.

The Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and government. The Centers are catalyzed by an investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are primarily supported by industry Center members, with NSF taking a supporting role in the development and evolution of the Center. Each Center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry members and the Center faculty. An I/UCRC contributes to the nation's research infrastructure base and enhances the intellectual capacity of the engineering and science workforce through the integration of research and education. As appropriate, an I/UCRC uses international collaborations to advance these goals within the global context.