Join the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Spring 2021 NSF Virtual Grants Conference! This virtual conference will be broadcast live on Zoom during the week of June 7-11, 2021.

Registration is open! To register for this free event, visit our conference website. Note: You will need to register for each Zoom session. Also, please only register for one concurrent session per time block.

Please feel free to check nsfpolicyoutreach.com for the most up-to-date conference information and to view the conference agenda. You can view session recordings of the Fall 2020 Virtual Grants Conference on our website or on our YouTube page.

For those who cannot attend the live conference, all conference sessions will be recorded and available on-demand shortly after the event and posted on our website and our YouTube page.

If you have any logistical questions about this virtual conference, please contact us at: grants_conference@nsf.gov

We look forward to seeing you in June!

SYNOPSIS

Cyberspace has transformed the daily lives of people. Society’s overwhelming reliance on cyberspace, however, has exposed the system’s fragility and vulnerabilities: corporations, agencies, national infrastructure, and individuals continue to suffer cyber-attacks. Achieving a truly secure cyberspace requires addressing both challenging scientific and engineering problems involving many components of a system, and vulnerabilities that stem from human behaviors and choices. Examining the fundamentals of security and privacy as a multidisciplinary subject can lead to fundamentally new ways to design, build, and operate cyber systems, protect existing infrastructure, and motivate individuals to learn about cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Acts for 2018 and 2021, authorizes the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Homeland Security, to offer a scholarship program to recruit and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to meet the needs of the cybersecurity mission for federal, state, local, and tribal governments.

The goals of the CyberCorps(R): Scholarship for Service (SFS) program are aligned with the U.S. strategy to develop a superior cybersecurity workforce. These goals are to increase the quantity of new entrants to the government cyber workforce, to increase the national capacity for the education of cybersecurity professionals, to increase national research and development capabilities in critical information infrastructure protection, and to strengthen partnerships between institutions of higher education and relevant employment sectors. The SFS program welcomes proposals to establish or to continue scholarship programs in cybersecurity. All scholarship recipients must work after graduation for a federal, state, local, or tribal Government organization in a position related to cybersecurity for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. A proposing institution must provide clearly documented evidence of a strong existing academic program in cybersecurity. Such evidence can include ABET accreditation in cybersecurity; a designation by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE), in Cyber Operations (CAE-CO) or in Research (CAE-R); or equivalent evidence documenting a strong program in cybersecurity.

The SFS program also supports efforts leading to an increase in the ability of the United States higher education enterprise to produce cybersecurity professionals. Funding opportunities in this area are provided via the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace – Education Designation (SaTC-EDU) and other programs (see the section “Increasing National Capacity in Cybersecurity Education” for more details.)

Full Proposal Deadline Date

    July 28, 2021

For more information, please visit the NSF page.

The National Science Foundation’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate is holding an informational webinar about several major research funding opportunities.

The event will take place on April 15 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Researchers, administrative staff and others in the social, behavioral and economic sciences community are encouraged to attend and learn more about what it takes to create — and lead — a research proposal for these major initiatives, including Trust and Authenticity in Communications Systems, Understanding the Rules of Life: Emergent Networks, mid-scale research infrastructure and others.

Featured speakers include NSF Assistant Director Arthur Lupia, head of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, and Douglas Maughan, head of NSF’s Convergence Accelerator Program.

The webinar will present information on current opportunities and provide tips on how you can become involved. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions during the event’s Q&A session.

• Registration is required. See webinar registration page.
• Real-time captions will be available during the meeting. See webinar captions page. 
• If you require additional reasonable accommodations, please contact nsfsbemtgsupport@nsf.gov by April 13.

A video will be available after the event for those unable to attend the live presentations.

For more information, please visit the NSF page.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 recognizes that the humanities sector is an essential component of economic and civic life in the United States. The Act appropriated supplemental funding to NEH to provide emergency relief to institutions and organizations working in the humanities that have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.  

This program invites applications from eligible organizations seeking support for humanities positions and projects that have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Through this funding opportunity, NEH will award grants to museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, independent research institutions, academic presses, professional organizations, colleges and universities, and other humanities organizations across the country to help these entities continue to advance their mission during the interruption of their operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. In keeping with Congress’s intent in enacting the American Rescue Plan, applicants may propose new humanities projects or focus on sustaining core humanities programs and activities. 

Maximum award amount

 Level I: $50,000
Level II: $200,000
Level III: $500,000

Open to

 Organizations

Period of performance

 One year

Application available

 April 7, 2021

Application due

 May 14, 2021

Expected notification date

 September 1, 2021

Project start date

 October 1, 2021 January 1, 2022

For more information about this grant, please visit the grant page.

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time):

     July 21, 2021

     Third Wednesday in July, Annually Thereafter

For IUSE Level 1, 2, 3, and Capacity-Building Proposals

     January 19, 2022

     Third Wednesday in January, Annually Thereafter

For IUSE Level 1 and Capacity-Building Proposals

Synopsis of Program:

The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) hold much promise as sectors of the economy where we can expect to see continuous vigorous growth in the coming decades. STEM job creation is expected to outpace non-STEM job creation significantly, according to the Commerce Department, reflecting the importance of STEM knowledge to the US economy.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a leadership role in developing and implementing efforts to enhance and improve STEM education in the United States. Through the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative, the agency continues to make a substantial commitment to the highest caliber undergraduate STEM education through a Foundation-wide framework of investments. The IUSE: EHR is a core NSF STEM education program that seeks to promote novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. The program is open to application from all institutions of higher education and associated organizations. NSF places high value on educating students to be leaders and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields as well as educating a scientifically literate public. In pursuit of this goal, IUSE: EHR supports projects that seek to bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, that adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices into STEM teaching and learning, and that lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. In addition to innovative work at the frontier of STEM education, this program also encourages replication of research studies at different types of institutions and with different student bodies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings.

IUSE: EHR also seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including improved diversity of students and instructors participating in STEM education, professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques that meet the changing needs of students, and projects that promote institutional partnerships for collaborative research and development. IUSE: EHR especially welcomes proposals that will pair well with the efforts of NSF INCLUDES (https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/nsfincludes/index.jsp) to develop STEM talent from all sectors and groups in our society.

For all the above objectives, the National Science Foundation invests primarily in evidence-based and knowledge-generating approaches to understand and improve STEM learning and learning environments, improve the diversity of STEM students and majors, and prepare STEM majors for the workforce. In addition to contributing to STEM education in the host institution(s), proposals should have the promise of adding more broadly to our understanding of effective teaching and learning practices.

For more information about the award, please visit the NSF page.