National Science Foundation: Leading Engineering for America’s Prosperity, Health, and Infrastructure (LEAP HI)

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The National Science Foundation invites engineers to submit proposals to the LEAP HI program that address complex issues that deal with the creating a better, healthier future.

  • “LEAP HI supports fundamental research projects involving collaborating investigators, of duration up to five years, with total budget between $1 million and $2 million.
  • LEAP HI proposals must articulate a fundamental research problem with compelling intellectual challenge and significant societal impact, particularly on economic competitiveness, quality of life, public health, or essential infrastructure. One or more CMMI core topics must lie at the heart of the proposal, and integration of disciplinary expertise not typically engaged in CMMI-funded projects is encouraged.
  • LEAP HI proposals must highlight engineering research in a leadership role.
  • LEAP HI proposals must demonstrate the need for a sustained research effort by an integrated, interdisciplinary team, and should include a research integration plan and timeline for research activities, with convincing mechanisms for frequent and effective communication.”

Maximum award amount

$7,500,000

Open to

Institutions of Higher Education and non-profit, non-academic organizations

Period of Performance

Up to 5 years

application Due

Letter of Intent: 5 p.m. local time, July 15th, Annually
Submission: 5 p.m. local time, September 1st – September 15th, Annually

Expected Notification Date

TBD

Project Start Date

TBD

National Endowment for the Humanities: Humanities Connections Program

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The Humanities Connections program encourages faculty members within the humanities department and their counterparts within the social and natural sciences to create partnerships that support new and innovative approaches to learning.

The program will fund in two levels: Planning and Implementation.

“Humanities Connections projects must include:

  • substantive and purposeful integration of the subject matter, perspectives, and pedagogical approaches of two or more disciplines (with a minimum of one in and one outside of the humanities)
  • collaboration between faculty from two or more departments or schools at one or more institutions
  • experiential learning as an intrinsic part of the proposed curriculum
  • long-term institutional support for the proposed curriculum innovation(s)

Competitive applications will demonstrate:

  • that the proposed curricular project expands the role of the humanities in addressing significant and compelling topics or issues in undergraduate education at the applicant institution(s)
  • that these projects develop the intellectual skills and habits of mind cultivated by the study of the humanities
  • that faculty and students will benefit from meaningful collaborations in teaching and learning across disciplines as a result of the project”

Maximum Award Amount

Planning: $35,000
Implementation: $150,000

Open To

Organizations

Period of Performance

Planning: 12 months
Implementation: 18 – 36 months

Application Available

June 23, 2021

Application Due

September 14th, 2021

Expected Notifcation Date

April 1, 2022

Project Start Date

June 1, 2022 – September 1, 2022

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

Revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures

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The University of Akron’s Office of Research Administration has been informed by the Head of the Policy Office at the National Science Foundation, Jean Feldman, of the following changes:

“We are pleased to announce that a revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1) has been issued.

The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted or due on or after October 4, 2021. Significant changes include:

  • A new section covering requests for reasonable and accessibility accommodations regarding the proposal process or requests for accessibility accommodations to access NSF’s electronic systems, websites and other digital content;
  • A table entitled, NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support. This table identifies where pre- and post-award current and pending support disclosure information must be provided. Proposers and awardees may begin using this table immediately;
  • Increasing the page limit for the biographical sketch from two to three pages;
  • Updates to the current and pending support section of NSF proposals to require that information on objectives and overlap with other projects is provided to help NSF and reviewers assess overlap/duplication;
  • Adding planning proposals and Career-Life Balance supplemental funding requests as new proposal types;
  • Updates to travel proposals will require that AORs certify that prior to the proposer’s participation in the meeting for which NSF travel support is being requested, the proposer will assure that the meeting organizer has a written policy or code-of-conduct addressing harassment.

You are encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG.

NSF plans to conduct a webinar covering these changes. Visit the NSF policy outreach website to sign up for notifications about this and other outreach events.

While this version of the PAPPG becomes effective on October 4, 2021, in the interim, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG (NSF 20-1) continue to apply. 

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS/Policy Office at policy@nsf.gov.”

Limited Submission Opportunity – NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program

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Internal Notification of Interest Deadline to the Office of Research Administration: Friday, June 25, 2021, 5:00 pm.

NSF Proposal Submission Deadline: September 6, 2021

Synopsis of the Program:

The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program seeks proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas, through a comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs. Proposals are requested that address any interdisciplinary or convergent research theme of national priority, as noted above.

The NRT program addresses workforce development, emphasizing broad participation, and institutional capacity building needs in graduate education. The program encourages proposals that involve strategic collaborations with the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, national laboratories, field stations, teaching and learning centers, informal science centers, and academic partners. NRT especially welcomes proposals that include partnership with NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) and leverage INCLUDES project efforts to develop STEM talent from all sectors and groups in our society (https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/includes.jsp). Collaborations between NRT proposals and existing NSF INCLUDES projects should strengthen both NRT and INCLUDES projects.

Limit on the Number of Proposals per Organization: An eligible organization may participate in only two (2) proposals per NRT competition as lead or collaborative non-lead. All Track 1 and/or Track 2 NRT proposals will be counted toward this total limit of two proposals per organization.

For full details on this program, please visit the NSF NRT program page or RFP 21-536. 

For additional details regarding The University of Akron’s limited submission process, visit the ORA Limited Submission webpage.

If you are interested in submitting a NSF NRT proposal, please visit the ORA Limited Submission webpage and complete step 1: Notification of Interest, by the deadline above.

  • Individuals interested in applying to a limited submission program must submit a Notification of Interest no later than 5pm on the internal deadline. To submit this notification applicants must email limitedsubmissions@uakron.edu (cc’ing emily@uakron.edu) with the subject line of the email formatted as follows: “Last name, First name; Limited Submission Notification of Interest”. Notifications will be emailed, and applicants will either be approved to apply or will be prompted to provide a white paper.
  • If ORA receives internal notices of interest in excess of the NSF limit on the number of proposals per organization, an internal competition will be necessary and additional information will be sent to those who submitted a notice of interest.

NSF Virtual Grants Conference – Registration Is Open!

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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!