The National Science Foundation updated its program solicitation (NSF 13-510) for the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), investigator-initiated research projects.

"The Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) supports quantitative, predictive, and theory-driven fundamental research and related activities designed to promote understanding of complex living systems at the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels. MCB is soliciting proposals for hypothesis-driven and discovery research and related activities in four core clusters:

• Molecular Biophysics
• Cellular Dynamics and Function
• Genetic Mechanisms
• Systems and Synthetic Biology"

Estimated Number of Awards: 125

Anticipated Funding Amount: $85,000,000 Pending availability of funds, approximately $85M will be committed for the total budget of all new awards in each cycle. 

Letters of Intent/Preproposals: not applicable

Full Proposals Due: November 15, 2013

For more information, please see the program solicitation at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13510/nsf13510.htm

And the MCB website: http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=MCB

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) announced a new program to support research to build foundational knowledge of successful methods of teaching students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. While advancing STEM teaching and learning is a component inherent in many existing NSF programs, this newly released EHR program seeks to collect foundational knowledge on STEM learning.

The EHR Core Research program welcomes proposals from researchers or teams to conduct foundational research that will advance STEM learning and teaching, and address the challenges of current STEM education practices. Knowledge obtained through this research will be instrumental in determining how to best leverage future federal investment in STEM.

EHR is soliciting proposals in the following core areas:

STEM Learning: EHR requests projects that focus on "the learning of specific STEM subject matter content and practices; learning progressions, assessments and instruction-assisted development to support STEM learning; STEM learning and engagement outside of formal schooling; and dissemination of knowledge and learning within social networks.”

STEM Learning Environment: The solicitation seeks to understand how different learning paths (including university departments, museum exhibits, summer internships, or classroom or other informal setting) support or hinder STEM learning. The solicitation notes that "proposals that examine changing and emerging environments such as online/media learning at scale, blended instruction, virtual reality, personalized learning environments, and evidence-based approaches to undergraduate STEM teaching” are of particular interest.

STEM Workforce Development: EHR seeks proposals that will advance knowledge in the best ways to prepare the future STEM workforce at all levels.

Broadening Participation in STEM: EHR invites research to better understand what leads to higher rates of STEM recruitment and retention that can be used to improve participation of women and other underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.

The program invites two different types of proposals to investigate the aforementioned core areas:

Core Research Proposals "that propose to study a foundational research question/issue designed to inform the transformation of STEM learning and education” and

Capacity Building Proposals "intended to support groundwork necessary for advancing research within the four core areas.”

Letters of Intent: Not applicable

Due Dates: Proposals are due on July 12, 2013, February 4, 2014, and the first Tuesday in February, annually thereafter.

Total Funding and Award Size: NSF anticipates a total funding amount of $20 million, pending the availability of funding, and estimates making 28 awards. Core Research Proposals may receive up to $1.5 million over a period of five years. Capacity Building Proposals may receive up to $300,000 over a period of three years.

Eligibility and Limitations: There is no limit on the number of PIs per proposal, the number of proposals per organization, or the number of proposals per PI. Eligible institutions include colleges and universities, non-profit academic organizations, for-profit organizations, state and local governments, and unaffiliated individuals.

Sources and Additional Information:

Additional information is available at http://nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504924.

The full program announcement is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13555/nsf13555.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click#elig.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released its FY 2013 program solicitation for its Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program. This program supports active research by undergraduate students in any area of research that NSF funds.

"REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program. This solicitation features two mechanisms for support of student research: (1) REU Sites are based on independent proposals to initiate and conduct projects that engage a number of students in research. REU Sites may be based in a single discipline or academic department or may offer interdisciplinary or multi-department research opportunities with a coherent intellectual theme. Proposals with an international dimension are welcome. (2) REU Supplements may be included as a component of proposals for new or renewal NSF grants or cooperative agreements or may be requested for ongoing NSF-funded research projects.”

"Students do not apply to NSF to participate in REU activities. Students apply directly to REU Sites or to NSF-funded investigators who receive REU Supplements. To identify appropriate REU Sites, students should consult the directory of active REU Sites on the Web at http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm.”

See program solicitation for more information.

Award Information:

• Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement
• Estimated Number of Awards: 1,750 to 1,800 -- This estimateincludes approximately 180 new Site awards and 1,600 new Supplement awards each year.
• Anticipated Funding Amount: $68,400,000 in FY2013 -- This estimate includes both Sites and Supplements, pending availability of funds.

Program Solicitation

FY 2013 Research Experiences for Undergraduates NSF 13-542

Deadline - Full Proposals due: May 24, 2013

The National Science Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced a prize competition through the Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD) program. The BREAD Ideas Challenge will award 25 agricultural researchers up to $10,000 each for the best ideas in 100 words or less on "the most pressing issues facing smallholder farmers in the developing world.” The BREAD Ideas Challenge is designed to inform future research foci of the BREAD program.

"In line with the BREAD mission, the BREAD Ideas Challenge seeks to identify those "key constraints" and research foci that, if addressed, could lead to significant benefit to smallholder agriculture in the developing world. BREAD is looking for creative, novel challenges and research foci that could be addressed by basic scientific research in any of the major fields supported by the BREAD program: crop sciences, microbes and insects, livestock and animals, soil sciences, weather forecasting, and technology development.”

 

Entrant Eligibility

An entrant must be 18 years or older and be a graduate student, postdoctoral associate or faculty member employed at an eligible institution (e.g., a university, college, or non-profit research organization, including museums, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar organizations that are directly associated with educational or research activities) in the U.S. or internationally. Entries from other individuals and/or at other organizations will not be accepted

 

For more information see:

• BREAD Ideas Challenge Press Release: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127465&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
• BREAD Ideas Challenge website: http://www.nsf.gov/bio/bread/index.jsp
• Eligibility: http://www.nsf.gov/bio/bread/guide.jsp

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) recently announced a search for 15 leading scientist-educators with a goal of transforming science education.

From the HHMI website:

As new HHMI professors, each of the scientists will receive $1 million over five years to create activities that integrate their research with student learning in ways that enhance undergraduate students’ understanding of science.

HHMI professors are accomplished research scientists who are deeply committed to making science more engaging for undergraduates. By providing them with the funds and support to implement their ideas, HHMI hopes to empower these individuals to create new models for teaching science at research universities.

"We are looking for scientists who have already thought about how to integrate their research with their student activities and who are motivated to pursue tough questions, but who may not have had the time or resources to implement their ideas,” says David Asai, HHMI’s director for precollege and undergraduate science education. "We hope that these awards will really allow them to do things they haven’t done before.”

Applicants can apply online at www.hhmi.org/competitions. Prospective applicants must establish their eligibility by June 4, 2013, and applications must be completed by July 16, 2013. A panel of distinguished scientists and educators will review the proposals, and finalists will be invited to present their proposed activities at a symposium in May 2014. HHMI will announce the awardees in summer 2014.  

See the HHMI website for more details: http://www.hhmi.org/news/20130314.html