AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF)/ Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)/Division of Graduate Education PROGRAM: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) - Science Master’s Program (SMP) OBJECTIVES: This program provides funding to prepare students for STEM careers in business, industry, government agencies, and non profit organizations. The program’s primary goal is to provide a well-trained U.S. STEM workforce for the changing needs of society and employers. Proposals submitted to the Science Master's Program should describe a STEM based Master's graduate education curriculum broadened with education that provides additional skills, such as through specially tailored courses in business and management that prepare students to work in business, industry, government agencies, or nonprofit organizations. The fields and training activities should be in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics where there is high or emerging (anticipated) need. Proposals must demonstrate that the proposed programs meet the needs of the intended workplace and that careful market research and collaboration have led to the proposed model. The proposed Science Master's Program should involve a diverse group of faculty members and other investigators with appropriate expertise in research and teaching in STEM fields, and should include instructors who have expertise specific to the workforce preparation features of the program to provide additional practical skills training. Science Master's Program proposals are expected to incorporate and integrate the following features: 1) A needs assessment that describes the nature of the workforce need, data that substantiate the need at the local, national, or even global level, and a summary of conversations and other expressions of interest on the part of industry, government, and/or the non-profit sector.2) A comprehensive description of how the workforce need will be met, appropriate for master's level education, that serves as the foundation for trainee's activities and is based on labor market knowledge from industry, government, and/or the non-profit sector of what transformative education and skills are needed in STEM activities and the management of STEM activities. 3) Innovative graduate education and training mechanisms, curricular enhancement, and other educational features that foster strong interactions among participating students, faculty, and workforce mentors; 4) A research experience appropriate to the SMP theme; 5) Career development opportunities; for example, international perspectives and instruction in ethics and the responsible conduct of research; 6) Program strategy and plan for recruitment, mentoring, retention, and graduation of U.S. graduate students, including efforts aimed at members of groups underrepresented in STEM (specifically, American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Blacks, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders (natives of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa), persons with a disability, and, in some STEM disciplines, women); 7) Strategy for formative assessments of the project's effectiveness and program improvements based on these assessments; 8) Administrative plan and organizational structure that ensures effective management of the project resources; 9) Plan for disseminating knowledge about innovative graduate education activities both within and outside the institution; and 10) Institutional commitment to facilitating and furthering the plans and goals of the Science Master's Program project, to creating a supportive environment for its continued development, to creating a supportive environment for cyber-enabled learning, and to institutionalizing the successful elements of the project after NSF funding ends. As this program is offered as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, timeliness is important. Proposals that demonstrate a readiness to start the new program expeditiously will be given priority. ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS: An institution may submit one proposal to this program. An investigator may serve as PI or Co-PI on only one proposal submitted in response to this solicitation. The PI must be on the STEM faculty of the submitting institution. DEADLINE: FUNDING INFORMATION: NSF anticipates providing $14.7 million to fund 21 awards. Awards will have a length of three years and may request up to $700,000 per award. AGENCY CONTACT:Myles Boylan Directorate for Education & Human Resources Room 835 S National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, VA 22230 Telephone: (703) 292-4617 Fax: (703) 292-9048 Email: mboylan@nsf.gov Web: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09607/nsf09607.htm ; FAQs: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10005/nsf10005.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25 INTERNAL REVIEW PROCESS: An institution may submit one proposal to this program. To screen potential proposals for this competition, an internal deadline has been established. Principal Investigators (PIs) interested in submitting an application should provide the following proposal information to their Associate Dean by Friday, September 18, 2009 for internal review purposes: 1. Project description (maximum length 4 pages) should include items a – d: (a) describe the objectives of the proposed program, including its STEM theme and key 2. Budget and budget justification (two pages). 3. Biographical sketches: include 2-page NSF format biographical sketch for PI and Co-PIs involved with the proposed program. PIs will be informed if their proposal is selected for submission in time to complete and process their proposal for final review. REMARKS: Letters of intent must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system. Applications must be submitted via FastLane, NSF's web-based system for proposal submission and review. For more information about FastLane, or to register as a FastLane user, please contact Kathleen Foster in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at x3-4365 or kfoster@bu.edu. Grantees must comply with the requirements set forth in the Recovery Act, including, but not limited to, the quarterly reporting requirements of Section 1512 of the Recovery Act. Complete program guidelines and application material (NSF 09-607 and NSF GPG 09-29) may be obtained from the web site listed above or from the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). Complete program guidelines and application material may be obtained from the web site listed above or from the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). Please distribute this notice to any faculty or staff members who might be interested in the information. For more information, please contact the OSP at X3-4365 or ospinfo@bu.edu, or visit the OSP web site at http://www.bu.edu/osp. |
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