The Office of Research is conducting a campus-wide competition for the following limited submission opportunity: NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM). Click on the link below to view more information. Thank you!
- Internal Submission Deadline: Friday, January 8, 2021
- Funding Organization’s Deadline: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
- Award Cycle: 2021
- Discipline/Subject Area: Biological sciences (except medicine and other clinical fields), Physical sciences (including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and materials science), Mathematical sciences, Computer and information sciences, Geosciences, Engineering Technology fields associated with the disciplines above (e.g. biotechnology, chemical technology, engineering technology, information technology)
Description
Updated 11/13/20: NSF 20-526 is no longer current and proposals will not be accepted under this solicitation. NSF has indicated that a new S-STEM solicitation will be available soon. As such we will open this competition in anticipation of the new solicitation being released. We will update this call once we have the new solicitation. You can also go to the NSF S-STEM Program Home Page to check on the status of this opportunity.
An Institution may submit one proposal (either as a single institution or as subawardee or a member of a Collaborative Research project) from each constituent school or college that awards degrees in an S-STEM eligible discipline. Please to talk with your Deans.
If you are serving as a collaborator in a non-lead institution role, please contact David Garcia or John Macmillan ASAP. (david.garcia@ucsc.edu, jomacmil@ucsc.edu)
A well-educated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce is a significant contributor to maintaining the competitiveness of the U.S. in the global economy. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program addresses the need for a high quality STEM workforce in STEM disciplines supported by the program and for the increased success of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who are pursuing associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to fund scholarships and to advance the adaptation, implementation, and study of effective evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that support recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM. The S-STEM program encourages collaborations among different types of participating groups, including but not limited to partnerships among different types of institutions; collaborations of STEM faculty and institutional, educational, and social science researchers; and partnerships among institutions of higher education and business, industry, local community organizations, national labs, or other federal or state government organizations, if appropriate.
The program seeks to 1) increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need obtaining degrees in S-STEM eligible disciplines and entering the workforce or graduate programs in STEM; 2) improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, with a focus on low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need; and 3) generate knowledge to advance understanding of how interventions or evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities affect the success, retention, transfer, academic/career pathways, and graduation of low-income students in STEM.
Eligible disciplines include:
- Biological sciences (except medicine and other clinical fields)
- Physical sciences (including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and materials science)
- Mathematical sciences
- Computer and information sciences
- Geosciences
- Engineering
- Technology fields associated with the disciplines above (e.g. biotechnology, chemical technology, engineering technology, information technology)
Program Tracks
The program supports three types of projects; Track 1 (Institutional Capacity Building). Track 2 (Design and Development: Single Institution) and Track 3 (Design and Development: Multi-Institutional Consortia) seek to leverage S-STEM funds with institutional efforts and infrastructure to increase and understand recruitment, retention, student success, transfer, if appropriate, academic/career pathways, and degree attainment in STEM, with emphasis on low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need. Proposers are encouraged to utilize data analytics to examine patterns in institutional student data that describe and predict the successful completion of student academic and career pathways.
In addition to the Tracks above, the S-STEM program also supports a small number of conferences, workshops, and special projects that generate knowledge to better understand issues in the recruitment, retention, student success, degree attainment, and entry into graduate programs or the STEM workforce by low-income students. Budgets for conferences and workshops are expected to be consistent with the duration of the event and the number of participants, but the cost will normally not exceed a total of $100,000 per event. Proposals for conferences and workshops may be submitted at any time during the year, but the proposers should plan on at least 10 months lead time to allow for review and processing of the proposal.
For detailed requirements, please see the sponsor’s solicitation.
Application Procedure
Investigators who wish to submit a proposal are strongly encouraged to consult the Dean’s office in their School/Division as a first step towards ensuring that the NSF limit on the number of allowable proposals is not exceeded.
Required: Please submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through UCSC InfoReady by the internal deadline: Jan 8, 2020. The EOI requires:
- Identifying information of Lead PI ANDanticipated Co-PIs/Collaborators
- Short description of the proposed project (one paragraph)
The purpose of the EOI is to identify campus interest. If more than one EOI per division/school is received by the internal deadline, those who have submitted EOIs will be asked to submit pre-application materials (content will be specified) by January 22, 2021.
An independent faculty committee will then review all pre-application materials and recommend to the Vice Chancellor for Research the most competitive proposal(s) to represent UC Santa Cruz, using the review criteria in the program announcement.
Questions? Contact David Garcia or John MacMillan in the Office of Research.