AFRL's Minority Leaders Research Collaboration Program

UTA has recently become a member of AFRL’s Minority Leaders Research Collaboration Program (ML-RCP). This program enables faculty and researchers at UTA to present research ideas to AFRL for funding. This program is being managed by Ohio State University (OSU), who will be responsible for assisting UTA faculty and researchers submit their concepts and engage with appropriate AFRL personnel. The ML-RCP will also work to provide a unique educational experience for students participating in funded research. Students and faculty alike that participate in the program will obtain mentorship by outside parties (e.g. AFRL researchers), will become familiar with AFRL research and federal research procedures, and have increased opportunities for research and work experience outside of their academic setting with AFRL.

Currently OSU is accepting white papers for funding consideration. Awards are expected to be between $50,000 - $250,000 and will range from 1-2 year projects, with the option of an extension of that effort. Proposals will be considered as they are received, and it is ML-RCP’s intention to award funds as soon as possible. By submitting white papers now, there will be fewer proposals to compete against and faculty will be able to directly propose ideas instead of submitting against a directed request for proposal (RFP).

After receipt of the white paper, Ohio State will ensure that it is reviewed by technical experts at AFRL. If AFRL is interested in considering the project for funding, they will request a full proposal for consideration. Visit resources.uta.edu/research, and click on Consortium Opportunities for more information about the program and proposal process. 

Spring 2021 NSF Virtual Grants Conference

In case you missed it: all of the sessions from the Spring 2021 NSF Virtual Grants Conference (held June 7-11, 2021) were recorded and are now available on NSF’s Policy Office Outreach website.

This page was updated on April 12, 2022.

Revised NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

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 accessiblity 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 harrassment.

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.

This page was updated on April 12, 2022.

Workshop: Joining the Data Revolution: Big Data in Education and Social Science Research
June 6 - 17, 2022

The Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS) is taking applications for a workshop this summer on using big data resources and tools to advance research in education and social science (ESS). Applications are open, and the deadline to apply is April 1. 

This is an introductory-level course for researchers in education and social science fields interested in gaining experience working with large-scale restricted-use data. (View last year’s syllabus here.) No experience in quantitative data analysis is required, although some pre-workshop reading will be required. Datasets on post-secondary educational opportunities, employment outcomes, and the makeup of research teams will be featured in the workshop.

In this hands-on class, participants will work in teams using large-scale datasets to achieve a better understanding of the research questions that can be answered with big data. Participants will acquire skills to enable them to pursue external funding for ESS research using big data. In addition to technical skills, participants will work with established investigators to develop and present ideas for projects that might be submitted to NSF grant competitions.

Please visit iris.isr.umich.edu/training for a full description and information on registration. Contact IRIS-info@umich.edu with any questions.

This page was updated on April 12, 2022.