November 2, 2009 Newsletter

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    Please note for all proposals that must be submitted via Grants.gov, the Office of University Research Services must have the final complete proposal, with all required attachments, no later than 48 hours prior to the agency deadline. Because of the higher possibility of technical difficulties with this new submission engine, the OURS cannot guarantee that proposals received later than 48 hours prior to the deadline will be submitted on time. Please direct any questions to the Office of University Research Services, 4-2236 or ours@towson.edu.

    Institutional, University Wide, or Cross-Disciplinary Opportunities

    Environmental Education Grants

Agency:        Environmental Protection Agency
Release:       December 15, 2009

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites proposals for grants to support environmental education projects that promote environmental stewardship and help develop aware and responsible students, teachers, and citizens. Supported projects will design, demonstrate, or disseminate environmental education practices, methods, or techniques. All proposals must address at least one of the following educational priorities (presented in random order rather than order of importance):

  • Capacity Building: Building the capacity of agencies and organizations to develop, deliver, and sustain comprehensive environmental education programs statewide. Capacity building proposals may focus on one state, multiple states across the country, or multiple states in one geographic region;

  • Educational Advancement: Utilizing environmental education as a catalyst to advance state or local education improvement goals;

  • Community Projects: Address environmental stewardship in a local context and use community-based stewardship activities as the primary teaching tool;

  • Human Health and the Environment: Educating teachers, students, parents, community leaders, or the public about human health threats from environmental pollution and how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health;

  • Teaching Skills: Providing pre-service and in-service professional development for teachers, faculty, or non-formal educators to improve their environmental education teaching skills and/or knowledge about environmental issues and content, such as sustainability, water and air quality, chemical risks, hazardous wastes, climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; or

  • Career Development: Educating individuals in formal or non-formal settings about environmental issues for the purpose of encouraging interest in environmental careers.

Nonfederal matching funds of at least 25% of the total cost of the grant project are required. Approximately $3 million is available for awards under this announcement and EPA anticipates awarding approximately 90 - 95 grants. The EPA will fund grants from its regional offices as well as its headquarters. The average size of a regional office grant will be in the range of $15,000 - $25,000 and cannot exceed $50,000. Grants exceeding $50,000 will be funded from EPA Headquarters and cannot exceed $200,000. Anticipated start date for awarded proposals is July 1, 2010.

URL:  http://www.epa.gov/enviroed/pdf/solicitationnotice2010.pdf

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    Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)

    Agency:        National Science Foundation
    Deadline:      January 19, 2010 for (required) letters of intent
                           February 20, 2010     for full proposals

    The ITEST program responds to current concerns and projections about the growing demand for professionals and information technology workers in the U.S. and seeks solutions to help ensure
    the breadth and depth of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. ITEST supports research studies to address questions about how to find solutions to problems in
    the project categories listed below. It also supports the development, implementation, testing, and scale-up of implementation models. A large variety of possible approaches to improving the STEM workforce and to building students’ capacity to participate in it may be implemented and studied.
    ITEST projects may include students or teachers, kindergarten through high school age, and any
    area of the STEM workforce.  Projects that explore cyberlearning, specifically learning with cyberinfrastructure tools such as networked computing and communications technologies in K-12 settings, are of special interest.

    Four types of projects are invited under the current ITEST announcement:

    • Research projects produce empirical findings and research tools that contribute to knowledge about which approaches, models, and interventions with K-12 students and teachers are most likely to increase capacity in the STEM workforce of the future. The program is especially interested in projects that target students from groups that are underserved and underrepresented in STEM and information and communications intensive careers, including those residing in rural and economically disadvantaged communities. Research projects may be up to three years in duration and be awarded up to $1.5 million.  The size and duration of the request should be appropriate to the scope of the project. The program will also accept a few proposals of a longer period and greater level of support that either develop or draw upon national databases to study the effect of elementary and secondary school period experiences on student choices of STEM careers.


    • Strategies projects develop, implement, and study strategies that encourage K-12 students to consider and be prepared for careers in the STEM and information technology fields, or that equip teachers with the resources to ensure that their students consider and are prepared for choosing to enter the STEM workforce of the future. Strategies projects can be up to three years in duration with award sizes at most $1.2 million. The size and duration of the request should be appropriate to the scope of the project.


    • Scale-up projects apply strategies to enhance student or teacher knowledge of, or disposition toward, STEM careers for the purpose of learning effective steps in expanding the adoption of successful innovations in school and non-school settings.  A scale-up project must be based on evidence of demonstrated success from an existing strategy for students or teachers. Scale-up projects will range in duration from three to five years with an award size of up to $2.5 million (at $500,000 per year maximum). The size and duration of the request should be appropriate to the scope of the project.


    • Conferences and Workshops target STEM educators (from both the formal and informal education communities), educational researchers, and evaluators. The proposed conferences would be expected to contribute to the development of a research agenda on K-12 STEM workforce preparation and development issues, workforce participation, and cyberlearning. Conferences or workshops must be designed to bring together individuals with expertise in technology and STEM education, career development, cognitive science, sociology, anthropology, science fields, and other communities that are invested in STEM workforce careers.  Evaluation approaches for innovative STEM and ICT workforce motivation, preparation, and development models are also sought. Conferences and workshops may be up to one year in duration with award sizes at most $250,000. The size and duration of the request should be appropriate to the scope of the project.

    An individual may serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) for no more than one Research, Strategies, or Scale-up proposal under this solicitation. There is no limitation on Conferences and Workshop proposals. NSF anticipates making between 25 to 40 awards in 2010.

    URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09506/nsf09506.htm

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    Grant and Research Program in Financial Literacy

    Agency:                  National Endowment for Financial Education
    Target Dates:        December 1, 2009 (first Tuesday in December annually)
                                     June 1, 2010 (first Tuesday in June annually)

    The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) seeks projects whose outcomes can improve the public’s ability to achieve personal and household financial well-being. Of particular interest are pro-active research projects initiated from one of a broad spectrum of scholarly disciplines whose findings may cultivate critical thinking in the financial literacy community. Also of interest are development projects that put research recommendations into action. Project outcomes must be capable of achieving traction and measurable impact with audiences such as financial education intermediaries, researchers, practitioners, decision makers, and others who can achieve effective outreach to a target population with an unmet financial literacy need or to the general public.

    The initiatives of the National Endowment for Financial Education are:

    1. To empower Americans to achieve their life goals through the prudent and informed management of their financial resources;


    2. To help instill in all Americans the commitment to save toward the realization of their financial goals and their future financial security;


    3. To assist consumers in understanding and actively participating in the management of their investments;


    4. To better prepare all Americans for their retirement years;


    5. To encourage in the nation's young people an understanding of personal financial planning and the acquisition of sound money management skills;


    6. To effect the financial education of individuals in special circumstances, and to support the development and delivery of programs and materials related to their unique needs;


    7. To expand the financial literacy body of knowledge through research in support of developing a discipline that prepares educators and other intermediaries to improve the financial well-being of the public; and


    8. To support proactive research of consumer, social, and business trends.


    All applicants must submit a completed Concept Inquiry Form as the first step in being considered for funding. The inquiry form was developed to assist the applicant in providing basic and necessary information for NEFE to assess whether the applicant meets eligibility requirements and the likelihood that a project is a strong fit with NEFE’s funding priorities. Solely at NEFE’s discretion, projects appearing to have strong potential will move to a proposal phase; applicants for those selected projects will be given further instruction at that time.

     The merits of the proposed project are the primary focus of consideration. However, many applicants express interest in the grant amounts NEFE has awarded. Recent grant awards for research projects have ranged from $100,000 to $208,000. Grant durations generally range from 12 to 36 months.

    URL:  http://www.nefe.org/Grantmaking/GrantGuidelines/tabid/127/Default.aspx

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