Note from the Grants Resource Center (2/26/13)

During a February 22, 2013 presentation at the GRC Conference on Funding Competitiveness, National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education program director Kathleen Bergin discussed priorities and strategies that will endure any federal budget and programming decisions that may be made in the coming months.

“In spite of all we don’t know,” she said, “we can count on needing one million new STEM jobs by 2018.” Along the way, NSF’s Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate will continue to focus its attention — and the applicant community’s — on three national goals:

• Provide all students with foundational knowledge and skills
• Motivate some students to complete degrees in science or engineering
• Support interested students who wish to pursue careers in science or engineering

These must be met in the face of three ongoing challenges:

• Recruitment—Increasing diversity
• Retention—Helping students persist in STEM courses and majors
• Reforming/Transforming—Improving the quality of instruction

Bergin sees two National Academies publications as required reading for every applicant for NSF EHR funding, especially for faculty at institutions that serve a high proportion of undergraduate students: one report on the outcomes of the Discipline-based Education Research Consensus Study and a second on the Promising Practices Workshops.

 

 

Previous News and Announcements

• Two Day Strategic Grant Development Workshop at VCU, December 3-4.  (10/26/12)

• Deadline to apply for the Longwood University Parents Council Grant is October 5 at 5:00pm (10/5/12)

• Deadline to apply for the Proposal Writing Cohort Group and a chance to win $500 is October 12, 2012 (10/1/12)

• Proposal Writing Cohort Group (9/18/12)

 

Newsletters

• Fall 2012 Newsletter