Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) and HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering (RISE)

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Solicitation  09-510

As announced on May 21st, proposers must prepare and submit proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) using the NSF FastLane system at http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/. This approach is being taken to support efficient Grants.gov operations during this busy workload period and in response to OMB direction guidance issued March 9, 2009. NSF will continue to post information about available funding opportunities to Grants.gov FIND and will continue to collaborate with institutions who have invested in system-to-system submission functionality as their preferred proposal submission method. NSF remains committed to the long-standing goal of streamlined grants processing and plans to provide a web services interface for those institutions that want to use their existing grants management systems to directly submit proposals to NSF.

Please be advised that the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) includes revised guidelines to implement the mentoring provisions of the America COMPETES Act (ACA) (Pub. L. No. 110-69, Aug. 9, 2007.) As specified in the ACA, each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. Proposals that do not comply with this requirement will be returned without review (see the PAPP Guide Part I: Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II for further information about the implementation of this new requirement).

SYNOPSIS

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program makes resources available to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. CREST promotes the development of new knowledge, enhancements of the research productivity of individual faculty, and an expanded presence of students historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines.

This solicitation requests proposals for: (1) CREST centers; (2) supplements for partnerships applied to existing CREST awards; (3) HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science & Engineering (HBCU-RISE) proposals; (4) supplements for diversity collaboration for projects co-funded with NSF's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs, which are administered by NSF's Directorate for Engineering; and (5) new projects in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources track: Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³).

Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³) projects enable faculty, administrators and others in institutions to think and act strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards, with particular emphasis on awards managed through programs in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), but not limited to those awards. For Fiscal Year 2009, proposals are being solicited in nine EHR programs that advance I³ goals:  CREST,  GSE, HBCU-UP, ITEST, LSAMP, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP.    

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

This program provides educational opportunities for  Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Fellows . This program provides indirect funding for students at this level or focuses on educational developments for this group such as curricula development, training or retention. To inquire about possible funding opportunities not directly from NSF, please look at the active awards for this program.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

08027

RELATED URLS

Innovation Through Institutional Integration, Frequently Asked Questions

REVISIONS AND UPDATES

Abstracts of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

Events