Synopsis. The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable low-income, talented domestic students to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program wants to increase the number of low-income students who graduate and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. 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 adapt, implement, and study 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 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 US workforce or graduate programs in STEM; 2) improve support mechanisms for future scientists, engineers, and technicians, with a focus on low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need; and 3) advance our 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.
The STEM disciplines supported by the S-STEM program and for which RIT is eligible to submit in FY 2023 include:
- Physical sciences (including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and materials science);
- Mathematical sciences; and
- Geosciences;
Program Solicitation: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2024/nsf24511/nsf24511.htm
Eligibility Information
Who May Submit Proposals:
Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
- Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) - Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.
Who May Serve as PI:
For Track 1 (Institutional Capacity Building) and Track 2 (Implementation: Single Institution) projects, the Principal Investigator must be (a) a faculty member currently teaching in an S-STEM eligible discipline, or (b) an academic administrator who has taught in an S-STEM eligible discipline in the past two years. The Principal Investigator must be able to provide the leadership and time required to ensure the success of the project. Projects involving more than one department within an institution are eligible, but a single Principal Investigator must accept overall management and leadership responsibility. Faculty from all departments involved need to have roles in the project as either Co-Principal Investigators, senior personnel or scholar mentors. Other members of the S-STEM project senior leadership and management team may be listed as Co-Principal Investigators.
For Track 3 (Inter-institutional Consortia) projects, the Principal Investigator must be (a) a faculty member currently teaching in an S-STEM eligible discipline, (b) an academic administrator who has taught an S-STEM eligible discipline in the past two years, or (c) a non-teaching institutional, educational, or social science researcher investigating questions related to low-income student success. The Principal Investigator must be able to provide the leadership and time required to ensure the success of the project. Track 3 consortium proposals must have a Principal Investigator who accepts overall management and leadership responsibility across all consortia members. Faculty from all institutions and departments involved need to have roles in the project as either Co-Principal investigators, senior personnel or scholar mentors. Other members of the S-STEM project senior leadership and management team may be listed as Co-Principal Investigators or as Principal Investigators on collaborative research proposals.
Collaborative Planning grants are intended to help a collection of institutions plan for a future Inter-institutional Track 3 proposal. For Collaborative Planning grants, the Principal Investigator must be (a) a faculty member teaching in any S-STEM eligible discipline, or (b) a STEM administrator (department head or above) at one of the institutions within the envisioned inter-institutional consortia, or (c) a non-teaching institutional, educational, or social science researcher investigating questions related to low-income student success. The Principal Investigator on a Collaborative Planning grant must demonstrate the capacity to convene and lead a team of inter-institutional S-STEM eligible faculty, social science or educational researchers, and administrators focused on low-income student success to write the desired proposal in a 1-year timeframe.
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 2
An institution may submit up to two proposals (either as a single institution or as a subawardee or a member of an inter-institutional consortia project (lead or co-lead) for a given S-STEM deadline. Multiple proposals from an institution must not overlap with regard to S-STEM eligible disciplines. See Additional Eligibility Information below for more details (see IV. Eligibility Information).
Institutions with a current S-STEM award should wait at least until the end of the third year of execution of their current award before submitting a new S-STEM proposal focused on students pursuing degrees in the same discipline(s).
The above restrictions do not apply to collaborative planning grant proposals.
Please note: Restrictions of eligibility to submit proposals covering degrees in disciplines already funded by S-STEM active awards made to the same institution remain in effect. The waiting period of three years is still applicable. RIT has current awards in the following disciplines: Computer & Information Sciences (start: 01/01/2021), Engineering/Engineering Technology (start: 01/01/2020).
Internal Proposals. Interested applicants are invited to submit a 2 page concept paper identifying the Program Track and addressing the elements of the Project Description listed in the solicitation via webform.
Deadlines. Internal proposals are due by 5 pm on January 26th for the February deadline. Internal competition decisions are targeted by early February.
Questions about the limited submission process should be directed to preaward@rit.edu