Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):
November 03, 2020
August 02, 2021
First Monday in August, Annually Thereafter
Letters of Intent are only required for Adaptation and Partnership tracks. Submitting a letter of intent automatically allows you to submit a full proposal. Work on the full proposal should have started well before the letter of intent deadline.
Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):
April 22, 2021
Fourth Thursday in April, Annually Thereafter
IT-Preliminary proposal Target Date - preliminary proposals are only required for institutions of higher education that want to submit a full Institutional Transformation proposal. IT-preliminary proposals are accepted before and after the target date.
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):
February 04, 2021
November 03, 2021
First Wednesday in November, Annually Thereafter
Partnership and Adaptation full proposal deadline - if you submitted a letter of intent then you can submit the full proposal. Work on the full proposal should have started well before the letter of intent deadline.
Full Proposal Target Date(s):
August 07, 2020
First Friday in August, Annually Thereafter
Catalyst proposals – Catalyst proposals are accepted before and after the target date. Please contact the program office before submitting a proposal to discuss timing for submission.
October 07, 2021
First Thursday in October, Annually Thereafter
Institutional Transformation proposals - only IHEs encouraged by NSF after review of an IT-Preliminary proposal should submit a full IT proposal – IT proposals are accepted before and after the target date.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REVISION NOTES
Important Information
- Collaborations between Adaptation and Partnership proposers and projects initiated with NSF funds in the following categories are encouraged with additional funds for the ADVANCE award: systemic and institutional transformation projects, the NSF INCLUDES National Network, and NSF STEM graduate education.
- Note that ADVANCE will accept proposals before and after target dates to allow more flexibility for institutions considering an IT-Preliminary or Catalyst project (see PAPPG Part I, Chapter 1, section F. When to submit proposals). Please contact the program office before submitting a proposal to discuss timing for submission:
- Only non-profit institutions of higher education that are not, and have not been, the lead on any type of NSF ADVANCE grant are eligible for Catalyst proposals.
- IT-Preliminary proposals are required in order to submit an IT proposal. The preliminary proposal will be reviewed according to NSF guidelines resulting in either an encouragement or discouragement from NSF to submit a full IT proposal.
Revision Notes
- IT-Preliminary proposals are still required in order to submit an IT proposal; however, the review of preliminary proposals may be conducted internally by NSF and/or by external ad hoc reviewers and/or panelists and will result in an encourage/discourage notification to the proposer rather than an invite/do not invite notice.
- The opportunity for Adaptation and Partnership proposers to propose an additional collaboration with an NSF-initiated project has been modified to: 1) expand the types of NSF-initiated projects that can be partnered with; and 2) increase the additional funds to $250K for all types of these collaborations.
Synopsis. The NSF ADVANCE program contributes to the National Science Foundation's goal of a more diverse and capable science and engineering workforce. In this solicitation, the NSF ADVANCE program seeks to build on prior NSF ADVANCE work and other research and literature concerning gender, racial, and ethnic equity. The NSF ADVANCE program goal is to broaden the implementation of evidence-based systemic change strategies that promote equity for STEM2 faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. The NSF ADVANCE program provides grants to enhance the systemic factors that support equity and inclusion and to mitigate the systemic factors that create inequities in the academic profession and workplaces. Systemic (or organizational) inequities may exist in areas such as policy and practice as well as in organizational culture and climate. For example, practices in academic departments that result in the inequitable allocation of service or teaching assignments may impede research productivity, delay advancement, and create a culture of differential treatment and rewards. Similarly, policies and procedures that do not mitigate implicit bias in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions could lead to women and racial and ethnic minorities being evaluated less favorably, perpetuating historical under-participation in STEM academic careers and contributing to an academic climate that is not inclusive.
All NSF ADVANCE proposals are expected to use intersectional approaches in the design of systemic change strategies in recognition that gender, race and ethnicity do not exist in isolation from each other and from other categories of social identity. The solicitation includes four funding tracks: Institutional Transformation (IT), Adaptation, Partnership, and Catalyst, in support of the NSF ADVANCE program goal to broaden the implementation of systemic strategies that promote equity for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession.
- The Institutional Transformation (IT) track is designed to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative systemic change strategies that promote gender equity for STEM faculty within an institution of higher education.
- The Adaptation track is designed to support the work to adapt, implement, and evaluate evidence-based systemic change strategies that have been shown to promote gender equity for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. Adaptation projects can either: 1) support the adaptation of evidence-based systemic change strategies to promote equity for STEM faculty within an institution of higher education; or 2) facilitate national or regional STEM disciplinary transformation by adapting evidence-based systemic change strategies to non-profit, non-academic organizations.
- The Partnership track is designed to support the work to facilitate the broader adaptation of gender equity and systemic change strategies. Partnership projects are expected to result in national or regional transformation in STEM academic workplaces and the academic profession and demonstrate significant reach. Partnership projects can focus on the transformation of institutions and organizations and/or the transformation within one or more STEM disciplines.
- The Catalyst track is designed to broaden the types of IHEs that are able to undertake data collection and institutional self-assessment work to identify systemic gender inequities impacting their STEM faculty so that these can be addressed by the institution.
Full Solicitation. 20-554
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:
- Eligible IHEs can submit one proposal to IT-Preliminary, Adaptation, OR Catalyst. IHEs can also be a partner on one or more Partnership proposals.
- Eligible Non-profit, non-academic organizations can submit one proposal to the Adaptation competition and be a partner on one or more Partnership proposals.
- IHEs and non-profit, non-academic organizations may be partners on multiple ADVANCE Partnership proposals in the same competition but can be the lead organization only on one Partnership proposal in the same competition.
Internal Applications. Interested applicants are invited to submit a 2 page concept paper addressing the elements of the Project Description (3a – 3l) listed in the solicitation.
Deadlines. Internal proposals are to be submitted through https://www.rit.edu/research/srs/node/2069. Letters of Intent, required for Adaption and Partnership tracks, are due August 7, 2023. Preliminary proposals (IT) are due April 25, 2024. Partnership and Adaption proposals are due November 1,2023. Please also contact preaward@rit.edu if you are planning on a proposal to this program at any point in the next 2 years in any of the tracks.