Sponsor
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Summary
The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable low-income students with academic ability, talent or potential to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the number of academically promising low-income students who graduate with a S-STEM eligible degree 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) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that have been shown to be effective supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM.
To be eligible, scholars must be domestic low-income students, with academic ability, talent or potential and with demonstrated unmet financial need who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in an S-STEM eligible discipline. Proposers must provide an analysis that articulates the characteristics and academic needs of the population of students they are trying to serve. NSF is particularly interested in supporting the attainment of degrees in fields identified as critical needs for the Nation. Many of these fields have high demand for training professionals that can operate at the convergence of disciplines and include but are not limited to quantum computing and quantum science, robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer science and computer engineering, data science and computational science applied to other frontier STEM areas, and other STEM or technology fields in urgent need of domestic professionals. It is up to the proposer to make a compelling case that a field is a critical need field in the United States.
For more information, including important revisions to the S-STEM FY2023 competition, please view the full NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (NSF 23-511) solicitation.
Award
The S-STEM program supports four types of projects subject to availability of funds:
- Collaborative Planning projects may not exceed $100,000 for a maximum duration of 1 year.
- Track 1 (Institutional Capacity Building), Boise State is not eligible for this track.
- Track 2 (Implementation: Single Institution) projects may not exceed $2 million total for a maximum duration of 6 years.
- Track 3 (Inter-institutional Consortia) projects may not exceed $5 million total for a maximum duration of 6 years.
Limited Submission Requirements and Timeline
Two (2) applications per institution (either as a Lead, Subawardee, or Member of a Consortia) are permitted. This limited submission-restriction does not apply to Collaborative Planning proposals.
Notice of Interest Process. Only proposals approved by the Division of Research and Economic Development may be submitted to this program. For such approval, the Principal Investigator (PI) must first submit a Notice of Interest to limitedsubmissions@boisestate.edu by 4 pm on November 18, 2024. The Notice of Interest must indicate the PI and Co-PIs, collaborator names and affiliations, and a brief, one paragraph description of the proposed project including the S-STEM eligible discipline(s).
**If necessary, a further white paper round may be required**
Key Submission Dates
- November 18, 2024 by 4 pm – Notice of Interests due to limitedsubmissions@boisestate.edu (we encourage you to cc your Dean for visibility as well)
- November 25, 2024 – Anticipated date applicants will be notified of approval
- February 25, 2025 – All final proposal documents due to OSP
- March 4, 2025 – Full proposal due to NSF
Important Note on Sponsor Requirements
- 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).
- Multiple proposals from an institution must not overlap with regard to S-STEM eligible disciplines.
- In all Track 1, 2 and 3 proposals, at least 60% of all funds must be provided solely as pure scholarships to cover the cost of attendance and entered as Participant Support – Stipends (Line F1) on the NSF budget form.
NOTE: Please send all inquiries and submissions for Limited Submission opportunities to limitedsubmissions@boisestate.edu.