TBA (last known deadline was September 27, 2012)
This program is subject to an internal competition administered by the UW Madison Graduate School
Program activities under the STEP Type 1 competition should be efforts aimed at adapting and implementing best practices that will lead to an increase in the number of students (United States citizens or permanent residents) obtaining STEM degrees at institutions with baccalaureate degree programs or completing associate degrees in STEM fields or completing credits toward transfer to a baccalaureate degree program in STEM fields at community colleges. The goal of the project must be to increase the total graduation numbers of such students at the institution(s), and all STEP proposals must include specific numerical targets for these increases. If a project focuses efforts on only a subset of STEM fields, increases in those fields must not be at the expense of degrees granted in other STEM fields. Projects may focus on the retention and/or recruitment of undergraduate students into STEM fields. Outreach efforts are appropriate only if the efforts can be expected to result in additional STEM majors and graduates at the submitting institution(s) within the grant period.
For this fiscal year, NSF especially encourages Type 1A or Type 1B projects that are committed to producing significant improvements in first and second year retention rates in engineering or computer science, under a special track (Graduate 10K+). Support for this track is anticipated to come from a cooperative activity between NSF and members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (Jobs Council) aimed at increasing the annual number of new B.S. graduates in engineering and computer science by 10,000
Grant duration is expected to be 5 years, with the final 2 years of funding contingent on determination that satisfactory progress has been made by the awardee during the first 3 years. Proposals can include a budget of up to $2 million total for five years. In addition, consortia for which the lead institution is one that awards baccalaureate degrees may request additional funds if the consortium includes one or more institutions that award only associate degrees, and if the institution(s) that awards associate degrees has a substantive role in the project and will receive significant funding under the request. In such cases the total that may be requested is raised from $2.0 million to $2.5 million.
For the project selected, the proposal must be submitted using FastLane or Grants.gov. Information about campus procedures for FastLane and Grants.gov is posted on the RSP Web site. The full proposal is due on Monday, December 10, 2012 at 5 pm CST