Tribal Colleges and Universities Program  (TCUP)

CONTACTS

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Solicitation  12-568

Important Notice to Proposers

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

DUE DATES

Full Proposal Accepted Anytime

Planning Grant Proposals, Broadening Participation Research in STEM Education Proposals, and Catalyzing Opportunities for Research and Education Proposals

SYNOPSIS

The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) provides awards to Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to promote high quality science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, research, and outreach. TCUP-eligible institutions are predominantly two-year and community colleges. Support is available to TCUP-eligible institutions (see the Additional Eligibility subsection of Section IV of this solicitation) for Planning Grants, Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI), Broadening Participation Research in STEM Education (BPR) Projects, Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP), and Catalyzing Opportunities for Research and Education (CORE). Through these mechanisms, along with collaborations with other National Science Foundation (NSF) units and its work with other organizations, TCUP aims to increase Native individuals' participation in STEM careers and the quality of STEM programs at TCUP-eligible institutions. TCUP strongly encourages the inclusion of activities that will benefit veterans.

Planning Grants provide support to undertake self-analysis of the TCUP-eligible institution's undergraduate STEM programs to identify components that need improvement or enhancement in order to ensure a high-quality undergraduate STEM education. 

Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI) Projects (formerly Initiation Projects) provide support to design, implement and assess comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the numbers of STEM students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening STEM education and research. ICE-TI Projects create and/or adapt and assess innovative models and materials for teaching and learning in STEM, embody knowledge about how students learn most effectively in STEM teaching and learning activities, and bring STEM disciplinary advances into the undergraduate experience.

Broadening Participation Research in STEM Education (BPR) provides support for research projects that seek to create and study new models and innovations in STEM teaching and learning, enhance the understanding of the participation of diverse groups in STEM education and inform education practices and interventions.  BPR projects add new research-based strategies and models to broadening participation in STEM and increase the capacity of scholars in TCUP-eligible institutions to conduct this type of research.

Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP) provide support toward achieving a short-term, well-defined goal that promises to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education at an eligible institution.  Targeted STEM Infusion Projects could, for example, enhance academic infrastructure by systematically adding traditional knowledge to the scope or content of a STEM course, updating curriculum, modernizing laboratory research equipment, or improving the computational network array for research and education.

Catalyzing Opportunities for Research and Education (CORE) projects provide support for faculty members in STEM areas at TCUP-eligible institutions to pursue research at an NSF-funded Center, at a research-intensive institution, or at a national laboratory. Awards are intended to help further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, to improve research and teaching at his or her home institution, and to involve undergraduate students in research experiences. These awards are particularly appropriate as a means of recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientists and engineers at TCUP-eligible institutions.

RELATED URLS

Innovation Through Institutional Integration, Frequently Asked Questions

Advanced Technological Education

Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI)

NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education

NSF's Tribal Colleges and Universities Program: Nations United in Improving Science and Technology Education for Native Americans (TCUP) [NSF02072]

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

Events