Education and Human Resources

A Message from the Acting Assistant Director for NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate

Happy summer season! Welcome to the latest issue of the EHR newsletter. Here's a quick recap of some of the events, seminars and awards from the past few months and an exciting announcement about partnerships to start the summer.

This spring, EHR celebrated scientists and teachers around the country. Several women scientists, funded by NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, were honored during Women’s History Month as role models in science fields. NSF also supported volunteer activities in April to encourage citizen engagement in science. And for Teacher Appreciation Week in May, the Division of Undergraduate Education commemorated the 20^th anniversary of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program with an event hosted by Noyce principal investigators. Noyce teachers presented their work about the future of STEM education and teacher preparation. And because it’s never too late to thank a teacher, the Noyce series will continue this summer, where you can hear from more educators who are paving the way in STEM education.

And what better way to look ahead to the summer than by announcing two new partnerships: one with the Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation and a historic collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and Walton Family Foundation.

The Doolin Foundation will invest $400,000 in NSF programs that support postdoctoral fellowships and career-building activities for women in science. And the collaboration with multiple partners will support education research to assist historically marginalized groups. The work we do in EHR is made possible with the support of partnerships. Partnering across fields, institutions and sectors is key to broadening participation and developing a well-prepared STEM workforce.

We hope you enjoy this issue, and don't forget to check out the latest funding opportunities available through EHR!

Sincerely,

Sylvia Butterfield

News

FY 2023 NSF budget request to Congress

In March, the president released the detailed FY 2023 budget request to Congress, which firmly supports NSF’s mission to advance the frontiers of U.S. science and technology progress. The request includes $10.5 billion for NSF and $1.37 billion for EHR.

Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Walton Family Foundation partner with NSF

NSF announced a new collaboration with leading foundations that will support education research to assist historically marginalized groups. Read more.

NSF Research Traineeship program expands to include 43 states

NSF announced 22 new awards and a $58 million investment through its NRT program for graduate students. This expands the program to 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Read more.

NSF launches new partnership for gender diversity with The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation

The new partnership will invest in NSF programs that support career-building activities for women in science. Read more.

NSF recognizes Alan T. Waterman Award winners

NSF has named three awardees for this year's Alan T. Waterman Award, the nation's highest honor for early-career scientists and engineers: Jessica E. Tierney, a University of Arizona geoscientist; Daniel B. Larremore, a computer scientist from the University of Colorado Boulder, and EHR winner Lara A. Thompson, a University of the District of Columbia biomedical engineer.

"Being the first award recipient from a historically Black college and university, and the first self-identified woman of color, while being a new mom, means so much to me," Thompson said.

Thompson's research focuses on understanding and mitigating the effects of loss of balance in people. Check out this video of Thompson describing her research on how to improve one's balance to ultimately reduce the number of falls in older individuals.

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program 20th anniversary speaker series

In honor of the 20^th anniversary of the Noyce Program, NSF will continue to host a series of conversations with Noyce principal investigators, scholars and fellows on the past and future of STEM education, as well as the impact of the program. The Foundation hosted its first event in May, which featured Dr. Andre Green and Dr. Ann Cavallo, and the speaker series will continue in August. Find details about the upcoming events on the Noyce website.

Design and Discovery Forum

NSF's Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program hosted a forum that explored communicating climate science through successful science-media collaborations. Videos from this daylong event are available here.

Taking Action: COVID-19 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Challenge winners announced

NSF announced the winners of the COVID-19 DEI Challenge. The Foundation awarded $25,000 in cash prizes to the winning institutions of higher education (IHE) that identified actions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on DEI in STEM at their colleges and universities. Find more information about the winners on the challenge webpage, and attend the winners showcases (register for each session using the links below): 

SciComm Corner

If she can see it, then she can be it – An exhibit highlighting female role models in STEM

In March, the Smithsonian museums featured the If Then She Can Exhibit that included 120 statues of accomplished women in STEM. NSF is proud that over a dozen of the women represented in the exhibit are NSF funded.

From the magic of nature to the marvels of the Milky Way For Citizen Science Month, NSF provided volunteers several ways to advance science with NSF-supported citizen science projects.

New NSF INCLUDES Podcast Tune in to the “Collaborative Strategies for Inclusive Change” podcast featuring Chike Aghu and hosted by the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub. NSF INCLUDES connects individuals, alliances, federal agencies, educational institutions and other entities across the nation to broaden participation in STEM education and careers.

Women credited less in science than their male counterparts According to new NSF-supported research, published in Nature, women are less likely to be named as authors on articles or as inventors on patents than are their male colleagues, despite doing the same amount of work. Photo credit: Yakuzakorat, CC 4.0

Funding Opportunities

ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (ADVANCE)

CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service (SFS)

Dear Colleague Letter: Advancing Educational Innovations and Broadening Participation in STEM with Blockchain Technology

Dear Colleague Letter: CAREER Proposals Submitted to the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)

Dear Colleague Letter on Mid-Scale RI Incubators and Webinar

Dear Colleague Letter: Noyce Research Experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Settings for Pre-Service Teachers

Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR)

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program)

Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)

IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED)

Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP)

Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Excellence in Research (HBCU - EiR)

EHR Divisions

Division of Graduate Education (DGE)
The Division of Graduate Education (DGE) provides funding to support graduate students and the development of novel, innovative programs to prepare tomorrow's leaders in STEM fields.

Division of Human Resource Development (HRD)
HRD programs support and promote activities that seek to strengthen STEM education for underserved communities, broaden their participation in the workforce, and add to our knowledge base about programs of inclusion.