National Science Foundation
Build and Broaden Program

Applications are due by March 5, 2021.

Continued innovation and economic growth in the U.S. depend on training and supporting the next generation of scientists and expanding opportunities to conduct vital research. To help fill that critical need, the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences has launched the Build and Broaden program supporting transformative research, training opportunities and new research infrastructure at minority-serving institutions throughout the country.

The Build and Broaden program supports cutting-edge research in the social, behavioral and economic sciences at minority-serving institutions, including historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges and universities.

Minority-serving institutions educate millions of Americans, including many who will go on to join the U.S. science and technology workforce. However, NSF receives few grant proposals from minority-serving institutions. As a result, innovative and potentially groundbreaking scientific work at those institutions is left unfunded and unpursued.

The Build and Broaden program seeks to increase proposal submissions from minority-serving institutions by fostering research partnerships centered on those institutions, thus growing their scientific infrastructure and capacity while expanding the overall diversity of social, behavioral and economic science disciplines.

“Minority-serving institutions make critical contributions to our nation’s STEM enterprise by producing some of our most talented scientists and engineers,” says Kellina Craig-Henderson, deputy assistant director of NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, “Build and Broaden will help to grow research capacity in the social, behavioral and economic sciences at minority-serving institutions.”

Proposals are welcome from individual researchers and groups at minority-serving institutions. Researchers at other institutions may also submit proposals if they are collaborating with scientific staff at a minority-serving institution and if their proposal includes a focus on fostering scientific partnerships or capacity-building at those institutions.

For full details on how to submit a proposal, see the Build and Broaden program.

For additional information on NSF’s efforts to increase the diversity and effectiveness of the STEM workforce, read “I’ve been there. Fighting stereotypes in the world of science.” in NSF’s Science Matters blog.

For researchers pursuing external funding, the Center for Social Science Scholarship maintains a list of general social science RFPs as well as those specific to COVID-19.  More information is also available here.

For assistance with proposal preparation and submissions:  Social science PIs generally obtain pre-award and post-grant management assistance from MIPAR. To set up an appointment, email mipar_info@umbc.edu. For faculty submitting proposals to foundations, please consult Bruce Lyons in UMBC’s Office of Institutional Advancement.  

Save the Date: 2021 Health Disparities Research Institute

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) will host the Health Disparities Research Institute (HDRI) virtually August 9-13, 2021. Applications will be accepted from February 1 - March 8, 2021! HDRI aims to support the research career development of promising early-career minority health and health disparities research scientists, and to stimulate research in disciplines supported by health disparities science.

The program will feature:

• Lectures on minority health and health disparities research
• Mock grant review
• Seminars and small group discussions

Institute participants will also have the opportunity to engage in sessions with NIH scientific staff involved in health disparities research across the various NIH Institutes and Centers.

Please note that applications will only be accepted from extramural scientists who meet NIH’s Early Stage Investigator (ESI) eligibility criteria. NIH and HHS staff, including persons in fellowships/training at NIH or an HHS agency, are not eligible to apply.

Visit the HDRI webpage to learn more about the target audience, eligibility, selection criteria, and how to apply.

For questions or more information, email HDRI@nih.gov

Join the Center for Social Science Scholarship for a virtual social science coffee hour!

Bring your own beverage and stay connected with the social science community.  This will be our last opportunity to get together this semester, so please join us to share your Fall 2020 successes and challenges, as well as your hopes and plans for Spring 2021.

DATE:  November 23, 2020

TO:  Business Managers/Department Chairs/Center Directors/Faculty

FROM:  Stan Jackson, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs

RE:  OSP deadlines over the Winter Break, Dec. 24, 2020 – Jan. 2, 2021

________________________________________________________________

This is a special announcement concerning the OSP schedule for reviewing/approving proposals with deadlines to federal and other agencies that occur during Winter Break this year. 

Please note:

1. All proposals with submission deadlines occurring between December 25, 2020 and January 3, 2021 must be fully routed, ready for submission, and released to the OSP office by close of business on December 18, 2020; and
2. All proposals with submission deadlines occurring between January 4thd and 6th, 2021 (the first 3 business days after the break) will be due to OSP by 9:00 a.m. on December 21, 2020.

This schedule is consistent with our current policy, which requires the submission of complete proposals to OSP at least three business days before the agency submission deadline. Since UMBC is closed during the Winter Break, OSP will also be closed. 

The campus closure during Winter Break will cause a heavy workload on OSP staff, so we will enforce our current policy more consistently.  Proposals received after the OSP deadlines specified above will be reviewed on a first-come/first-serve basis and will be submitted only if time permits.  In keeping with the deadline enforcement policy of OVPR, any proposal not fully routed and ready for submission by 9:00 a.m. of the deadline date will not be submitted to the agency.  If the deadline occurs over Winter Break this deadline is the last working day before the break.

Thank you for your understanding.

Russell Sage Foundation: 
New Presidential Authority Grants 

RSF recently approved nineteen Presidential Authority grants and one supplemental grant in the foundation’s programs on Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; and Social, Political, and Economic Inequality. Additional grants were made in its special initiatives on Decision Making and Human Behavior in Context and Immigration and Immigrant Integration.

Letters of Inquiry are due by May 4, 2021.

Click here to apply and for more information.

For researchers pursuing external funding, the Center for Social Science Scholarship maintains a list of general social science RFPs as well as those specific to COVID-19.  More information is also available here.

For assistance with proposal preparation and submissions:  Social science PIs generally obtain pre-award and post-grant management assistance from MIPAR. To set up an appointment, email mipar_info@umbc.edu. For faculty submitting proposals to foundations, please consult Bruce Lyons in UMBC’s Office of Institutional Advancement.  

The Landscape of Geospatial Data & Social Sciences in Baltimore City:

Black COVID Stories, Black Lives Matter, and Protest: A Conversation about the Ongoing Struggle for Justice and Change

In this workshop, panelists will share their advice, tips, suggestions, and experiences on how to apply for fellowships in the social sciences and the benefits of participating in such fellowships. Panelists will speak for about 30 minutes, followed by Q&A. This event is geared toward faculty at all ranks, as well as advanced graduate students.

Topics to be covered include:

• Types of fellowships- policy, research, experience, etc.

• Career stage considerations 

• Pros and cons of different fellowships-- full time, part time, etc.

• Relationship of fellowship to scholarly productivity/advancement/promotion & tenure

• What to expect during a fellowship

• What to discuss with your department chair

Panelists:

• Nancy Kusmaul, Associate Professor of Social Work, 2019-2020 Health and Aging Policy Fellow and American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow.  Placed with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Senator Ron Wyden.  

• Christy Chapin, Associate Professor of History, 2017-2018 Fellow with the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center, and 2020-2021 Fellow with the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

• Rachel Brubaker, Assistant Director, Grants & Program Development, Dresher Center for the Humanities

This event will be recorded. Following the event, the recording will be available on CS3's YouTube channel.