National Science Foundation (NSF) Build and Broaden Program

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 09:50:55 -0500

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.