Limited Submission: NSF INCLUDES - Inclusion across Nation of Communities of learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science
The NSF INCLUDES Big Idea is a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) discoveries and innovations focused on NSF's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and broadening participation in these fields. The vision of NSF INCLUDES is to catalyze the STEM enterprise to work collaboratively for inclusive change, resulting in a STEM workforce that reflects the population of the Nation. More specifically, NSF INCLUDES seeks to improve collaborative efforts aimed at enhancing the preparation, increasing the participation, and ensuring the contributions of individuals from groups that have been historically underrepresented and underserved in the STEM enterprise such as African Americans, Alaska Natives, Hispanics, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders, persons with disabilities, persons from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and women and girls. Significant advancement in the inclusion of underrepresented groups in STEM will result in a new generation of STEM talent and leadership to secure our nation’s future and long-term economic competitiveness.
The NSF INCLUDES National Network is composed of:
- Alliances,
- Design and Development Launch Pilots,
- Coordination Hub,
- Other NSF funded projects,
- Federal Coordination in STEM (FC-STEM) agencies,
- Scholars engaged in broadening participation research, and
- Organizations that support the development of talent from all sectors of society to build an inclusive STEM workforce.
A hallmark of NSF INCLUDES is the focus on the five design elements of collaborative infrastructure to achieve systemic change. Collaborative infrastructure refers to the process by which partnering organizations come together to map out mutually reinforcing activities through: (1) shared vision, (2) partnerships, (3) goals and metrics, (4) leadership and communication, and (5) expansion, sustainability and scale. Through these five design elements of collaborative infrastructure, the successful implementation of NSF INCLUDES will result in substantial advances toward a diverse, innovative, and well-prepared STEM workforce to support our Nation’s economy and continued U.S. leadership in the global STEM enterprise. It is anticipated that NSF’s investment will contribute to new and improved STEM career pathways, policies, opportunities to learn, and practices for equity and inclusion. The initiative is supported by the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub (www.includesnetwork.org) that provides a framework for communication and networking, network assistance and reinforcement, and visibility and expansion for the NSF INCLUDES National Network as a whole.
Through this solicitation, NSF INCLUDES will support the establishment and growth of new Alliances that employ a collaborative infrastructure approach to address a critical broadening participation challenge in STEM at scale.
Eligibility
An organization may serve as a lead organization on only one proposal per project type, not including conferences. Proposals that exceed the organizational limit will be returned without review. No exceptions will be made.
Full proposals involving multiple organizations may be submitted two ways: a single submission from a lead organization, with other collaborating organizations included as sub-awardees, OR separate submissions from a lead organization and ONE collaborating organization, with any additional collaborating organizations included as sub-awardees. See PAPPG Chapter II.D.3 for additional information on collaborative proposals.
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: An individual may serve as a PI or Co-PI on only one NSF INCLUDES Alliance proposal. Proposals that exceed the PI or Co-PI limit (beyond the first submission based on timestamp) will be returned without review. No exceptions will be made.
Award Description
In any one competition, NSF INCLUDES anticipates funding up to:
- Two (2) Design and Development Launch Pilots
- Two (2) Collaborative Change Consortia
- One (1) Alliance
- Five (5) Network Connectors
- Five (5) Conferences
Estimated Number of Awards: 10 to 15
Standard Grant (for one-year Network Connectors and Conferences); Continuing Grant (for multi-year Network Connectors, Design and Development Launch Pilots, and Collaborative Change Consortia); Cooperative Agreement (for Alliances)
Anticipated Funding Amount: $5,500,000 for all project types in each competition year.
Anticipated funding amount, number of awards, and average award size and duration are contingent upon the availability of funds.
Timeline for the SIUE Internal Competition Submission
- Notice of Intent due to ORP via Kuali Build Application: 1st Tuesday in September by 4:30 pm.
- Should an Internal Competition be required you will receive a notification via email from Kuali Build to upload your Pre-Submission Materials (single pdf as indicated): 3rd Tuesday in September.
- Notification for selection for submission to the agency: 4th Tuesday in September.
Selection Criteria for the SIUE Internal Competition
Should an internal competition be required, yyou will be notified to upload your Pre-Submission Materials (single pdf in order indicated) by 4:30 pm on the 3rd Tuesday in September.
Required SIUE Pre-Proposal Materials: (uploaded as a single pdf in order indicated)
- Application Cover Page
- Project Summary/Narrative (3-5 pages max)
- References
- Each PI/Co-I must provide a 2-page CV with selected publication and activities that most relate to the project.
- Budget Justification (limit to 2 double spaced pages)
*These must be submitted in a single pdf in the order indicated on application form.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, including minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans. Faculty with disabilities desiring accommodations in the application process should contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at (618) 650-2333.
Strong Proposals will Include:
NSF INCLUDES Alliances build the infrastructure necessary to foster collaboration and broaden participation in STEM by emphasizing the following five design elements of collaborative infrastructure: (1) Shared Vision, (2) Partnerships, (3) Goals and Metrics, (4) Leadership and Communication, and (5) the Potential for Expansion, Sustainability and Scale. The five design elements of collaborative infrastructure are critical for each NSF INCLUDES Alliance and require Alliances to:
- Develop a shared vision and strategy (e.g., problem statement and theory of change) for broadening the participation of the target population(s) in STEM along with relevant metrics of success and key milestones/goals to be achieved during the project’s lifecycle;
- Develop multi-stakeholder partnerships and build infrastructure among them to decrease social distance and achieve progress on common goals targeted by the Alliance;
- Contribute to the knowledge base on broadening participation in STEM through broadening participation and implementation research, sharing project evaluations, data, new scientific findings/discoveries, and promising practices;
- Establish a "backbone" or support organization that provides a framework for communication and networking, network assistance and reinforcement, visibility and expansion of the Alliance and its partners, that will collaborate with the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub;
- Advance a logic model or other heuristic that identifies Alliance outcomes that reflect implementation of change at scale and progress toward developing an inclusive STEM enterprise.
Collectively, NSF INCLUDES Alliances:
- Participate in a network of peer alliances to achieve long-term goals of the NSF INCLUDES Big Idea;
- Collaborate with the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub to build critical knowledge that shows measurable progress toward short-term and long-term goals; and
- Work to build connections to other organizations and broadening participation stakeholders to join in and expand the NSF National Network.
In addition to addressing the five design elements of collaborative infrastructure, Alliances connect and contribute to the NSF INCLUDES National Network through the Alliance backbone support organization, the NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub, current and potential partnerships, capacity building, resource sharing and/or other mechanisms.
Proposals are especially encouraged that address broadening participation challenges not yet represented in the NSF INCLUDES portfolio of Alliances. For more information on funded NSF INCLUDES projects, see: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/simpleSearchResult?queryText=nsf+includes.
Timeline for Full Submission to NSF
- Proposal to be created in Kuali: 4th Friday in September
- Full Proposal Routed in Kuali Research: 2nd Tuesday in October.
- Full Proposal Due to NSF: 4th Tuesday in October. Proposal is fully routed through Kuali Research and submitted in Research.gov with the assistance of the SIUE Office of Research and Projects.
Other Resources
For further information or questions regarding the competition, please contact siueresearch@siue.edu.
