Upcoming Deadlines
Federal
U.S. Department of Education-Investing in Innovation Fund: Pre-App: April 26, 2013
NSF-Dimensions of Biodiversity: May 6, 2013
NSF- Widening Implementation & Demonstration of Evidence-Based Reforms: July 3, 2013
Foundations
Spencer Foundation- Data Use and Educational Improvement: June 11, 2013
USA Fund- Key Transitions in Postsecondary Education: May 24 2013
Students
IIE Fulbright: Internal: September 2013
Federal
Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education
Title: Investing in Innovation Fund (I3)
Program: The Investing in Innovation Fund, established under section 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides funding to support (1) local educational agencies (LEAs), and (2) nonprofit organizations in partnership with (a) one or more LEAs or (b) a consortium of schools. The purpose of this program is to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates. These grants will (1) allow eligible entities to expand and develop innovative practices that can serve as models of best practices, (2) allow eligible entities to work in partnership with the private sector and the philanthropic community, and (3) identify and document best practices that can be shared and taken to scale based on demonstrated success.
Deadline: Pre-Applications: April 26, 2013
Link: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/index.html
Funding Source: NSF
Title: Dimensions of Biodiversity
Program: Despite centuries of discovery, most of our planet's biodiversity remains unknown. The scale of the unknown diversity on Earth is especially troubling given the rapid and permanent loss of biodiversity across the globe. With this loss, humanity is losing links in the web of life that provide ecosystem services, forfeiting an understanding of the history and future of the living world, and losing opportunities for future beneficial discoveries in the domains of food, fiber, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and bio-inspired innovation. The goal of the Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign is to transform, by 2020, how we describe and understand the scope and role of life on Earth. The campaign promotes novel, integrated approaches to identify and understand the evolutionary and ecological significance of biodiversity amidst the changing environment of the present day and in the geologic past. This campaign seeks to characterize biodiversity on Earth by using integrative, innovative approaches to fill the most substantial gaps in our understanding of the diversity of life on Earth. It takes a broad view of biodiversity, and currently focuses on the integration of genetic, taxonomic/phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity. Successful proposals should integrate these three dimensions to understand interactions and feedbacks among them. While this focus complements several core NSF programs, it differs by requiring that multiple dimensions of biodiversity be addressed simultaneously, in innovative or novel ways, to understand their synergistic roles in critical ecological and evolutionary processes.
Deadline: May 6, 2013
Link: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13536/nsf13536.htm
Funding Source: NSF
Title: Widening Implementation & Demonstration of Evidence-Based Reforms (WIDER)
Program: The chief goal of WIDER is to transform institutions of higher education into supportive environments for STEM faculty members to substantially increase their use of evidence-based teaching and learning practices. The first recommendation in the Report of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), "Engage to Excel," is to increase widespread implementation of evidence-based practices in order to increase persistence in STEM and contribute to the goal of producing 1 million additional STEM graduates. Through this process, WIDER seeks to substantially increase the scale of application of highly effective methods of STEM teaching and learning in institutions of higher education, by employing instructional materials and methods that have a convincing evidentiary basis of effectiveness. In particular WIDER seeks this transformation for high enrollment, lower division courses required for many STEM majors and taken by many other students to fulfill general education distribution requirements. Included in our broad definition of effective STEM teaching and learning are not only instructional practices in traditional learning environments, but also modern laboratory methods and field research, proven distance education methods (or hybrid designs incorporating both face-to-face and distance methods), and improved approaches to motivating student interest in STEM. In all cases, the primary goal of WIDER is to increase substantially the scale of these improvements within and across the higher education sector in order to achieve:
(1) Improved student learning;
(2) Increased numbers of students choosing STEM majors, particularly from demographic groups underrepresented in STEM;
(3) Improved retention in the first two years of undergraduate study and to graduation of all STEM majors.
Applicants may apply for WIDER grants to begin institutional planning efforts, to support implementation efforts for evidence-based teaching and learning practices, and for research on how to increase the importance placed on evidence-based practices in institutional strategic planning and faculty rewards.
Deadline: July 3, 2013
Link: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13552/nsf13552.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
Foundations
Funding Source: Spencer Foundation
Title: Data Use and Educational Improvement
Program: The Spencer Foundation is accepting applications for research projects that explore how student performance data informs classroom instruction. Through its Evidence in the Classroom initiative, the foundation will award grants ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 for research projects that investigate how K-8 teachers use student performance data for instructional decisions and how organizational and individual factors affect that use. Past projects have covered a range of topics, from data use patterns through an online data management system to the effectiveness of capacity-building interventions. To be eligible, principal investigators must have earned a doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. PIs also must be affiliated with a college, university, research facility, school district, or cultural institution that is willing to serve as fiscal agent if a grant is awarded.
Deadline: June 11, 2013
Link: http://www.spencer.org/content.cfm/data-use-and-educational-improvement
Funding Source: USA Funds
Title: Key Transitions in Postsecondary Education
Program: USA Funds advances its nonprofit mission by providing products and services to postsecondary education institutions and their students, and through grant-making that supports programs to enhance college access and completion. During the past decade, USA Funds has provided more than $100 million in scholarships and grants. USA Funds’ current grant-making activities focus on programs that primarily benefit lowincome students, first-generation students, students of color, foster youth and adult learners. Accordingly, we support programs and organizations that aim to:
Increase the number of students who receive postsecondary education credentials.
Improve financial literacy among students preparing for or pursuing postsecondary education.
Provide financial access to postsecondary education for students.
Eliminate gaps in postsecondary educational attainment by race and income.
Improve college readiness, access and completion.
Deadline: May 24, 2013
Link: http://www.usafunds.org/community/Documents/KeyTransitionsRFP.pdf
Students
Funding Source: Institute of International Education
Title: Fulbright U.S. Student Program (Fulbright IIE)
Program: Established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress to "enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries", Fulbright is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
Internal Deadline: September 2013, please contact Marlene Robinson for the internal deadline: marobins@ucsc.edu
Link: http://us.fulbrightonline.org/applicants/getting-started
