Grant Details

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Summary

History of Funding

Previously awarded projects can be viewed at https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?ProgEleCode=012Y%2C1340&BooleanElement=Any&BooleanRef=Any&ActiveAwards=true#results

Additional Information

The RED program includes four tracks as detailed below:

RED Planning (Track 1): The RED Planning track supports efforts necessary to build capacity and establish collaborations endeavoring to address the broader goals of the RED program. Planning grants are designed to foster and facilitate the engineering community into thinking about how to form convergent research that supports the goals of the RED program. Planning grants must be led by IHEs that meet one or more of the following criteria (a) two-year institutions that support transfer students, (b) institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions, (c) Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), or (d) Minority Serving Institution (MSIs). Planning grants funded through this solicitation are expected to cultivate potential RED research teams and to develop competitive RED proposals for future submissions. As a result of planning grant activities, potential RED teams should be better equipped to carry out the activities associated with a track 2, 3, or 4 RED grant. Proposers supported through this mechanism may use the funding to organize activities that help stimulate the formation of RED teams (in terms of PI, coPI, Senior/Key Personnel, and organization type) and to crystalize the ideas and research plans to be presented in a potential RED proposal. Examples of planning grant activities can include, but are not limited to:

• Workshop(s) to recruit and form a team in line with the goals expressed in this solicitation
• Structured mentoring for PIs and co-PIs focused on submitting for mid-size NSF awards
  • Development of research goals
  • Leadership and management of mid-size projects
• Development of a research plan that is responsive to the RED solicitation
• Building cohesiveness within the team based on best practices to address collaboration challenges such as those described in Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment:
  • Geographical distance: The physical distance between researchers at collaborating institutions
  • Cognitive distance: The degree of overlapping specialized knowledge between members of an inter- or multidisciplinary team
  • Social distance: The trust and friendship” (at the micro-level) among members of the team; the personal trust between team members necessary for the team to be successful
  • Organizational distance: The methods or networks used to exchange information, knowledge, and make decisions; The level of autonomy afforded to each member of the team
  • Institutional distance: The level of shared values, norms, and language present among collaborating team members and institutions
• Assessment of planning grant goals

Given the complexity of a RED proposal, NSF recognizes that many teams will identify important research priorities but may not have the full complement of skills needed to effectively address the challenge. The planning grant can be used to support team formation activities that create opportunities for the development of partnerships between researchers and institutions that are bi-directional and mutually beneficial, thus engaging a wide array of perspectives and scientific talent to address the national needs and grand challenges presented in the RED solicitation. The National Institutes of Health Collaboration Team Science Field Guide can provide a starting point for team formation activities. Planning grants are expected to have at least one individual who was a PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel on an awarded RED project involved in the planning grant in an advisory, mentorship, or leadership position. RED Planning (Track 1) proposals should be prepared in accordance with the guidance for the Planning type of proposal contained in PAPPG Chapter II.F.1 and the solicitation specific instructions in Section V.A. of the NOFO.

RED Adaptation & Implementation (Track 2): The RED A&I track support projects that use evidence-based and evidence-generating change strategy approaches and actions that are adapted to the local context. The goal of this track is to:

• Generate new knowledge related to the adaptation of proven change strategies and actions in a new context.

Strategies should be developed with impact on the student as the focus. Proposed efforts must be grounded in sound educational theory and work to enable a continuous progression of professional formation through the four-year experience. Efforts should address 21 Century T-shaped skills (i.e., cross-disciplinary breadth), and they should be aligned with stakeholder expectations. This track encourages proposals from two-year or four-year institutions that are interested in adopting change strategies at a single institution.

RED Innovation (Track 3): The RED Innovation track supports projects that involve radically, suddenly, or completely new approaches and action; producing fundamental, structural change; and that go outside of or beyond existing norms and principles. Innovations in similar departments across multiple institutions is particularly encouraged. This track has two goals:

• Generate new knowledge on best practices for meaningfully and thoughtfully incorporating into the middle two years and technical core of the engineering curriculum oft-neglected professional skills” (i.e. 21 Century skills, design, communication, teamwork, historical and contemporary social context, lifelong learning, and ethics). Changes in the middle two years need to be integrated with freshman and senior experiences in order to form an unbroken sequenced thread through the curriculum so that the process of professional formation deepens and strengthens as students move through engineering programs.
• Generate new knowledge on how to transform the departmental cultures to be environments that are inclusive, innovative, equitable and supportive of faculty, faculty development to support cultural or structural change, and build new department structures and cultures through innovative practices and policies that support significant holistic professional formation.

Strategies should be developed with impact on the student as the focus. Proposed efforts must be grounded in sound educational theory and work to enable a continuous progression of professional formation through the four-year experience. Efforts should address 21 Century T-shaped skills (i.e., cross-disciplinary breadth), and they should be aligned with stakeholder expectations.

RED Innovation Partnerships (Track 4): The RED Innovation Partnerships track holds identical goals to the RED Innovation (Track 3) track but also recognizes that developing revolutionary changes capable of spanning multiple contexts adds additional complexity and may therefore require additional resources and support. In addition to the Track 3 goals, projects in Track 4 have an additional goal to:

• Generate new knowledge on best practices and the support structures necessary for meaningfully and thoughtfully leveraging or managing cross-institutional partnerships in ways that enable transferability and interoperability of research findings.

Collaborative partnerships that include IHEs that are (a) two-year institutions that support transfer students, (b) institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions, (c) PUIs, and/or (d) MSIs are strongly encouraged. 

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