Slots: An organization may serve as sole submitting organization or as lead organization of a collaborative project on only one submission every 12 months, regardless of track, but may serve as the non-lead organization of a collaborative project more than once in a 12 month period. Proposals that have been declined are not eligible for resubmission for one year from the original date of submission and must be substantially revised to be considered.
Additional eligibility requirements are described in the link to the full RFP below.
Potential PIs are advised to contact their institutional office of research regarding processes used to select proposals for submission.
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Contact ORIF if interested, as there is no formal external deadline for this call.
LOI: No longer required for full proposal submission.
External Deadline: Proposals accepted anytime.
Award Information
Award Type: Standard or Continuing Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: 15, with ~5 awards being made in each of the three tracks.
Anticipated Award Amount: $6,000,000
Who May Serve as PI: There are no restrictions or limits.
Link to Award: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22555/nsf22555.htm
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Office of Research Application Portal: https://orif.usc.edu/oor-portal/.
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Single Page Proposal Summary (0.5” margins; single-spaced; font type: Arial, Helvetica, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 1-page limit will be excluded from review.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs and Co-PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The GEOPAths funding opportunity invites creative proposals to identify, broaden, strengthen and sustain the pathways that will engage and retain diverse students in pre-college, undergraduate and graduate geoscience degree programs. Additionally, skill and competency building for a variety of career pathways is of interest. GEOPAths projects are expected to utilize effective, evidence-based strategies for improving student engagement, support and retention, and to expose students to meaningful experiences through creation of geoscience learning ecosystems (GLEs) that leverage STEM stakeholder networks, academic and/or non-academic research activities and instrumentation infrastructure. The underlying hypothesis for this solicitation is that novel, authentic, career-relevant geoscience experiences for broader student populations will augment existing curricula and increase students’ identification with the geosciences that will ultimately increase the students’ desire to pursue degrees and geoscience-related careers.
- The overarching questions being addressed through this solicitation are:
- Which strategies are most effective for creating inclusive environments in the geosciences that are attractive and supportive to students from groups that have been historically excluded in STEM?
- Which approaches are most effective in introducing pre-college students to geoscience content?
- Which methods are most effective in recruiting and retaining undergraduate students in the geosciences?
- Which experiences are most effective in preparing undergraduate geoscience majors and graduate students for the workforce, and smoothing their transition post-degree?
- Which strategies are most effective for increasing the number and diversity of non-geoscience undergraduate majors that pursue post-baccalaureate degrees in geoscience?
This solicitation offers three funding tracks that focus on Geoscience Learning Ecosystems (GLEs).
- GEOPAths: Informal Networks (IN). Collaborative projects in this track will support geoscience learning and experiences in informal settings for teachers, pre-college or community college students.
- GEOPAths: Undergraduate Preparation (UP). Projects in this track will engage students in extracurricular research experiences and training in the geosciences with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.
- GEOPAths: Graduate Opportunities (GO). Projects in this track will improve research and career-related pathways into the geosciences for undergraduate and graduate students through institutional and employer collaborations with a focus on workplace learning and workforce skill building.
More information is available in the link to the full RFP above.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.