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National Science Foundation (NSF): Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) - FY 2024

Agency: U.S. National Science Foundation
CFDA: 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083, 47.084
Federal FON: 23-625
Office: Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems (ITE)
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: 06/27/2024 (Multiple)
Solicitation Date: 09/27/2023
   
Match Required: No
Actual Funds: $20,000,000 (Estimated)
Award Range: $400,000 (Max)
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to broaden participation in innovation ecosystems in key technologies, such as advanced manufacturing, advanced wireless, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum information science, semiconductors, novel materials, and microelectronics, by supporting capacity-building efforts in growing external partnerships for institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Traditionally, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and two-year institutions with limited or no research capacity have been limited to partnerships with larger IHEs and industry in the area of workforce development. Therefore, this program aims to expand the opportunities for these institutions to participate in one or more aspects of an emerging innovation ecosystem that spans workforce development, use-inspired research, and the translation of research to practice through the creation of new or expanded partnerships. The goals of the funding distributed through this program are to enable award recipients to:

  • Create partnerships with external organizations to grow programs in workforce development, use-inspired research and development (R&D), and/or the translation of research to practice in emerging technology fields
  • Develop the capacity and institutional knowledge needed to build new partnerships and secure future external funding to support ongoing efforts in emerging technology fields and regional innovation ecosystems

Capacity-building efforts supported through this program should focus on the resources, infrastructure, and expertise required for an institution to establish meaningful partnerships with external organizations to facilitate participation in the regional innovation ecosystem. Such efforts may include:

  • Growing corporate, community, and/or local government relations
  • Building external partnerships for nimble workforce development programs responsive to regional needs
  • Growing external partnerships to advance technology commercialization, especially those relevant to the regional innovation ecosystem
  • Expanding the institution's research enterprise through external partnerships

Awards issued through this program will provide funding to support a range of activities that are currently hard to accomplish within the institution, such as award management, relief time for faculty and staff for developing external partnerships, infrastructure, and resources to facilitate participation in future NSF solicitations.

An optional webinar is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.

Last Updated: October 18, 2023

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education (IHEs), including two- and four-year IHEs and community colleges, that are accredited and have a campus located in the United States and are acting on behalf of their faculty members.

Because the emphasis of this program is to enable institutions with limited or no research capacity to create partnerships with external organizations to grow programs in workforce development, research and development (R&D), and/or the translation of research to practice in emerging technology fields, IHEs eligible to apply for funding through this program are only those considered as neither R1 nor R2 institutions according to the 2021 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, additional information on which can be found online at carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu.

Minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and two-year institutions, including community colleges and technical schools, that are not classified as R1 or R2 institutions are strongly encouraged to apply. For the purposes of this program, MSIs include historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), tribal colleges or universities (TCUs), and other institutions that enroll a significant percentage of under-represented minority students, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. These other institutions include Alaska Native-serving institutions, Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, predominantly Black institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and Native American-serving non-tribal institutions.

In addition, priority will be given to eligible institutions that have been receiving less than $10 million in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related research funding over the past five years.

Principal investigators (PIs) must hold a full-time administrative or faculty position at the proposing institution. Part-time administrators, adjunct faculty, and temporary hires are not eligible to serve as PIs. Collaborative proposals involving PIs from two or more institutions are accepted.

Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) proposals must include at least one industrial co-principal investigator.

Previously declined proposals may be resubmitted, but only after substantial revision.

Only one proposal may be submitted per organization, and only one proposal may be submitted per PI or co-PI.

Federal agencies are generally not eligible to apply, except under exceptional circumstances and with prior funding agency approval.

Eligible Applicants:
Academic Institutions
Consortia
Application Notes:

Mandatory preliminary proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. applicant's local time on one of the following dates:

  • December 15, 2023
  • June 27, 2024

Preliminary proposals must be submitted online at www.research.gov.

Preliminary proposals must include:

  • Cover sheet
  • Project summary (1 page max)
  • Project description (3 pages max)
  • Senior personnel documents for each team member:
    • Biographical sketch
    • Current and pending/other support

No appendices or supplementary documents may be submitted with the preliminary proposal. No budget is required with the preliminary proposal.

All preliminary proposals must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. Applicants may obtain a UEI number via SAM (System for Award Management) by accessing www.ecivis.com/sam.

An optional webinar will be held for this program as follows:

October 25, 2023
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET
Registration: nsf.zoomgov.com

An optional question and answer session will be held for this program as follows:

November 6, 2023
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
Registration: nsf.zoomgov.com

Preliminary proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Extent to which the actionable opportunities for the institution to expand its innovation capacity through partnerships are identified
  • Extent to which the identified goals are aligned with institution-wide objectives
  • Extent to which the proposing team is suitable for the proposed plans
  • Extent to which the current research funding levels are aligned with program objectives

Proposing teams will be selected to participate in virtual and in-person workshops based on the above criteria. At the conclusion of the workshops, a subset of teams will be invited to submit collaborative full proposals, which will be due by by 5:00 p.m. applicant's local time on one of the following dates:

  • May 16, 2024
  • January 21, 2025

Invitations to submit full proposals are conditioned upon full participation in the workshops by the proposing team. Refer to pages 5-6 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding the funding process.

Refer to the NOFA file, the NSF Proposal Guide, and the NSF Grants.gov Guide for additional application information.

Match Required: No
Actual Funds: $20,000,000 (Estimated)
Award Range: $400,000 (Max)
Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program. Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing in the budget or budget justification is prohibited; however, applicants may contribute a voluntary uncommitted cost share.

Funding Notes:

An estimated total of $20 million is expected to be available to support up to approximately 50 awards of up to $400,000 each through this program.

The award period is expected to last up to three years. Award recipients may request no-cost extensions of project periods for 12 months if additional time is required to complete the original project scope.

In general, funding will not support:

  • Technical assistance
  • Pilot plant efforts
  • Research requiring security classification
  • Research with disease-related goals
  • Product development for commercial marketing
  • Market research for a particular project or invention
  • Biological research on mechanisms of disease in humans, biological research to develop animal models of such conditions, or the development or testing of procedures for their treatment
  • Profit

Examples of ineligible costs include:

  • Entertainment
  • Meals and coffee breaks
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Rental of property owned by individuals or entities affiliated with National Science Foundation (NSF) award recipients for use as home office workspace
  • Procuring or obtaining the equipment, services, or systems identified in section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
Contacts:

Rebecca Shearman
(703) 292-7403
engines@nsf.gov

Geoffrey Brown
(703) 292-4979
engines@nsf.gov

Agency Address
National Science Foundation
2415 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22314

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to the program staff.

Preliminary proposals must be submitted online at www.research.gov.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
NOFA File: US17855_NOFA_FY2024.pdf (752.1 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17855_Webinar_FY2024.pdf (75.9 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17855_Webinar2_FY2024.pdf (82.3 Kb)
Federal Forms:
NSF Grants.gov Guide (742.4 Kb)
NSF Proposal Guide (2.4 Mb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Webinar file contains information regarding an optional webinar scheduled for this program. The Webinar2 file contains information regarding an optional question and answer session scheduled for this program. The NSF Proposal Guide and the NSF Grants.gov Guide are attached. Previous awards issued through NSF programs may be accessed online at www.nsf.gov/awardsearch.

October 18, 2023
Information regarding an optional question and answer session scheduled for this program has been released and attached as the Webinar2 file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

October 6, 2023
Information regarding an optional webinar scheduled for this program has been released and attached as the Webinar file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

Grant Keywords
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Grant Categories
Education
Training & Vocational Services
Information Technology/Telecommunications
Science/Technology