(CLOSED) NSF 16-594 ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (ADVANCE) - Partnerships

Sponsor Name: 
NSF
Amount: 
$1,000,000
Description of the Award: 

Despite significant increases in the proportion of women pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral degrees, women are significantly underrepresented as faculty, particularly in upper ranks, and in academic administrative positions, in almost all STEM fields. The problems of recruitment, retention, and advancement that are the causes of this underrepresentation vary by discipline and across groups of women faculty (e.g., by race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born and foreign-trained status, and faculty appointment type). The ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of all women faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in areas such as policy, practice, culture, and organizational climate. For example, practices in academic departments that result in the inequitable allocation of service or teaching assignments may impede research productivity, delay advancement and create a culture of differential treatment and rewards. Policies and procedures that do not mitigate implicit bias in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions could mean that women and underrepresented minorities are evaluated less favorably, perpetuating their underrepresentation and contributing to a climate that is not inclusive.

The goals of the ADVANCE program are (1) to develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers; (2) to develop innovative and sustainable ways to promote gender equity that involve both men and women in the STEM academic workforce; and (3) to contribute to the research knowledge base on gender equity and the intersection of gender and other identities in STEM academic careers. The ADVANCE program contributes to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce because of the focus on equity for STEM academic faculty who are educating, training, and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

There are three program tracks. All projects are expected to build on prior ADVANCE work and gender equity research and literature to broaden the implementation of organizational and systemic strategies to foster gender equity in STEM academic careers. All ADVANCE proposals are expected to recognize that gender does not exist in isolation from other characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born and foreign-trained status, faculty appointment type, etc., and should offer strategies to promote gender equity for all faculty:

  • The Partnership track will support partnerships of two or more non-profit academic institutions and/or STEM organizations to increase gender equity in STEM academics. Projects should have national or regional impact and result in systemic change within one STEM discipline, several STEM disciplines, or all STEM disciplines. Partnering STEM organizations can include any entity eligible for NSF support. Partners may include professional societies, industry, non-profit organizations, publishers, policy and research entities, state systems of higher education, higher education organizations, as well as institutions of higher education. Partnership proposals must include a final year focused on sustainability and/or scale-up, communication, and evaluation.

Award Information:

Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement

Estimated Number of Awards: 18 to 26

Partnership awards up to $1,000,000 for three to five years. In addition, one ADVANCE Resource and Coordination Network award may be made for $1M per year for five years, and up to four ADVANCE Longitudinal Evaluation awards may be made each year of this solicitation.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $22,220,000

Pending availability of funds, NSF anticipates having up to $22,200,000 available over a period of two fiscal years (FY 2017-FY2018) for support of the ADVANCE portfolio. Up to $12,100,000 will be available for the FY2017 competition and approximately $10,100,000 will be available for proposals due under the FY2018 competition.

Eligibility Information:

Who May Submit Proposals:

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

Partnership proposals must include two or more partnering organizations and may include non-profit academic institutions and/or non-profit, non-academic organizations

Prior ADVANCE support is not necessary to participate.

Past or current ADVANCE grant recipients are eligible to participate in Partnership proposals.

Who May Serve as PI:

There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 1

  • A non-profit academic institution or non-profit, non-academic organization may be a partner on multiple Partnership proposals in the same competition but lead only one and may also be a partner on an ADVANCE Resource and Coordination Network and/or an ADVANCE Longitudinal Evaluation proposal if appropriate.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI:

There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit (Number of applicants permitted per institution): 
1
Sponsor LOI Deadline: 
Dec 12, 2017
Sponsor Final Deadline: 
Jan 10, 2018
OSVPR Application or NOI Instructions: 

Internal Nomination Process:

Interested applicants should send the following documents in sequence in one PDF no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:

  • The name and departmental affiliation of the Principal Investigator (PI).
  • The name(s) and departmental affiliation(s) of the Co-PI(s) and others composing the Core Participants.
  • List partner institutions and organizations, with a brief description of each partner's involvement in the project.
  • Other information such as known conflicts and areas of specialized expertise pertinent for the review process can also be included.
  • Project Synopsis: Provide a description of the gender equity problem(s) in STEM academics to be addressed, the proposed project and the ADVANCE track for which the proposal will seek funding.

Formatting Guidelines and Page Limit:

  • Font/size: Times New Roman (12 pt.)

  • Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)

  • Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)

Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.

To be considered as a Penn State institutional nominee, please submit a notice of intent by the date provided directly below.
Penn State OSVPR NOI Deadline: 
Friday, December 1, 2017 - 4:00pm
This limited submission is in downselect: 
Penn State may only submit a specific number of proposals to this funding opportunity. The number of NOIs received require that an internal competition take place, thus, a downselect process has commenced. No Penn State researchers may apply to this opportunity outside of this downselect process. To apply for this limited submission, please use this link:
OSVPR Downselect Deadline: 
Friday, December 1, 2017 - 4:00pm