Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Study of the U.S. Institutes for Scholars Solicitation

Please see the full solicitation for complete information about the funding opportunity. Below is a summary assembled by the Research & Innovation Office (RIO).

Program Summary 

Study of the U.S. Institutes for Scholars are intensive academic programs whose purpose is to provide foreign university faculty and other professionals the opportunity to deepen their understanding of U.S. society, culture, values, and institutions, broadly defined. The ultimate goal is to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in academic institutions abroad. These four Institutes – one each on American Culture and Values; Journalism and Media; U.S. Foreign Policy; and Youth, Workforce Development, and Closing the Skills Gap – should be six weeks in length; participants should spend a minimum of four weeks at the host institution and up to two weeks on an educational study tour, including two to four days in Washington, D.C. at the conclusion of the Institute. The educational travel component for all programs should directly complement the academic programs and should include visits to cities and other sites of interest in the region around the host institution as well as to another geographic region of the United States.

The academic program should include lectures, panels, seminar discussions, scholarly research presentations, academic and experiential learning activities that focus on the theme and include debates and, if possible, a scholar symposium where participants could make a presentation about their personal research. All Institutes should include speakers with diverse viewpoints. Once participants return home, the program should include opportunities for continued follow-on engagement with their fellow SUSI scholar alumni. Activities could include, but are not limited to, small grants, webinars, workshops, collaborative publications, or other ways to continue building on the six-week SUSI experience.

Deadlines

CU Internal Deadline: 11:59pm MST December 5, 2018

Sponsor Application Deadline: 10:00pm MST January 10, 2019

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

  • Project Summary (up to 2 pages)
  • PI CV
  • Budget Overview (up to 1 page): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit: https://colorado.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/home/6296

Eligibility

Organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition.

Limited Submission Guidelines

Applicants may submit only one proposal under this competition.

Award Information

Number of Awards: ECA intends to award one Cooperative Agreement for the administration and implementation of four Institutes. The recipient may propose to administer all four Institutes through sub-awards or may propose to implement one of the four Institutes and administer sub-awards to three host institutions to conduct the remaining three Institutes. No institution will be permitted to host more than one Institute in one fiscal year.

Award Amount: $5,250,000 total (FY 2019-base year, up to $1,750,000; FY 2020-non-competitive continuation year one, up to $1,750,000; FY 2021-non-competitive continuation year two, up to $1,750,000).

Award Duration: 3 years (one base year plus two noncompetitive continuation years).

Cost Share: There is no minimum or maximum percentage required for this competition. However, ECA encourages applicants to provide maximum levels of cost sharing and funding in support of its programs.