NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science 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

This program supports active long-term collaborative partnerships between K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, Computer and Information Science, and Mathematics (STEM) in-service and pre-service teachers, full-time community college faculty, and university faculty and students to enhance the scientific disciplinary knowledge and capacity of the STEM teachers and/or community college faculty through participation in authentic summer research experiences with engineering and computer science faculty researchers. The research projects and experiences all revolve around a focused research area related to engineering and/or computer science that will provide a common cohort experience to the participating educators. The K-12 STEM teachers and/or full-time community college faculty also translate their research experiences and new scientific knowledge into their classroom activities and curricula. The university team will include faculty, graduate and undergraduate students as well as industrial advisors. Involvement of graduate students in support of academic-year classroom activities is particularly encouraged. Partnerships with inner city, rural or other high needs schools are especially encouraged, as is participation by underrepresented minorities, women, veterans, and persons with disabilities.

As part of the long-term partnership arrangements, university undergraduate/graduate students will partner with pre-college/community college faculty in their classrooms during the academic year to support the integration of the RET curricular materials into classroom activities.

This announcement features two mechanisms for support of in-service and pre-service K-12 STEM teachers and full-time community college faculty: (1) RET supplements to ongoing ENG and CISE awards and (2) new RET Site awards.

Deadlines

CU Internal Deadline: 11:59pm MST June 12, 2019

Sponsor Application Deadline: 5:00pm MST September 18, 2019

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

  • Project Summary (2 pages maximum): Please include a project overview, a statement of intellectual merit of the proposed activity, and a statement on the broader impacts of the proposed activity.
  • Project Team (1 page maximum): Please include the name, title, department/unit, and project role of each member of the project team (PI(s), Co-PI(s), and senior personnel).
  • Budget Overview (1 page maximum): 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/6354

Eligibility

The principal investigator of a RET in Engineering and Computer Science Site proposal must have a full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty appointment within a College/Department of Engineering or Engineering Technology or a College/Department of Computer and/or Information Science broadly defined [including e.g., Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Software Engineering, Networking Science, Informatics] within the submitting U.S. academic institution. The PI must be a full-time Engineering and/or Computer Science faculty member whose primary job responsibilities are research and teaching and not a faculty member who is involved in an administrative capacity such as a dean or outreach coordinator.

Limited Submission Guidelines

Three Site proposals may be submitted per competition by a U.S. academic institution, including a College/Department of Engineering, Engineering Technology, or Computer and/or Information Science as the lead institution. No more than two of the three proposals may have an engineering focus and only one of the three proposals may have a computer and/or information science focus.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 1

Award Information

Award Amount & Duration: The maximum total request for a Site is $600,000 for a duration of up to three years. Supplements are limited to a maximum of $10,000 per teacher and/or community college faculty for a duration of one year subject to the availability of funds.

Estimated Number of Awards: 9