Opportunity Information: Apply for 16 594
Apply for 16 594
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 27, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 11, 2017 Adaptation Letter of Intent Adaptation full proposal Partnerships Letter of Intent Partnerships Full Proposal Institutional Transformation Preliminary Proposal Institutional Transformation full proposal. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 26 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE program is a discretionary grant opportunity aimed at improving gender equity in academic STEM careers by changing the systems and structures that shape faculty hiring, retention, promotion, and leadership. While women have earned a growing share of STEM PhDs, they remain noticeably underrepresented among faculty, especially at senior ranks and in high-level administrative roles. ADVANCE treats this gap as a sign of organizational and cultural barriers inside institutions, rather than a lack of talent or interest among women. The program emphasizes that challenges are not the same across disciplines or across groups of women, and it explicitly calls attention to how gender intersects with race and ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born or foreign-trained status, and faculty appointment type, among other identities and circumstances.
A central idea in ADVANCE is that inequity often shows up through everyday policies, practices, and departmental cultures that accumulate over time. The solicitation highlights examples like uneven service and teaching loads that reduce research time, slow publication output, and delay promotion. It also points to evaluation processes in hiring, tenure, and promotion that fail to address implicit bias, which can lead to women (and other underrepresented groups) being judged more harshly or differently. By targeting these organizational mechanics directly, ADVANCE seeks to create institutional environments where women faculty can participate fully, advance fairly, and move into leadership at higher rates.
The program has three main goals. First, it supports systemic approaches that increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers across NSF-supported fields (which include not only traditional STEM, but also the learning, social, behavioral, and economic sciences; clinical science faculty are excluded). Second, it promotes innovative and sustainable models for gender equity that involve the whole academic workforce, meaning men as well as women, rather than placing the burden on women alone. Third, it aims to strengthen the evidence base by contributing new knowledge about what works in advancing gender equity, including research on the intersection of gender with other identities and experiences in academic career pathways. This is framed as workforce development as well: by improving equity for faculty, ADVANCE indirectly improves the mentoring and training environment for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars.
ADVANCE proposals are organized into three tracks, each focused on institutional or systems-level change rather than individual-level support. Across all tracks, proposals are expected to build on prior ADVANCE investments and the broader gender equity research literature, using evidence-informed strategies and demonstrating awareness that gender inequity is shaped by multiple, overlapping factors. The three tracks differ mainly in scale, novelty, and partnership structure. The Institutional Transformation (IT) track is meant for a single non-profit two-year or four-year academic institution seeking comprehensive, institution-wide change across all STEM disciplines. IT projects are expected to propose innovative organizational change strategies and also contribute new research on gender equity in STEM academia; proposals that are primarily about implementing already-proven approaches without much innovation are steered toward the Adaptation track instead.
The Adaptation track supports institutions or STEM organizations that want to implement evidence-based strategies, ideally drawing from methods previously developed and tested through ADVANCE. A key point is that Adaptation awards can help a non-profit two-year or four-year institution that has not previously received an ADVANCE IT award adopt proven reforms and tailor them to local context. Adaptation awards may also go to a STEM organization (not only colleges and universities) implementing systemic change strategies across all STEM, multiple STEM disciplines, or a single discipline, as long as the emphasis remains on organizational change that improves gender equity in academic STEM careers.
The Partnership track funds collaborations among two or more non-profit academic institutions and/or STEM organizations, designed to produce broader regional or national influence. Partnership projects are expected to generate systemic change across one discipline, multiple disciplines, or all STEM, and to do so through coordinated action among partners such as professional societies, industry, non-profits, publishers, policy and research organizations, state higher education systems, and higher education associations, in addition to colleges and universities. A defining requirement is that Partnership proposals include a final year specifically devoted to sustainability and/or scaling up the work, along with communication and evaluation, signaling that NSF wants results that persist beyond the grant period and can be shared widely.
NSF signals strong interest in a wide range of non-profit institution types, including community colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, minority-serving institutions (such as Tribal Colleges and Universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and others listed), women’s colleges, institutions that primarily serve persons with disabilities, and masters- and doctoral-level institutions. This broad eligibility focus reflects the program’s view that gender equity barriers and solutions may look different across institutional contexts, and that the national STEM academic workforce depends on many types of campuses and organizations.
Importantly, ADVANCE is not a program that funds individuals directly. It does not provide fellowships, research grants, or travel grants to individual students, postdocs, or faculty. Instead, it funds organizational transformation efforts that reshape the structures influencing academic careers. For those seeking individual student opportunities, the notice points readers toward separate federal STEM opportunity portals for undergraduate and graduate students.
In terms of basic grant details from the opportunity record, the agency is NSF and the funding instrument is a grant. The opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 16-594) listed an award ceiling of up to $3,000,000 and anticipated around 26 awards in that cycle. It also used a staged submission structure depending on track (for example, letters of intent for Adaptation and Partnerships, and preliminary proposals for Institutional Transformation, followed by full proposals). The overall message of the solicitation is that lasting progress in women’s representation and advancement in academic STEM will come from changing institutional systems, not from isolated programs, and that successful projects should be grounded in evidence, attentive to intersectionality, and designed to endure and spread.
NSF ADVANCE Program (Funding Opportunity Number 16-594) FAQs
What is the NSF ADVANCE program?
NSF ADVANCE is a discretionary grant program that supports institutional and systems-level change to improve gender equity in academic STEM careers. It focuses on changing the structures, policies, practices, and cultures that shape faculty hiring, retention, promotion, and leadership.
What problem is ADVANCE trying to solve?
ADVANCE addresses the persistent underrepresentation of women among academic STEM faculty, especially at senior ranks and in high-level administrative leadership, even as women have earned an increasing share of STEM PhDs. The program treats these gaps as indicators of organizational and cultural barriers within institutions rather than a lack of talent or interest.
What does ADVANCE mean by “systems†or “organizational†change?
ADVANCE targets everyday institutional mechanics that accumulate over time and shape career outcomes, such as workload distribution, departmental climate, and evaluation processes in hiring, tenure, and promotion. The goal is to reshape the environment so women faculty can participate fully, advance fairly, and move into leadership at higher rates.
Does ADVANCE fund individuals (students, postdocs, or faculty) directly?
No. ADVANCE does not provide fellowships, individual research grants, or travel grants to individual students, postdocs, or faculty. Funding is intended for organizational transformation efforts rather than individual-level support.
What kinds of inequities does the solicitation highlight?
The solicitation highlights how inequity can appear through uneven service and teaching loads that reduce research time and slow publication output, which can delay promotion. It also points to evaluation processes in hiring, tenure, and promotion that may fail to address implicit bias, resulting in women and other underrepresented groups being judged differently or more harshly.
How does ADVANCE approach intersectionality?
ADVANCE explicitly notes that barriers and challenges are not the same across disciplines or across groups of women. It calls attention to how gender intersects with factors such as race and ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, foreign-born or foreign-trained status, and faculty appointment type, among other identities and circumstances.
What are the main goals of the ADVANCE program?
The program has three main goals: (1) support systemic approaches that increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers across NSF-supported fields; (2) promote innovative and sustainable models for gender equity that involve the whole academic workforce (including men), rather than placing the burden on women alone; and (3) strengthen the evidence base by producing new knowledge about what works, including research on intersectional experiences in academic career pathways.
Which fields are included under NSF-supported disciplines for ADVANCE?
ADVANCE spans NSF-supported fields, including not only traditional STEM disciplines but also the learning, social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Clinical science faculty are excluded.
What are the three ADVANCE proposal tracks?
ADVANCE proposals are organized into three tracks: Institutional Transformation (IT), Adaptation, and Partnership. All three focus on institutional or systems-level change rather than individual support.
What is the Institutional Transformation (IT) track?
The IT track is for a single non-profit two-year or four-year academic institution seeking comprehensive, institution-wide change across all STEM disciplines. IT projects are expected to propose innovative organizational change strategies and contribute new research on gender equity in STEM academia.
When should an institution choose Adaptation instead of IT?
If a proposal is primarily focused on implementing already-proven approaches without much innovation, it is steered toward the Adaptation track rather than IT. IT is framed as requiring innovative strategies plus a contribution of new research, not just implementation.
What is the Adaptation track?
The Adaptation track supports institutions or STEM organizations implementing evidence-based strategies, ideally drawing on approaches previously developed and tested through ADVANCE. It is positioned as a way to adopt and tailor proven reforms to local context.
Can an institution apply for Adaptation if it has not previously received an ADVANCE IT award?
Yes. A key point highlighted is that Adaptation awards can support a non-profit two-year or four-year institution that has not previously received an ADVANCE IT award to adopt proven reforms and tailor them to its local context.
Can non-academic STEM organizations apply under the Adaptation track?
Yes. The Adaptation track may also fund a STEM organization (not only colleges and universities) implementing systemic change strategies across all STEM, multiple STEM disciplines, or a single discipline, as long as the emphasis remains on organizational change that improves gender equity in academic STEM careers.
What is the Partnership track?
The Partnership track funds collaborations among two or more non-profit academic institutions and/or STEM organizations intended to produce broader regional or national influence. Partnership projects are expected to generate systemic change through coordinated action among partners.
Who can be a partner on a Partnership proposal?
Partners can include combinations of non-profit academic institutions and STEM organizations, and may involve professional societies, industry, non-profits, publishers, policy and research organizations, state higher education systems, and higher education associations, in addition to colleges and universities.
Is there a required focus on sustainability in the Partnership track?
Yes. A defining requirement is that Partnership proposals include a final year devoted specifically to sustainability and/or scaling up the work, along with communication and evaluation, reflecting NSF’s intent for results to persist beyond the grant and be shared widely.
Do all ADVANCE tracks focus on institutional change rather than individual programming?
Yes. Across all tracks, the emphasis is on institutional or systems-level change rather than support to individuals.
What does NSF expect proposals to be grounded in?
Proposals are expected to build on prior ADVANCE investments and the broader gender equity research literature, use evidence-informed strategies, and show awareness that gender inequity is shaped by multiple overlapping factors.
Does ADVANCE support approaches that involve men as well as women?
Yes. One of the program’s core goals is to promote models for gender equity that involve the whole academic workforce, meaning men as well as women, rather than placing the burden for change on women alone.
How does ADVANCE connect to workforce development beyond faculty?
The solicitation frames ADVANCE as workforce development because improving equity for faculty can improve the mentoring and training environment for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars.
What types of institutions does NSF express strong interest in funding through ADVANCE?
NSF signals strong interest in a wide range of non-profit institution types, including community colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, minority-serving institutions (including Tribal Colleges and Universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and others listed), women’s colleges, institutions that primarily serve persons with disabilities, and masters- and doctoral-level institutions.
Why does ADVANCE emphasize different institution types?
The program notes that gender equity barriers and solutions can look different across institutional contexts and that the national STEM academic workforce depends on many types of campuses and organizations.
What is the funding agency and instrument for this opportunity?
The agency is the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the funding instrument is a grant.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this solicitation?
The Funding Opportunity Number listed is 16-594.
What is the maximum award amount mentioned in the opportunity record?
The opportunity record listed an award ceiling of up to $3,000,000.
How many awards were anticipated in that cycle?
The opportunity record anticipated around 26 awards in that cycle.
What is the submission structure for ADVANCE proposals?
The solicitation used a staged submission structure that varied by track. Examples provided include letters of intent for the Adaptation and Partnership tracks, and preliminary proposals for the Institutional Transformation track, followed by full proposals.
Does ADVANCE support projects focused only on a single workshop or isolated program?
The solicitation’s overall message is that lasting progress comes from changing institutional systems rather than isolated programs, so competitive efforts are framed as systemic, evidence-informed, and designed to endure and spread.
Where should someone look for individual student opportunities if ADVANCE does not fund individuals?
The notice points readers seeking individual student opportunities to separate federal STEM opportunity portals for undergraduate and graduate students, rather than ADVANCE.
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