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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - NSF AGEP (Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate)

What is the NSF AGEP program?

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program is a discretionary grant opportunity focused on strengthening the pathway from doctoral training to faculty careers for historically underrepresented minorities in STEM and in STEM education research fields. It supports institution-led efforts to redesign and study systems that shape graduate education, postdoctoral training, and faculty advancement.

What is the main purpose of AGEP?

AGEP aims to increase the number of historically underrepresented minority faculty in specific STEM disciplines and STEM education research fields. The program emphasizes persistence and long-term success in the academic workforce by building and testing models that improve career trajectories from doctoral study through faculty roles.

Which communities does AGEP explicitly focus on?

AGEP is explicitly centered on improving outcomes for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders in STEM and STEM education research fields.

Does AGEP fund individual scholarships, fellowships, or direct support to students?

No. AGEP does not make awards to individual students or postdoctoral scholars to fund their education or research. It funds institution-led projects and alliances that transform and study systems and practices in graduate education, postdoctoral training, and faculty advancement.

If I am a student seeking graduate fellowship funding, what does the solicitation suggest?

The solicitation directs students seeking graduate fellowship support to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).

If I am a postdoctoral scholar seeking direct support, what does the solicitation suggest?

The solicitation directs postdoctoral scholars to NSF postdoctoral programs, since AGEP does not provide direct individual awards to postdoctoral scholars.

What kinds of projects does AGEP support?

AGEP supports projects where institutions redesign and study policies, practices, and systems that influence participation and advancement in the STEM academy. Projects are expected to address transitions such as entry into doctoral programs, progress through candidacy, movement into postdoctoral roles, and hiring, promotion, and retention as faculty.

Is AGEP mainly a support-services program?

No. The program is intended to go beyond providing support services. A core expectation is that projects generate knowledge about what changes outcomes and why, including identifying barriers being reduced or removed and positive practices being strengthened.

What is an AGEP Transformation Alliance?

An AGEP Transformation Alliance is a collaborative, research-driven partnership designed to transform how institutions prepare and advance doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty from historically underrepresented groups. These alliances are expected to be strategic, evidence-based, and oriented toward measurable change.

What does AGEP mean by "embedded" social science and education research?

The program expects alliances to include embedded social science and education research to help explain how and why interventions work. This research is used to understand which factors (such as structural barriers, negative climate, or inequitable policies) are being reduced or removed, and which practices (such as effective mentoring systems or transparent advancement criteria) are being strengthened.

What types of barriers and issues are projects expected to examine?

Proposed projects are expected to examine underlying issues, policies, and practices that shape participation and advancement in the STEM academy, including barriers during key transitions (doctoral entry, candidacy progress, postdoctoral movement, and faculty hiring/promotion/retention). Examples mentioned include structural barriers, negative climate, and inequitable policies.

What types of positive practices does the solicitation highlight?

Examples of positive practices highlighted include effective mentoring systems, transparent advancement criteria, inclusive professional development, and improved hiring and retention practices.

Does AGEP prefer brand-new approaches, or can applicants replicate existing models?

NSF encourages proposals that introduce genuinely new approaches, as well as proposals that replicate or adapt existing evidence-based alliance models in meaningfully different contexts, such as new disciplines, different types of institutions, or new participant cohorts.

Are partnerships beyond universities allowed or encouraged?

Yes. AGEP strongly encourages broad, cross-sector collaboration. Alliances may include multiple academic partners and can also involve the private sector, non-governmental organizations, professional societies, government agencies, national laboratories, field stations, teaching and learning centers, and informal science organizations, as long as those partnerships contribute to the project goals in STEM and/or STEM education research.

Are Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) specifically encouraged to participate?

Yes. The program specifically welcomes leadership from, and partnerships with, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), institutions with high Hispanic enrollment, tribal colleges and universities, and institutions serving Native Hawaiian, Native Pacific Islander, and/or Alaska Native communities.

What does the solicitation say about sustainability and long-term institutional change?

The description emphasizes not only individual success but also institutional systems that can sustain equitable outcomes over time, using alliances and capacity-building strategies to create measurable change in the academic workforce pathway.

Who is eligible to apply, based on the provided record?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open broadly to entity types), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications that may appear in the full NSF solicitation.

What is the funding opportunity number listed for this posting?

The funding opportunity number shown is 16-552.

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity is associated with CFDA number 47.076.

What is the award type and activity category described?

This opportunity is offered by NSF as a grant under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category.

What is the maximum award amount mentioned in the posting?

The award ceiling listed in the provided record is $2,000,000.

What were the posting date and closing date in the provided record?

The posting date is March 12, 2016, and the original and current closing date shown is June 14, 2016.

Is the specific competition described current?

The excerpt reflects a historical competition (with a 2016 closing date), though it also notes that the AGEP program has continued in various forms over time under NSF solicitations.

If an investigator wants to support trainees from historically underrepresented minority groups, what does the solicitation recommend?

Investigators are encouraged to consult with their NSF program officer about appropriate funding mechanisms, including other opportunities within NSF directorates that align with broadening participation goals.