Discovery Research K 12 | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Discovery Research K-12 (DR K12) program is a discretionary grant opportunity focused on improving preK-12 STEM teaching and learning in meaningful, research-based ways. At its core, DR K12 funds projects that start with a clear research question or testable hypothesis about how students learn STEM concepts and how teachers can most effectively support that learning. Rather than funding STEM instruction in a purely programmatic or service-delivery sense, the program emphasizes building and studying evidence: applicants are expected to develop, adapt, implement, or rigorously study innovative resources, instructional models, professional learning approaches, or technologies, and then demonstrate whether they work, how they work, for whom they work, and why they produce the outcomes they do.

A central goal of the program is to enable significant advances in both student and teacher learning across STEM disciplines. The intended users of the resulting work are broad: students and teachers are the immediate beneficiaries, but DR K12 also highlights the value of outputs that can inform decision-making by policymakers and education leaders. Projects are expected to be grounded in prior research and to contribute new knowledge to the field, not just local improvements. The solicitation also signals interest in work that stretches beyond traditional boundaries of schools and disciplines, encouraging designs that integrate across STEM fields or connect learning to contexts outside standard classroom settings.

DR K12 is designed to accommodate a range of needs and time horizons. It welcomes proposals that address urgent and current challenges in preK-12 STEM education as well as projects that anticipate future opportunities and constraints. In particular, NSF encourages applicants to challenge existing assumptions about teaching and learning, to think ahead about what learners may need in the next 10 to 15 years, and to propose novel ways of reaching students and teachers. This future-oriented angle suggests the program is open to emerging technologies, new learning environments, and evolving conceptions of STEM literacy, as long as the work is anchored in a strong research and evaluation plan.

The program supports multiple project types, reflecting different stages of evidence-building and knowledge development. DR K12 accepts research and development projects (where teams create and test new resources or models), exploratory projects (often used to probe promising ideas, refine hypotheses, or establish feasibility), and synthesis projects (which integrate and analyze existing research to generate clearer conclusions or identify gaps). It also funds conferences and workshops that align with DR K12 goals, which can help build research communities, set shared agendas, or accelerate progress around key problems in STEM education.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, this opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 08-609, NSF Publication 08-609) was posted on March 4, 2009, with proposal deadlines listed as January 8, 2009 and January 7, 2010, and a final closing date of January 7, 2010; it was archived on March 5, 2010. NSF anticipated about 70 awards with an estimated total funding amount of $50,000,000. The funding instrument is a grant, categorized under science and technology and other research and development. There is no cost-sharing or matching requirement listed. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any specific clarifications that may have been provided in the full solicitation text.

For access and submission logistics, the announcement points applicants to NSF/Grants.gov support (grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov) for technical difficulties obtaining the full announcement or navigating the posting. Overall, DR K12 is best understood as a research-driven STEM education program: it prioritizes innovation plus evidence, with the expectation that funded work will produce both practical tools and credible findings that can improve preK-12 STEM learning at scale and over time.

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