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FAQs: National STEM Education Distributed Learning (NSF 10-545)

What was the National STEM Education Distributed Learning opportunity (NSF 10-545)?

NSF 10-545 was a National Science Foundation discretionary grant program intended to strengthen and expand the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) as a nationwide, distributed network of STEM learning environments, digital resources, and supporting services.

What was the central goal of NSF 10-545?

The program aimed to improve STEM education at all levels by connecting educators, learners, and content providers to high-quality, networked digital materials and tools, while building partnerships and infrastructure to keep that ecosystem useful, discoverable, and sustainable over time.

How was the program organized?

The opportunity was organized into four main tracks: Pathways, Pathways II, Services, and Targeted Research. Each track addressed a different need within the broader NSDL ecosystem.

What was the Pathways track intended to support?

Pathways focused on major communities of learners and emphasized stewardship of the content and services those communities rely on. Projects were expected to curate, organize, and maintain collections and community-specific supports to keep them relevant and widely used.

What was the difference between Pathways and Pathways II?

Pathways II was described as a next-stage or scaling track. Projects funded under Pathways II were expected to move beyond initial Pathways stewardship accomplishments and expand reach, increase stability, and strengthen long-term viability of an existing Pathways effort.

What kinds of work did the Services track fund?

The Services track targeted improvements to shared capabilities of the NSDL network, supporting end users and organizations that contribute collections. Projects were expected to enhance NSDL impact, efficiency, and overall value through services such as tools for discovery, access, interoperability, collection management, and other functions that make distributed digital resources more usable.

What was the focus of the Targeted Research track?

Targeted Research funded studies investigating the educational impact of networked digital resources. The intent was to generate evidence about what works, for whom, and under what conditions.

What was the NSDL Resource Center and what role did it play?

The NSDL Resource Center was positioned as a cross-portfolio collaboration hub. It was expected to help projects coordinate, develop strategic partnerships (including partnerships with non-academic entities), coordinate thematic research and evaluation tied to program goals, synthesize findings across projects, and disseminate lessons learned and accomplishments from the overall NSDL program.

What was NSDL Technical Network Services (TNS)?

The TNS project was responsible for operating the NSDL technical infrastructure and NSDL.org. It provided technical support for NSDL tools and services, supported collections management, assisted projects with contributing resources and collections into NSDL, and engaged the community to identify priorities for future service development.

Were both large and small grants available under this opportunity?

Yes. For FY2010, NSF planned to accept proposals for large grants in the Pathways track, Pathways II, specific Services subtracks, and Targeted Research. The program also offered small grants in all tracks.

What were small grants meant to do in this program?

Small grants were framed as a way to extend or enhance results from existing services, collections, or targeted research efforts. They were intended to broaden the audience served by NSDL, improve user-facing capabilities, or quickly explore focused, technology-intensive topics with immediate applicability to NSDL collections, services, and network development.

Did NSF encourage new organizations to apply?

Yes. NSF explicitly encouraged small grant proposals from organizations new to NSDL, especially when the proposals would form partnerships with existing Pathways activities, reflecting an emphasis on growth through collaboration rather than duplicative efforts.

What was the Funding Opportunity Number and the CFDA listing for this program?

The Funding Opportunity Number was 10-545. The CFDA listing was 47.076 (Education and Human Resources).

How many awards and how much total funding were anticipated?

The opportunity anticipated approximately 37 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $10,750,000.

What was the award size range for NSF 10-545?

Individual awards ranged from $150,000 to $2,550,000.

Was cost sharing or matching required?

No. The opportunity stated that there was no cost-sharing or matching requirement.

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any clarifications in the full solicitation text.

When was the opportunity posted and what were the key deadlines?

The opportunity was posted March 1, 2010. The letter of intent was optional and due April 24, 2010. Full proposals were due May 26, 2010 by 5 p.m. local time.

Was a letter of intent required?

No. The letter of intent was described as optional, with a due date of April 24, 2010.

Is this funding opportunity still open?

No. The listing is archived. It was archived on July 28, 2014.

Where was the original solicitation identified?

The original solicitation was identified as NSF Publication 10-545.

Where were applicants directed for access or submission issues?

Applicants were directed to NSF Grants.gov support for access or submission issues.

What kinds of outcomes was the overall NSDL program trying to support?

Based on the solicitation summary, the program aimed to keep NSDL resources and services discoverable and sustainable, strengthen partnerships and infrastructure, improve access to high-quality digital STEM learning materials, and build evidence about the educational impact of networked digital resources.

How did the different tracks fit together within the NSDL ecosystem?

Pathways and Pathways II focused on community-centered stewardship and scaling of content and supports; Services focused on shared network capabilities like discovery and interoperability; Targeted Research focused on evaluating educational impact. The Resource Center and TNS were described as NSDL-wide entities supporting coordination, synthesis, dissemination, and technical infrastructure across projects.