Opportunity Information: Apply for 16 531
Apply for 16 531
- The NSF in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tribal Colleges and Universities Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.050, 47.075, 47.076,.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jan 13, 2016 and posted on Jan 13, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Proposals accepted anytime. (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 $2,500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 45 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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Opportunity Summary:
The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant program designed to strengthen STEM education, research, and outreach at eligible Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions. The program’s central goal is capacity building: helping these institutions expand what they can offer in STEM (broadly defined to include many social and behavioral sciences such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, and statistics, along with the natural sciences and education disciplines), improve instructional quality, and ultimately increase Native participation in STEM degree pathways and careers. TCUP also encourages projects that include clear benefits for veterans, which can be reflected in recruitment, support services, training, or career pathways embedded in the proposed work.
TCUP funding is organized into several project “strands,” each aimed at a different type of need, from large institutional improvements to focused upgrades to individual faculty research. For transformative, institution-level work, the Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI) track supports comprehensive efforts to redesign and strengthen STEM instruction and research capacity. ICE-TI projects are expected to be ambitious and evidence-informed, typically involving the design, implementation, and assessment of improvements that increase the number of STEM students and raise the quality of their preparation. These projects often include developing or adapting innovative teaching models and learning materials, incorporating what is known about how students learn STEM effectively, and ensuring that current disciplinary advances meaningfully reach the undergraduate classroom and lab experience.
For more targeted, shorter-term improvements, Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP) support well-defined goals that can quickly elevate undergraduate STEM education quality. TSIP awards can be used for practical enhancements such as curriculum updates, modernization of laboratory or research equipment, improvements to computing and network capacity for STEM teaching and research, or intentionally integrating traditional knowledge into STEM course content in a systematic way. The idea is to fund improvements that are specific, achievable, and clearly tied to better learning environments and outcomes.
For institutions that are not yet ready to pursue a full implementation-scale award, Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI) provides planning and readiness support, but only for TCUP-eligible institutions that have never received a TCUP implementation-level award. Pre-TI funding can cover foundational steps like assessing current STEM instructional capacity, conducting structured campus and community conversations to build a shared vision for STEM growth, and addressing practical planning needs. Typical allowable costs include staff and faculty release time, travel, stakeholder convenings, and related administrative expenses, all aimed at positioning the institution to compete successfully for larger implementation projects later.
TCUP also funds multi-institution collaborations led by TCUP institutions, recognizing that partnerships can expand access to expertise, field experiences, and degree pathways that might be hard to provide on one campus alone. The PArtnerships for Geoscience Education (PAGE) strand supports collaborations to strengthen geoscience instructional capacity, create or enhance research and internship opportunities, and build clear transition routes for students who want to continue into geoscience degrees. The Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics Education (PADLE) strand plays a similar role for documentary linguistics, including descriptive linguistics, computational methods, and archiving and preservation, with a focus on building instructional capacity and providing students access to essential internships and research experiences while partnering universities help provide academic grounding and smoother transfer or continuation options. Pre-Engineering Education Collaboratives Phase II (PEEC-II) supports studies or education research conducted by institutions with prior active PEEC awards, with an emphasis on capturing, analyzing, and sharing evidence of impact on institutions, faculty, students, and communities.
In addition to institutional and collaborative projects, TCUP includes opportunities that support individual faculty scholarship and research growth. Small Grants for Research (SGR) fund STEM or STEM education faculty at TCUP-eligible institutions to initiate or advance research projects that may involve undergraduate or graduate students. These awards are meant to strengthen a faculty member’s research capability and effectiveness in ways that feed back into improved teaching and research at the home institution, encourage new models and innovations in STEM learning, and deepen understanding of participation and success for diverse groups in STEM through studied practices and interventions. SGR is also positioned as a practical tool for recruiting and retaining highly qualified STEM faculty at TCUP-eligible institutions.
Another specialized option is SEA-PHAGES in TCUs, which supports TCU participation in the Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) curriculum managed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). In this arrangement, HHMI provides the support it normally offers to participating SEA institutions, while NSF TCUP funds critical participation-related needs that are not covered by HHMI. These projects engage faculty and students in a national research effort to discover, isolate, sequence, and analyze mycobacteriophages, and they can serve as a catalyst for building a novel biology curriculum, launching or expanding undergraduate research programs, and providing professional development for faculty.
From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NSF grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 16-531) with proposals accepted on an ongoing basis (no single deadline listed). The maximum award amount listed is $2,500,000, and the opportunity anticipates around 45 awards. The program sits within NSF’s research and development mission and is associated with CFDA numbers 47.041, 47.050, 47.075, and 47.076. Eligibility is limited to TCUP-eligible institutions as defined in the solicitation’s eligibility section, so applicants typically need to confirm their status under the “Additional Eligibility” guidance before investing in proposal development.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - NSF Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP)
What is the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP)?
TCUP is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant program that strengthens STEM education, research, and outreach at eligible Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions. Its central focus is capacity building, meaning it funds efforts that expand what eligible institutions can offer in STEM and improve the quality of STEM teaching and learning.
What is the main goal of TCUP funding?
The main goal is to build institutional capacity in STEM so that participating institutions can improve instructional quality, strengthen research capability, and increase Native participation in STEM degree pathways and careers.
How does TCUP define STEM for this opportunity?
STEM is defined broadly. In addition to natural sciences and education disciplines, it includes many social and behavioral sciences such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, and statistics.
Does TCUP encourage projects that support veterans?
Yes. TCUP encourages projects that include clear benefits for veterans. These benefits can show up in areas like recruitment, support services, training, or career pathways that are built into the proposed project.
How is TCUP funding organized?
Funding is organized into multiple project "strands." Each strand is aimed at a different type of need, ranging from large institution-wide improvements to targeted upgrades and individual faculty research support.
What is the ICE-TI strand and what is it meant to support?
Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI) supports transformative, institution-level work. It is intended for comprehensive efforts to redesign and strengthen STEM instruction and research capacity through ambitious, evidence-informed improvements.
What kinds of activities are typical in ICE-TI projects?
ICE-TI projects typically involve designing, implementing, and assessing improvements that increase the number of STEM students and raise the quality of their preparation. They often include developing or adapting innovative teaching models and learning materials, using what is known about how students learn STEM effectively, and bringing current disciplinary advances into undergraduate classrooms and labs.
What is the TSIP strand and when is it a good fit?
Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP) support shorter-term, well-defined improvements that can quickly raise the quality of undergraduate STEM education. TSIP is a good fit when an institution has specific, achievable goals tied directly to improving learning environments and outcomes.
What types of improvements can TSIP fund?
TSIP can support curriculum updates, modernization of laboratory or research equipment, improvements to computing and network capacity for STEM teaching and research, and systematic integration of traditional knowledge into STEM course content.
What is Pre-TI and who can apply?
Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI) is a planning and readiness option for TCUP-eligible institutions that have never received a TCUP implementation-level award. It is designed for institutions that are not yet ready to pursue a full implementation-scale project.
What can Pre-TI funding be used for?
Pre-TI can support foundational planning steps such as assessing current STEM instructional capacity, holding structured campus and community conversations to build a shared vision for STEM growth, and covering practical planning needs.
What costs are described as typical and allowable under Pre-TI?
Typical allowable costs include staff and faculty release time, travel, stakeholder convenings, and related administrative expenses, as long as they support planning and readiness for competing for larger implementation projects later.
Does TCUP support multi-institution collaborations?
Yes. TCUP funds multi-institution collaborations led by TCUP institutions, recognizing that partnerships can expand access to expertise, field experiences, and degree pathways that may be difficult to offer on a single campus.
What is PAGE and what does it support?
PArtnerships for Geoscience Education (PAGE) supports collaborations to strengthen geoscience instructional capacity, create or enhance research and internship opportunities, and build clear transition routes for students who want to continue into geoscience degrees.
What is PADLE and what does it support?
Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics Education (PADLE) supports collaborations in documentary linguistics, including descriptive linguistics, computational methods, and archiving and preservation. It focuses on building instructional capacity and expanding access to internships and research experiences, while partner universities help provide academic grounding and smoother transfer or continuation options.
What is PEEC-II and who is it intended for?
Pre-Engineering Education Collaboratives Phase II (PEEC-II) supports studies or education research conducted by institutions with prior active PEEC awards. It emphasizes capturing, analyzing, and sharing evidence of impact on institutions, faculty, students, and communities.
Does TCUP offer funding options for individual faculty members?
Yes. TCUP includes opportunities that support individual faculty scholarship and research development, including Small Grants for Research (SGR).
What are Small Grants for Research (SGR)?
SGR awards fund STEM or STEM education faculty at TCUP-eligible institutions to initiate or advance research projects. These projects may involve undergraduate or graduate students and are intended to build faculty research capability in ways that strengthen teaching and research at the home institution.
What goals does SGR emphasize beyond supporting a single research project?
SGR is meant to encourage new models and innovations in STEM learning, deepen understanding of participation and success for diverse groups in STEM through studied practices and interventions, and serve as a practical tool for recruiting and retaining highly qualified STEM faculty at TCUP-eligible institutions.
What is SEA-PHAGES in TCUs under TCUP?
SEA-PHAGES in TCUs supports TCU participation in the Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) curriculum managed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). HHMI provides its standard support for SEA institutions, and NSF TCUP funds participation-related needs not covered by HHMI.
What do SEA-PHAGES projects involve for students and faculty?
These projects engage faculty and students in a national research effort to discover, isolate, sequence, and analyze mycobacteriophages. They can help launch or expand undergraduate research programs, strengthen biology curriculum, and provide professional development for faculty.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this TCUP solicitation?
The Funding Opportunity Number listed is 16-531.
Is this an NSF discretionary grant opportunity?
Yes. The opportunity is described as a discretionary NSF grant opportunity.
Is there a single deadline to apply?
No single deadline is listed. Proposals are accepted on an ongoing basis.
What is the maximum award amount mentioned for this opportunity?
The maximum award amount listed is $2,500,000.
How many awards does the opportunity anticipate?
The opportunity anticipates around 45 awards.
What CFDA numbers are associated with this TCUP opportunity?
The opportunity is associated with CFDA numbers 47.041, 47.050, 47.075, and 47.076.
Who is eligible to apply for TCUP?
Eligibility is limited to TCUP-eligible institutions as defined in the solicitation's eligibility section. Applicants are expected to confirm their status under the "Additional Eligibility" guidance before investing in proposal development.
What is the general recommendation before starting proposal development?
Confirm that the institution qualifies as TCUP-eligible under the solicitation's "Additional Eligibility" guidance, since eligibility is limited and defined within the program materials.
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| Plasma Combined Mass-Flux and Gas Species Sensor For Hypersonic Combustion Monitoring Apply for CRANBAA16 004 Funding Number: CRANBAA16 004 Agency: DOD-ONR-SEA-CRANE Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $5,000 |
| Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Hawaii/Pacific Islands CESU Apply for G16AS00027 Funding Number: G16AS00027 Agency: DOI-USGS1 Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $79,994 |
| Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Californian CESU Apply for G16AS00031 Funding Number: G16AS00031 Agency: DOI-USGS1 Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $50,000 |
| Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Pacific Northwest CESU Apply for G16AS00032 Funding Number: G16AS00032 Agency: DOI-USGS1 Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $50,000 |
| Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU Apply for G16AS00030 Funding Number: G16AS00030 Agency: DOI-USGS1 Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $24,675 |
| Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Californian CESU Apply for G16AS00029 Funding Number: G16AS00029 Agency: DOI-USGS1 Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development Funding Amount: $118,000 |
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