Science and Technology Centers Program

CONTACTS

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Current: 08-580 Solicitation

DUE DATES

Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required)
(due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): September 30, 2008

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): April 30, 2009
Full proposals are by invitation only.

CENTERS LIST

2006 - 2005 - 2002 - 2000 - 1991 (retired) - 1989 (retired) - View All Active Centers

SYNOPSIS

The Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships program enables innovative research and education projects of national importance that require a Center mode of support to achieve the research, education, and knowledge-transfer goals shared by the partners. STCs conduct world-class research in partnerships among academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial organizations, and/or other public/private entities to create new and meaningful knowledge of significant benefit to society.Science and Technology Centers build intellectual and physical infrastructures within and between disciplines, and bring together the creation, integration, and transfer of new knowledge. STCs nurture and foster education by integrating education with research, and by creating bonds between learning and inquiry so that discovery and creativity more fully support the learning process. STCs demonstrate leadership to increase diversity by including all members of society regardless of race, ethnicity or gender in science and engineering in all aspects of the Center's activities. Centers offer the research and engineering community an effective mechanism to undertake long-term scientific and technological research and education activities; to explore better and more effective ways to educate students, and to develop mechanisms to ensure the timely transition of research and education advances made into service in society. STC proposals are encouraged for high quality innovative research projects that undertake important investigations at the interfaces of disciplines, and/or fresh approaches within disciplines. The STC program invests federal funds in areas consistent with the goals of the NSF Strategic Plan to enable the Nation's future through discovery, learning and innovation.To date, a total of four competitions have been held to establish NSF Science and Technology Centers. The first two competitions, one in the late 1980s and one in the early 1990s, led to the establishment of 25 Science and Technology Centers that subsequently graduated from NSF support. A third competition for Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships culminated in 1999 with the National Science Board's approval to award five new Centers. A subsequent fourth competition resulted in an additional six new Centers in late 2002, for a total of 11 Science and Technology Centers, currently.SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

There are several presentations about the STC program on OIA's Presentations page. On November 15, 2005, NSF Director Arden Bement spoke during the orientation meeting for the Class of 2005. His remarks can be viewed here.For information about undergraduate research opportunities at STCs, visit the STC REU site. Further information about the program can be found on the Information and Documents page.