Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Partnerships for Research and Education in Physics (PREP) NSF 21-610

What institutions are eligible to submit proposals to this program?

From the solicitation: PREP Proposals may only be submitted by minority-serving Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) in the United States that award degrees in Physics and that have aggregated undergraduate enrollments (based on total student enrollment) of 50% or more of members of groups underrepresented among those holding advanced degrees in science and engineering fields: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders. Eligibility as a minority-serving institution may be determined by reference to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/). Institutions of higher education that primarily serve populations of students with disabilities are also eligible to submit PREP proposals (https://www.nsf.gov/od/broadeningparticipation/nsf_frameworkforaction_0808.pdf).

How do I use the given website to check my institution' eligibility for the PREP program?

1. Go to the IPEDS website: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
2. Click "Find your college" then "Search for a College" or go directly to the College Navigator: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
3. Type in the name of your institution
4. Click the "Enrollment" button
5. Add the percentage of these groups: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders. If the percentage adds up to 50% or more, your institution is eligible for the PREP program.

My institution has been classified as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Are we eligible?

It depends. The Department of Education definition of a Hispanic Serving Institution is that undergraduate students who identify as Hispanic make up at least 25 percent of total enrollment. The PREP solicitation requires that 50% of undergraduates identify as Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders. An institution that has been designated a Hispanic Serving Institution by the Department of Education may or may not fit the more detailed PREP definition of an MSI.

The solicitation states that each PREP proposal must be submitted in partnership with one or more Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) and that a co-PI must be identified who is a Director of one of the Physics Frontiers Centers. How do we find the right Physics Frontier Center partner?

Finding a partner should be a mutual process between the MSI and the PFC. The partnership should be based on congruent intellectual interests between the MSI and the PFC, so the first step would be to take a close look at the research strengths of the MSI and how they match up with the research topics of the PFCs. That can start a conversation between the potential partners about next steps. Please contact the PFC(s) early in this process. NSF should not be involved in these conversations.