December 27, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to encourage nationally transformative ideas and scalable models to strengthen the Nation’s research enterprise, particularly at emerging research and minority-serving institutions. Broadly defined, the research enterprise includes human capital, practices and processes related to research development, research administration, technology transfer and commercialization, corporate relation/public-private partnerships, research integrity, compliance and security, research policy, student research training, and research leadership.

In the past several decades, the complexity of managing externally funded activities has increased significantly. The recent pandemic has exacerbated this issue through increased attrition of research enterprise professionals and additional budget constraints. Insufficient resources hinder institutional ability to develop and manage externally funded projects, reducing the opportunity to fully realize the outcomes from creativity present in all the Nation’s institutions of higher education and their partners. Beginning in FY2023, GRANTED, a new NSF-wide initiative, will seek to address these issues.

Through this DCL, NSF invites requests to fund conferences, symposia, and workshops (hereafter referred to as conferences) centered around one or more of the three primary themes of GRANTED: enhancing practices and processes within the research enterprise, strengthening the research enterprise workforce, and partnering with national and regional professional societies to translate effective practices into diverse institutional and organizational contexts. The proposed conferences should bring together a diverse array of stakeholders with the goal to convene, build, and energize communities to help shape future GRANTED funding opportunities and be better prepared to submit ambitious proposals in response to those calls. Proposals that focus on enhancing research support infrastructure at minority-serving institutions and/or emerging research institutions are strongly encouraged.

Proposal Preparation and Submission

Proposals for conferences must be prepared and submitted in accordance with the guidance for Conference Proposals specified in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Chapter II and must be submitted through Research.gov. Proposers should select the current PAPPG as the funding opportunity and direct proposals to the GRANTED program in the Office of Integrative Activities (OIA) in the Office of the Director (OD). Conferences may be virtual or in-person or contain elements of both. However, for in-person conferences, we encourage a virtual option for those who cannot travel.

Proposals must not request more than $100,000 in NSF support. The costs that may be included in budgets are described in Chapter II of the PAPPG. Proposals pursuant to this DCL are welcome through March 15th, 2023, but earlier submissions are encouraged. To ensure a geographically broad portfolio, institutions and organizations located in EPSCoR jurisdictions are particularly encouraged to apply.

Inquiries about this DCL and questions about submission of proposals should be directed to GRANTED@nsf.gov.

Sincerely,

Alicia J. Knoedler, Head,
Office of Integrative Activities (OIA)

References:
PAPPG: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pappg