Grant Workshops and Federal Funding Sources

by Mary Cortina

NIH and NSF Regional Workshops

The National Institutes of Health will conduct its regional grant writing seminar at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, on Wednesday, February 25th. Adelphi faculty have been invited to attend, and the workshop is free of charge. If you have not already received the workshop brochure, feel free to contact me (X3259) for more information.

The National Science Foundation will be holding its regional two-day seminar at Columbia University on March 15-16 (flyers will be sent to you interoffice mail). The cost for attendance is $250, but the Provost's Office will subsidize this fee. If you are interested in attending you have to register with Columbia and call me at ext. 3259.

Federal Funding Sources

U.S. Department of Education
Website: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

As to be expected, the focus is on outcomes and accountability. Many programs did not offer new competitions for fiscal year 2003 but used their funds to continue to support existing grants.

In 2002, President Bush signed into law the Education Sciences Reform Act which created the Institute of Education Sciences within the Department of Education. The Institute replaced the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) and reaffirmed the Department's commitment to rigorous educational research and evidence-based practice. The Institute has a number of research grant competitions which focus on cognition and student learning, teacher quality, and effective mathematics and reading programs.

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) provides research, demonstration, technical assistance and dissemination, personnel development, and parent-training and information grants. As of this date, OSEP has still not announced its funding opportunities for this fiscal year.

The Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) is responsible for promoting policy and programs that provide high quality education for English Language Learners. So far OELA has announced one grant competition, the National Professional Development Program, which calls for professional development for teachers of English Language Learners to improve the academic achievement of these students.

National Institutes of Health
Website: http://www.nih.gov/

Remember the standard receipt dates for submission of research proposals are February 1st, June 1st, and October 1st. The due dates for the individual predoctoral, doctoral and postdoctoral fellowship programs which provide tuition and stipends to individual students enrolled in a Ph.D. program are April 5, August 5, and December 5th. In addition, there are Institutional Training Grants for institutions to develop or enhance research training opportunities for their students. The purpose of the fellowship programs is to help ensure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles in biomedical and behavioral research. Each Institute in NIH has somewhat different requirements for these programs.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA)
Website: http://www.samhsa.gov/

SAMSHA was created in 1992, and is separate from the NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services. Its focus is on prevention, treatment, rehabilitation services for people with or at risk of addictive and/or mental disorders. Program announcements fall into the following areas: 1. services - implementation of innovative services that address service gaps in substance abuse and mental health; 2. infrastructure - which supports system change but not services; and 3. best practices planning and implementation - assists communities and providers to effectively meet local needs and implement/adapt and pilot-test best practices.

Centers for Disease Control
Website: http://www.cdc.gov/

The Centers for Disease Control has a number of funding areas, which include AIDS/HIV, sexually transmitted disease, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, environmental health, injury and violence prevention, and prevention research.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Website: http://www.hrsa.gov/

HRSA has a number of training grants available for students in the health professions, particularly in nursing, but may also include social work and psychology. The following grant applications are due in March and April.

The National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program provides tuition and a stipend to full-time students of medicine, dentistry, family nurse practitioner, nurse midwifery and physician assistant programs.

The Nursing Scholarship Program provides scholarships to part-time and full-time nursing students. Preference is given to those students with the greatest financial needs.

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Website: http://www.neh.gov/

Faculty Humanities Workshops (replaces Focus grants). This new grant program supports local and regional professional development programs for K-12 teachers and faculty. Additional information from NEH is pending, but it will probably have a mid-April deadline.

Summer Seminars and Institutes support four-to-six week summer seminars and institutes in the humanities for either school teachers or college and university faculty. The deadline to apply to host a seminar or institute in summer 2005 is March 1st. The deadline to apply to attend a seminar or institute in summer 2004 is also March 1st.

Fellowships support the pursuit of advanced research in the humanities that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of the humanities. Recipients usually produce scholarly articles, monographs on specialized subjects, books on broad topics, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly tools. The deadline is May 1st.

Landmarks of American History: Workshops for Teachers is a grant program for a series of one-week residence-based workshops for K-12 educators that use historic sites to address central themes and issues in American history. Workshops should be academically rigorous and involve the participation of leading scholars--either as lecturers or seminar leaders. The deadline is August 15th.

Summer Stipends - applicants will receive an outright grant of $5,000 for two consecutive months of full-time research and writing. The deadline is October 1st.
Grants for Teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development support projects that improve specific areas of humanities education through the development of new or revised curricula and instructional and learning materials. Projects are intended to serve as national models of excellence in humanities education. Projects help schools, colleges, and universities develop (or revise) and implement significant humanities programs, develop and apply technologies, or provide materials and tools to ensure future teachers acquire advanced knowledge and understanding of the humanities. The deadline is mid-October.
Collaborative Research Grants support original research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars or research coordinated by an individual scholar that because of its scope or complexity requires additional staff and resources beyond the individual's salary. Eligible projects include research that significantly adds to knowledge and understanding in the humanities; archaeology projects that interpret and communicate the results of archaeological fieldwork; translations into English of works that provide insight into the history, literature, philosophy, and artistic achievements of other cultures; research that uses the knowledge, methods, and perspectives of the humanities to enhance understanding of science, technology, and medicine; and conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit ongoing research. These grants support full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years, and has a November deadline.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Website: http://arts.endow.gov/

Is the largest annual funder of the arts, supporting arts and arts education programs. Their annual competition for dance, music and media arts projects has a March 15th deadline. These grants support the commission and premiere of new works, festivals, and presentations. Applications for touring and performances that emphasize outreach to underserved communities are due in August.

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Website: http://www.nsf.gov/home/programs/recent.cfm

NSF celebrated its fiftieth anniversary as an independent agency in 2000, and its most recent budget request of $5.745 billion represents an increase of almost 5% over the 2004 appropriations. NSF programs include research and training opportunities in the biological sciences, computer and information systems, engineering, education, math and the physical sciences, as well as the social, economic and behavioral sciences. Over the past three years, NSF has had a number of initiatives focused on increasing the numbers of highly trained and skilled mathematics and science teachers, increasing the number of undergraduates with math and science degrees, and assisting math and science teachers with professional development activities.

As always, if you are interested in any of these grant opportunities, feel free to call me (X3259) or stop by the office. If you are interested in having specific workshops or speakers, again, just let me know.