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ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions  (ADVANCE) N NSF Wide Programs

FAQs for ADVANCE Solicitation NSF 20-554 and ADVANCE Program Proposal Preparation Webinars to be announced

Frequently Asked Questions for ADVANCE solicitation NSF 20-554 can now be downloaded.

The ADVANCE program will schedule webinars on proposal preparation for ADVANCE solicitation NSF 20-554 - dates to be posted here. [A recorded presentation for the previous solicitation is available here - this may be helpful to those thinking about applying and wanting to know a little more - please note that the NSF 20-554 solicitation guidelines apply to new submissions so please review the solicitation thoroughly.]

CONTACTS

Name	Email	Phone	Room
Jessie  DeAro	ADVANCE@nsf.gov	(703) 292-5350
Erika  T. Camacho	ADVANCE@nsf.gov	(703) 292-2834

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Solicitation  20-554

DUE DATES

Letter of Intent Deadline Date

    August 3, 2020

    First Monday in August, Annually Thereafter

        Letters of Intent are only required for Adaptation and Partnership tracks. Submitting a letter of intent automatically allows you to submit a full proposal. Work on the full proposal should have started well before the letter of intent deadline.

Full Proposal Target Date

    August 7, 2020

    First Friday in August, Annually Thereafter

        Catalyst proposals – Catalyst proposals are accepted before and after the target date. Please contact the program office before submitting a proposal to discuss timing for submission.

    November 4, 2020

    First Wednesday in November, Annually Thereafter

        Partnership and Adaptation full proposal deadline - if you submitted a letter of intent then you can submit the full proposal. Work on the full proposal should have started well before the letter of intent deadline.

ADVANCE Tracks with set deadlines (all 5pm submitter’s local time)
Adaptation	Letter of Intent	August 3, 2020 and first Monday in August annually thereafter
	Full proposal	November 4, 2020 and first Wednesday in November annually thereafter
Partnership	Letter of Intent	August 3, 2020 and first Monday in August annually thereafter
	Full proposal	November 4, 2020 and first Wednesday in November annually thereafter

 

ADVANCE Tracks with flexible deadlines
Catalyst	The solicitation indicates that proposals are accepted before and after the target date.
IT-Preliminary	The solicitation indicates that proposals are accepted before and after the target date.
Institutional Transformation (IT)	The solicitation indicates that IT proposals are accepted before and after the target date.  Note that IT full proposals can only be  submitted after submission and review of an IT-Preliminary proposal.

SYNOPSIS

The NSF ADVANCE program contributes to the National Science Foundation's goal of a more diverse and capable science and engineering workforce.¹ In this solicitation, the NSF ADVANCE program seeks to build on prior NSF ADVANCE work and other research and literature concerning gender, racial, and ethnic equity. The NSF ADVANCE program goal is to broaden the implementation of evidence-based systemic change strategies that promote equity for STEM² faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. The NSF ADVANCE program provides grants to enhance the systemic factors that support equity and inclusion and to mitigate the systemic factors that create inequities in the academic profession and workplaces. Systemic (or organizational) inequities may exist in areas such as policy and practice as well as in organizational culture and climate. For example, practices in academic departments that result in the inequitable allocation of service or teaching assignments may impede research productivity, delay advancement, and create a culture of differential treatment and rewards. Similarly, policies and procedures that do not mitigate implicit bias in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions could lead to women and racial and ethnic minorities being evaluated less favorably, perpetuating historical under-participation in STEM academic careers and contributing to an academic climate that is not inclusive.

All NSF ADVANCE proposals are expected to use intersectional approaches in the design of systemic change strategies in recognition that gender, race and ethnicity do not exist in isolation from each other and from other categories of social identity. The solicitation includes four funding tracks:  Institutional Transformation (IT), Adaptation, Partnership, and Catalyst, in support of the NSF ADVANCE program goal to broaden the implementation of systemic strategies that promote equity for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession.

• The Institutional Transformation (IT) track is designed to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative systemic change strategies that promote gender equity for STEM faculty within an institution of higher education.
• The Adaptation track is designed to support the work to adapt, implement, and evaluate evidence-based systemic change strategies that have been shown to promote gender equity for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. Adaptation projects can either: 1) support the adaptation of evidence-based systemic change strategies to promote equity for STEM faculty within an institution of higher education; or 2) facilitate national or regional STEM disciplinary transformation by adapting evidence-based systemic change strategies to non-profit, non-academic organizations.
• The Partnership track is designed to support the work to facilitate the broader adaptation of gender equity and systemic change strategies. Partnership projects are expected to result in national or regional transformation in STEM academic workplaces and the academic profession and demonstrate significant reach. Partnership projects can focus on the transformation of institutions and organizations and/or the transformation within one or more STEM disciplines.
• The Catalyst track is designed to broaden the types of IHEs that are able to undertake data collection and institutional self-assessment work to identify systemic gender inequities impacting their STEM faculty so that these can be addressed by the institution.

Please note that NSF ADVANCE does not provide fellowships, research, or travel grants to individual students, postdoctoral researchers, or faculty to pursue STEM degrees or research.  Undergraduate STEM opportunities can be found at stemundergrads.science.gov and graduate STEM opportunities at stemgradstudents.science.gov.

RELATED PROGRAMS

• EHR Core Research

RELATED URLS

• ADVANCE FAQs for NSF 20-554
• Summary of Past ADVANCE Awards
• StratEGIC Toolkit
• NSF Career-Life-Balance Initiatives
• NSF-Wide Advance Program Page
• ADVANCE Program Brochure (NSF 17-70)

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

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