Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology - Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering | 24 562

Opportunity Information: Apply for 24 562

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology - Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering opportunity (CREST-RISE; Funding Opportunity No. 24-562, CFDA 47.076) is a discretionary grant program designed to strengthen the research and graduate education capacity of eligible minority-serving institutions (MSIs). It focuses on building long-term institutional capability by tightly integrating research and education, with a clear emphasis on improving the scale, quality, and outcomes of STEM doctoral training. In practical terms, CREST-RISE is meant to help institutions grow stronger research environments, support faculty and doctoral student success, and increase the number of STEM PhD graduates, particularly students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields.

CREST-RISE sits within the broader CREST portfolio, which also includes CREST Centers and the CREST Postdoctoral Research Program. While the overall CREST program aims to boost MSI research competitiveness and expand participation in advanced STEM training, CREST-RISE specifically targets expansion of institutional research capacity through stronger graduate programs and the successful production of research doctoral students. Projects are expected to contribute to new knowledge and higher research productivity, while also creating conditions that support doctoral persistence and completion, such as stronger mentoring structures, improved research infrastructure, and better alignment between doctoral training and active research programs.

A key feature of the solicitation is that it supports STEM research doctoral programs across all NSF-supported disciplines, while encouraging proposals in nationally significant and fast-growing areas. Examples named in the opportunity include artificial intelligence, data science and analytics, advanced materials, manufacturing, robotics, cybersecurity, plant genetics and agricultural technologies, quantum information science, nanotechnology, semiconductors and microelectronics, and climate change and clean energy. Even when projects fall within these priority areas, proposals are expected to be grounded in the institution's real capacity-building needs and to connect directly to the long-term plans of the participating department(s), as well as the institution's broader strategic plan and mission. The expectation is that the work will not be a one-off activity, but part of a sustained institutional trajectory toward stronger doctoral education and research performance.

The program defines clear outcome-oriented goals. CREST-RISE aims to increase (1) the number of STEM research doctoral programs at eligible MSIs, (2) the number of STEM doctoral graduates from those institutions, especially graduates from underrepresented groups, and (3) the institutional research capacity needed to raise doctoral graduation rates. This framing signals that NSF is looking for proposals with credible, measurable plans for strengthening doctoral pathways, improving student support systems, and building the research culture and infrastructure that enables doctoral students to finish in a timely way and with strong research outputs.

To reach these goals, CREST-RISE is organized into three tracks. The STEM Doctoral Programs Support Initiative (DPSI) track is the core institutional capacity-building component that supports expansion and strengthening of STEM doctoral programs. The Research Advancement and Development (RAD) track is structured as an early-career faculty development mechanism tied to an institution's active DPSI effort, helping build the research trajectory of eligible assistant professors while they mentor doctoral researchers aligned with the DPSI area. The Equipment and Instrumentation (E and I) track supports the acquisition or improvement of research equipment and instrumentation, again linked to the training and research needs of doctoral students supported through an active DPSI award. Across all tracks, the emphasis is on contributions that directly enhance doctoral research training, faculty research effectiveness, and the institutional systems that sustain both.

Eligibility to submit proposals is limited to institutions that meet multiple criteria. Applicants must be MSIs (as defined in the solicitation) and also qualify as Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs). For ERI status, the institution must have less than $50,000,000 in annual research expenditures in three of the last five years, based on the NSF NCSES Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey data. In addition, the institution must offer master's or research doctoral degrees in NSF-supported STEM fields. The MSI definition used here is tied to enrollment: at the time of submission, the institution must enroll at least 50 U.S. resident students (non-international) who are members of minority groups underrepresented among people holding advanced degrees in science and engineering. The solicitation also invites proposals from institutions that meet the same 50-student enrollment threshold and primarily serve students with disabilities. Determinations of eligibility can be supported through IPEDS data from the U.S. Department of Education.

The solicitation also lays out track-specific rules for who may serve as Principal Investigator (PI). For DPSI proposals, the PI must hold a full-time faculty appointment in an NSF-supported STEM discipline at the submitting institution. For RAD proposals, the PI eligibility is more restrictive and targeted to early-career faculty: the PI must be a full-time faculty member at the DPSI institution, have earned their doctoral degree no more than 10 years before submission, be conducting NSF-aligned STEM research that fits the institution's active DPSI project, and mentor (or commit to mentor) research doctoral students in the DPSI subject area. The PI must be an assistant professor (or equivalent), must be untenured and on a tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent appointment, and must not have previously received a RAD award. Tenure-track equivalency requires a continuing appointment expected to last the full five-year RAD period, and a departmental letter must clearly document that the appointment is early-career and equivalent to pre-tenure status. RAD proposals do not allow co-PIs, and faculty at the associate or full professor level (or equivalents), as well as adjunct faculty, are explicitly ineligible to serve as RAD PI. For E and I proposals, the PI must be a full-time faculty member at the requesting institution and must be mentoring DPSI-supported doctoral students tied to the institution's active DPSI award, reinforcing that equipment requests should be directly connected to doctoral training and research needs.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this opportunity is offered by NSF as a grant competition with an award ceiling of $2,000,000. The solicitation indicates an expectation of about nine awards. The original closing date listed is August 2, 2024, and the opportunity was created on March 26, 2024. Overall, CREST-RISE is best understood as a targeted research infrastructure and doctoral education capacity-building program for eligible MSIs that are still growing their research expenditures and doctoral production, with NSF placing strong weight on strategic alignment, measurable doctoral outcomes, and sustainable institutional change.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology - Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-02. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 9 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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