National Science Foundation (NSF)

Type 2: M. Van Dyke

While NSF allowed more than one concept outline to be submitted by an institution, UArizona may ultimately only submit one full proposal. Therefore, due to the complexity and scope of this program, RII is Institutionally Coordinating the submission of Concept Outlines to NSF, as well as the invited full proposal.

Full sponsor guidelines

The NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program is a bold new initiative, committed to creating regional-scale, technology-driven innovation ecosystems throughout every region of the United States, accelerating emerging technologies, driving economic growth, addressing key societal challenges, and maintaining national competitiveness.

The NSF Engines program aims to fund regional coalitions of partnering organizations to establish NSF Engines that will catalyze technology and science-based regional innovation ecosystems. Each Engine must focus on addressing specific aspects of a major societal and/or economic challenge that are of significant interest in the Engine’s defined “region of service,” where such a region could range from a metropolitan area (including its adjacent rural regions) to an area spanning parts of several states. The mission of an Engine must be clearly rooted in regional interests and the development of regional talent. The emphasis on “regions” expresses NSF’s aim to stimulate innovation-driven economic growth within a particular region of service. The NSF Engines program is particularly interested in creating new business and economic growth in those regions of America that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past several decades.

NSF will fund Engines to carry out an integrated and comprehensive set of activities spanning use-inspired research, translation-to-practice, entrepreneurship, and workforce development to nurture and accelerate regional industries. Engines must also work to bring together an inclusive and diverse network of partners and stakeholders who will participate in the regional innovation ecosystem. With the goal of advancing emerging industries and creating societal and economic value, NSF Engines will emphasize research that meaningfully engages the consumers of research outcomes in motivating that research as well as in the subsequent prototyping and piloting of research-based solutions (i.e., co-design and co-creation), the translation of research results to practice, entrepreneurship, and direct economic growth.

Funding for this program will prioritize regions across the Nation without well-established innovation ecosystems. Engines in regions of the country where prospective ecosystem members exist, but where innovation activities are only loosely connected, are of particular interest.

Institutionally Coordinated - UArizona HSI Initiatives // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

M. Franco (UArizona HSI Initiatives)
UArizona may submit one application as the lead to HSI-CCC, one to HSI-CERS, and one to HSI-Hub.

This opportunity is Institutionally Coordinated. UArizona HSI Initiatives will be the lead submitter for the university for all proposals for this NSF funding opportunity.

No applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

The NSF ADVANCE program goal is to broaden the implementation of evidence-based systemic change strategies that promote equity for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. 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. UArizona may submit one proposal as the lead organization for a partnership grant. UArizona is not eligible for an IT, adaptation, or catalyst grant because of previous funding for an ADVANCE grant.

UArizona may submit one full proposal to Track 3 only.

Track 3: The Institutional Transformation Projects (ITP) track supports institution-wide structural or systemic changes to enhance undergraduate STEM education at the proposing HSI. The ITP must be grounded in STEM education research and broadening participation research and be designed to make institutional infrastructure and policy changes to support long-term institutional changes that encourage and support faculty in implementing evidence-based practices that enhance student outcomes in STEM at the proposing HSI.

Due to the institutional infrastructure and policy requirements, this opportunity is Institutionally Coordinated. Proposals should be coordinated with HSI Initiatives and RDS. Contact RDS for more information

UARizona may serve as the lead institution on one (1) LSAMP National Coordination Hub proposal or on one (1) Louis Stokes Community Resource Center proposal.

This opportunity is Institutionally Coordinated and the full proposal will be organized by the Director of Societal Impact.

Contact Societal Impact for more information.

Institutionally Coordinated -  Societal Impact// Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

UARizona may serve as the lead institution on one (1) LSAMP National Coordination Hub proposal or on one (1) Louis Stokes Community Resource Center proposal.

This opportunity is Institutionally Coordinated and the full proposal will be organized by the Director of Societal Impact.

Contact Societal Impact for more information.

No applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

The RINGS program (NSF 21-581) is a partnership with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a number of industry partners to enhance both resiliency as well as performance across the various aspects of Next Generation (NextG) communications, networking and computing systems. The goal of this solicitation is to invite the submission of proposals to set up a Virtual Organization (VO) for the RINGS program.

UArizona may submit a maximum of two proposals (e.g. 2 RED Innovation Track or 1 RED A&I Track and 1 RED Two-year Track).

For all tracks, the Principal Investigator must be a department chair/head (or equivalent) to provide leadership for the change process. Due to this requirement, this opportunity is Institutionally Coordinated.

The goal of the RED program is to catalyze revolutionary, not incrementally reformist, changes to the education of the next generation of engineers. Revolutionary means radically, suddenly, or completely new; producing fundamental, structural change; or going outside of or beyond existing norms and principles. The complex problems facing society in the 21st Century, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand changes to the way engineers are educated and the integration of new modes of learning for engineering students

No applicants // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2 

The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. 

S. Fleming
W. Burleson
J. Roveda
H. Hua
M. Barton
M. Van Dyke

June 2022 update: RII/RDS has identified proposal teams who are working on concept outlines. PIs interested in collaborating on a concept outline should please email RDS with questions.

While NSF currently allows more than one concept outline to be submitted by an institution, UArizona may ultimately only submit one full proposal. Therefore, due to the complexity and scope of this program, RII is Institutionally Coordinating the submission of Concept Outlines to NSF, as well as the full proposal once NSF's invitations have been sent out.

Research Development Services hosted an informational webinar about the NSF Regional Innovation Engines solicitation on May 16th that included an overview of the opportunity, a discussion on the internal coordination process, and short introductions to some of the regional innovation partners available for proposing teams. Please Contact RDS for a copy of the recording. Joining Research Development was a panel consisting of Tech Launch Arizona, Tech Parks Arizona, Arizona FORGE, CyVerse, and Government & Community Relations.

Full sponsor guidelines

The NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program is a bold new initiative, committed to creating regional-scale, technology-driven innovation ecosystems throughout every region of the United States, accelerating emerging technologies, driving economic growth, addressing key societal challenges, and maintaining national competitiveness.

The NSF Engines program aims to fund regional coalitions of partnering organizations to establish NSF Engines that will catalyze technology and science-based regional innovation ecosystems. Each Engine must focus on addressing specific aspects of a major societal and/or economic challenge that are of significant interest in the Engine’s defined “region of service,” where such a region could range from a metropolitan area (including its adjacent rural regions) to an area spanning parts of several states. The mission of an Engine must be clearly rooted in regional interests and the development of regional talent. The emphasis on “regions” expresses NSF’s aim to stimulate innovation-driven economic growth within a particular region of service. The NSF Engines program is particularly interested in creating new business and economic growth in those regions of America that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past several decades.

NSF will fund Engines to carry out an integrated and comprehensive set of activities spanning use-inspired research, translation-to-practice, entrepreneurship, and workforce development to nurture and accelerate regional industries. Engines must also work to bring together an inclusive and diverse network of partners and stakeholders who will participate in the regional innovation ecosystem. With the goal of advancing emerging industries and creating societal and economic value, NSF Engines will emphasize research that meaningfully engages the consumers of research outcomes in motivating that research as well as in the subsequent prototyping and piloting of research-based solutions (i.e., co-design and co-creation), the translation of research results to practice, entrepreneurship, and direct economic growth.

Funding for this program will prioritize regions across the Nation without well-established innovation ecosystems. Engines in regions of the country where prospective ecosystem members exist, but where innovation activities are only loosely connected, are of particular interest.

Concept Outline Narrative Components must include (from the solicitation)

The Concept Outline narrative must address each component below, with the following labeled sections: (Concept outlines for Type-1 proposals should only address Sections a-d, below:

• Topic Area: Describe the national and societal significance of the broad topic area that the Engine is aiming to address.
• Region of Service: A brief description of the intended geographical region of service, and the current state of the innovation ecosystem in the region of service (see Appendix A).
• Purpose and Vision of the proposed Engine: The overall purpose and vision of the proposed Engine, which must list specific use-inspired challenge(s) that the Engine will address, as well as the current state of practice and major gaps the Engine will focus on (e.g., scientific and technological innovations, policy, products, services, workforce expertise).
• Regional Importance and Impact: How the proposed region of service is well-positioned to create the Engine, catalyze the associated regional innovation ecosystem, and result in meaningful translational outputs (e.g., products, services, startup companies, tools, and technologies).

Narratives for Type-2 Concept Outlines must also include:

• Partnerships: The envisioned regional innovation ecosystem of partners and stakeholders, clearly identifying (1) existing core partners and their expected contributions and (2) potential additional partners, how such partners would help accomplish the Engine’s vision and core functions, and plans to recruit these partners prior to the submission of the proposal.
• Workforce Development: The future regional workforce needs in the proposed topic area.
• Related Initiatives: How the proposed NSF Engine differs from and/or leverages other existing large-scale efforts in the topic area.