Do you have a child who is interested in our environment and wants to work in a biological field? Does their school participate in the the National Science Foundation (NSF) research assistantship program? Whether or not your school participates, here’s a program you might like to follow-up on. NSF has recently issued its “Dear Colleague Letter” regarding research assistantships for high school students (RAHSS). This is a funding program intended to broaden participation in the biological sciences.
This year there is an important change with respect to deadline proposals. Here it is in a nutshell:
The Directorate of Biological Sciences (BIO) is notifying members of the research community of important changes to the core program solicitations effective in calendar year 2018. You are strongly encouraged to read the Dear Colleague Letter and the Frequently Asked Questions for complete details and contact your program officer for specific questions.
In order to promote interdisciplinary research that crosses biological scales and traverses current divisional boundaries, BIO will implement a “no-deadline,” full-proposal mechanism for receiving and reviewing proposals submitted to core programs in theDivision of Environmental Biology (DEB), the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS), the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), and to the programs in the Research Resources Cluster of the Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI).
The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) will consider requests that:
- Foster interest in the pursuit of studies in the Biological Sciences; and
- Broaden participation of high school students, particularly those who are underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, and women in sub-disciplines where they are underrepresented.
See Dear Colleague Letter for more details.
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, its budget is $7.8 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.
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