Brief Description:

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The goal of the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program is to invest in educational activities that enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. To this end, this funding opportunity announcement encourages the development of innovative educational activities for pre-kindergarten to grade 12, teachers and students from underserved communities with a focus on courses for skills development, research experiences, mentoring activities, curriculum or methods development or informal science education exhibits, and outreach activities.

Description:

Courses for Skills Development
- Professional Development activities for P-12 Teachers that will enhance their pedagogical skills and STEM content knowledge.

Research Experiences
- Research experiences for P-12 Teachers and students that will provide hands-on exposure to training in research methods and concepts that are not available through conventional Teacher training or classroom activities.

Mentoring Activities
- Programs that provide Mentors and Near-Peer role models, in terms of age, gender and ethnicity for P-12 students.

Curriculum or Methods Development
- Innovative P-12 curricula that will increase student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) topics, understanding of the scientific research process and motivation to pursue careers in basic and medical research.
- Veterinarian-based P-12 projects or ISE exhibits that will encourage students to consider careers in veterinary medicine and to educate students, Teachers, and the community on the need for, and the ethical use of, animals in research.Curriculum or Methods Development activities for P-12 Teachers that provide instruction in novel approaches to STEM curriculum that challenge the current knowledge base of pedagogy and STEM content.
- Game-based projects where scientists partner with educators and game developers to create digital game-based learning resources for P-12 students, Teachers and the public solve significant STEM and health-related challenges such as the incidence of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, the spread of a new flu strain, or the impact of environmental pollution on community health.
- Innovative and rigorous evaluation tools to assess the effectiveness of P-12 projects or ISE exhibits.

Outreach
- Collaborations with the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA), Institutional Development Awards (IDeA), Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) or STEM programs at other government agencies, e.g., Department of Education (ED), Department of Defense (DOD), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA).
- Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) projects on important health prevention issues such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, e.g., non-clinical health fair format student and teacher-driven projects that bring information on food choices, exercise and health literacy to the community.
- Public service announcements, documentaries, films, radio, TV and other media-based health literacy projects. Topics may include: lifestyle and health correlations; chronic diseases, emerging infectious disease, NIH-funded research, regenerative medicine or the clinical trials process.
- Science center and museum-based exhibits, traveling exhibits and public outreach activities, e.g., Science Cafes and Community Health Fairs, that will educate students, Teachers and the community on health-related topics,

Proposed projects must focus on topics related to NIH-funded research.

Direct costs are limited to $250,000 annually. F&A will be budgeted and reimbursed at a rate of 8 percent of modified total direct costs, exclusive of tuition and fees, health insurance (when awarded as part of tuition and fees), expenditures for equipment, and consortia in excess of $25,000.

Application Information:

This is a limited submission funding opportunity and the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and the University-area (Cambridge schools) may each put forward one proposal. To determine if an internal competition is necessary, any interested applicants from the University-area must submit a very brief statement of interest by Monday, April 6, 2015 by 5:00PM using the apply button at the top right corner of this page. Applicants will be asked for contact information, title of the proposed project, and a list of collaborators.

If more than one notice of intent is received, an internal competition will be conducted and applicants will be asked to submit additional materials.

Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health will each have a separate selection process to choose nominees for this award.

Eligibility Criteria:

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. The PD/PI should be an established investigator in the scientific area in which the application is targeted and capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed program. The PD/PI will be expected to monitor and assess the program and submit all documents and reports as required.

Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Erin Hale at cromack@fas.harvard.edu

Search Filters:

Institution

Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Graduate School of Education
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Wyss Institute

Position

Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Professor
Other Academic/Research Appointment

Type of Competition

Limited Submission

Discipline

Basic Science
Clinical Science
Engineering
Life Science
Population Science
Multidisciplinary
Physical Science
Social/Behavioral Science
Translational Science

Type of Award

Research
STEM Education