ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (ADVANCE)

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 for STEM faculty 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.

Award amount: Approximately two Institutional Transformation awards up to $3,000,000 for five-year projects are expected to be made under this solicitation. In each year, NSF expects to make: approximately six Adaptation awards up to $1,000,000 for three years; approximately six Partnership awards up to $1,000,000 for three to five years; and approximately six Catalyst awards up to $300K for two years. NSF anticipates that up to three of the six Adaptation projects may qualify for an additional $100,000 for collaborating with an NSF funded graduate education project and up to three of the six Partnerships projects may qualify for an additional $250,000 for collaborating with the NSF INCLUDES National Network.

Application Instructions

Please submit:

1. a one-page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach
2. CV (not NIH format)  of the PI
3. A letter of support from the Dean or Chair. This letter of support signifies that the Dean or Chair have ensured that the nominee and application are likely to be of sufficient quality to be competitive nationally

to research@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Thursday October 3, 2019. A required LOI is due to the 11/1/19, if given the go ahead by the Proposal Review Committee.