EMpowering BRoader Academic Capacity and Education

The NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) EMpowering BRoader Academic Capacity and Education (EMBRACE) program seeks to support research and educational efforts at "non-R1" institutions, including non-R1 minority serving institutions (MSIs), two-year colleges (2YCs), primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and emerging research and masters level institutions (see Carnegie Classification and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). With this solicitation, the EMBRACE program aims to mitigate multiple barriers faced by faculty members in geosciences and related fields at non-R1 institutions in submitting and obtaining federal funding (e.g., high teaching loads, increased expectations for teaching and mentoring, low or no start-up packages, and limited institutional infrastructure and research support personnel). The EMBRACE program supports two categories of proposals: Seed and Growth. Seed proposals can request up to two years of funding for faculty members in GEO-related disciplines at non-R1 institutions to (1) initiate research and/or education programs at their own institutions; and/or (2) build or catalyze research collaborations or partnerships:

• within the same institution; or
• across peer institutions; or
• with research-intensive institutions; or
• with industry or other non-academic entities; or
• any combination mentioned above.

Growth proposals can request up to four years of funding to enable faculty members at non-R1 institutions to establish independent GEO-related disciplinary research programs. In addition to research, funding may be used to support undergraduate and/or graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, salary (summer, course buyout, sabbatical) and other research related expenses.