Office of Research, UC Riverside
Search Funding

Program TitleNSF 20-554: ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (ADVANCE)- Adaption and Partnership Tracks
Program WebsiteLink
AgencyNSF
Number of Submissions Allowed1
Internal UCR Deadline6/5/2024
Intent Deadline8/5/2024
Agency Final Deadline11/6/2024
The NSF ADVANCE program contributes to
the National Science Foundation's goal of a more diverse and capable
science and engineering workforce. 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 STEM 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 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 in academic workplaces and the academic profession.


  • The Institutional Transformation (IT) track is designed to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative systemic change strategies that promote gender equity for STEM faculty within an institution of higher education.
  • The Adaptation track is designed to
    support the work to adapt, implement, and evaluate evidence-based
    systemic change strategies that have been shown to promote gender equity
    for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. Adaptation
    projects can either: 1) support the adaptation of evidence-based
    systemic change strategies to promote equity for STEM faculty within an
    institution of higher education; or 2) facilitate national or regional
    STEM disciplinary transformation by adapting evidence-based systemic
    change strategies to non-profit, non-academic organizations.
  • 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.
  • The Catalyst track is designed to
    broaden the types of IHEs that are able to undertake data collection and
    institutional self-assessment work to identify systemic gender
    inequities impacting their STEM faculty so that these can be addressed
    by the institution. [Note: UCR is not eligible for a Catalyst grant.]
Letters of Intent are only required for Adaptation and Partnership tracks. (Due date: 8/5/2024)
Full Proposal deadline: Partnership and Adaptation full proposal deadline - if you submitted a
letter of intent then you can submit the full proposal. Work on the full
proposal should have started well before the letter of intent deadline. (Due date: 11/6/2024)

Preliminary proposal Target Date - preliminary proposals are only
required for institutions of higher education that want to submit a full
Institutional Transformation proposal. IT-preliminary proposals are
accepted before and after the target date. (Due date: 4/25/2024)
Full Proposal Target Dates:
Institutional Transformation proposals - only IHEs encouraged by NSF
after review of an IT-Preliminary proposal should submit a full IT
proposal – IT proposals are accepted before and after the target date. (Due date: 10/3/2024)

Anticipated Funding:

In each year, NSF expects to make approximately:


  • six Adaptation awards up to $1,000,000 for three-year long projects
  • six Partnership awards up to $1,000,000 for up to five-year long projects
  • two Institutional Transformational awards up to $3M for 5 years

NSF anticipates that two to four of the twelve Adaptation and Partnerships
projects may qualify for an additional $250,000 for collaborating with a
project initiated with NSF funding as described in the project
description. Additionally, in FY 2021, the program anticipates making
up to two Institutional Transformation awards for up to $3,000,000 for five-years. All award amounts include both direct and indirect costs.

Cost Sharing: Not required


Database Key: 2126966115