Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education | 22 522

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 522

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) program funds the creation of new collaborative networks that connect advances in biological research with evidence-based innovations in biology teaching. The central idea is that undergraduate biology learning improves when educators and researchers coordinate their efforts across institutions and subfields, producing teaching approaches and materials that not only strengthen students understanding of biological concepts but also build more supportive, engaging, and inclusive classroom environments. Rather than funding a single research project or a standalone curriculum effort, RCN-UBE is designed to support the coordination work that helps a community move together: shared agendas, communication structures, collaborative planning, and collective development of resources and standards.

RCN-UBE proposals can focus on essentially any topic that meaningfully advances undergraduate biology education, and NSF explicitly encourages networks that cross disciplinary, organizational, geographic, and even international boundaries. The program recognizes that students follow many different pathways through higher education, so proposals that include under-resourced institutions as full and equitable partners are especially valued. In the same spirit, NSF signals strong interest in networks whose leadership includes people from groups traditionally underrepresented in biological research and biology education, particularly through meaningful roles such as serving on the steering committee. Another emphasis area is the online learning environment: the program welcomes efforts that develop, test, and share best practices that can improve online biology education in ways that are scalable and broadly adoptable.

The program is framed as part of the broader national push to transform undergraduate biology teaching described in the 2009 "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education" report. Historically, RCN-UBE projects have helped communities develop and disseminate educational research tools and teaching modules, form new collaborations, and identify processes that make improvements easier to scale and sustain. Like other NSF Research Coordination Network programs, RCN-UBE supports interdisciplinary community-building, experimentation with new networking strategies, use of collaborative technologies, and the development of community standards that can raise the quality and consistency of work across the field.

A key boundary is that RCN-UBE is not meant to bankroll ongoing work by networks that already exist or to underwrite the routine activities of established collaborations. The intent is to launch or catalyze a new network or a substantially new coordination effort where the primary added value is the structured collaboration itself. Because the focus is undergraduate STEM education, NSF notes that RCN-UBE aligns with the NSF-wide Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative; depending on what a team is trying to do, NSF suggests applicants consider whether their project fits better as an IUSE proposal or an RCN-UBE network proposal.

Administrative details from the opportunity listing include that this is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 22-522) in the science and technology research and development category, associated with CFDA numbers 47.074 and 47.076. The listing anticipated roughly 12 awards, with eligibility described more broadly as "others" with additional clarification in the full solicitation. The opportunity was created on October 29, 2021, with an original closing date of January 25, 2022.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.074, 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 29, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 25, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 22 522

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