Discovery Research PreK-12 Program Resource Center on Transformative Education Research and Translation | 24 602

Opportunity Information: Apply for 24 602

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting proposals to establish and operate the Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) Program Resource Center on Transformative Education Research and Translation (often referred to as the DRK-12 RC). The core purpose of this opportunity is to fund a resource center that serves as an intellectual partner to NSF, helping the DRK-12 program expand the influence, visibility, and practical reach of its research and development investments in STEM education across the PreK-12 space. Rather than functioning as a single research project, the Resource Center is positioned as a coordinating and capacity-building hub that strengthens the broader DRK-12 community and makes DRK-12-funded work more usable and more widely known.

A central expectation is that the DRK-12 RC will actively support and recruit diverse, multi-sector constituencies, bringing together stakeholders across education and research ecosystems in ways that advance the DRK-12 program's field-building, knowledge-building, and partnership-building goals. In practice, this means the Resource Center is expected to operate at the intersection of research, practice, and policy, and to intentionally connect people and organizations who do not always work in close coordination, such as STEM education researchers, classroom educators, district and school leaders, informal learning organizations, and policymakers.

The solicitation highlights three major activity areas the Resource Center must lead, in collaboration with NSF and the DRK-12 community. First, the Center is expected to identify, curate, and share promising resources, tools, approaches, and research findings from DRK-12 and related work, and translate them in ways that are useful to practitioners and decision-makers. Importantly, this is not described as one-way dissemination; the Center should engage teachers, school leaders and administrators, and policymakers to gather feedback that helps improve strategic use of these products and also informs the advancement of the science itself. Second, the Center must facilitate communication and collaboration among current, former, and prospective DRK-12 awardees, with an explicit capacity-building aim: strengthening researchers ability to conduct rigorous, meaningful work across the full range of project types supported by DRK-12. Third, the Center is expected to raise the national visibility of the DRK-12 program's goals and impacts, which implies coordinated outreach, narrative-building, and public-facing communication that helps broader audiences understand what the program is accomplishing and why it matters.

NSF also makes clear that the Resource Center should not operate in isolation. The DRK-12 RC is expected to work collaboratively with NSF and with the program's constituent communities, including other NSF resource hubs and centers, to design, implement, and evaluate these three broad activity areas. Evaluation is explicitly included, signaling that NSF expects a thoughtful approach to assessing the effectiveness of the Center's activities and using evidence to improve them over time.

Eligibility is limited to specific categories of U.S.-based applicants. Eligible entities include for-profit U.S. commercial organizations (including small businesses) with strong research or education capabilities and an innovation orientation; non-profit, non-academic organizations such as museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies located in the U.S. and tied to education or research activities; state and local governments; accredited U.S.-based institutions of higher education (two-year and four-year, including community colleges) applying on behalf of faculty; and federally recognized Tribal Nations. If a proposal involves funding for an international branch campus of a U.S. institution (including via subawards or consultants), the proposer must explain the benefits of performing work at the international branch campus and justify why the activities cannot be performed at the U.S. campus.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity from NSF in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category, listed under CFDA 47.076. The funding opportunity title is "Discovery Research PreK-12 Program Resource Center on Transformative Education Research and Translation" with opportunity number 24-602. The original closing date is February 28, 2025. The provided source excerpt does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards, suggesting those details may be provided in the full solicitation document rather than the summary text.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Discovery Research PreK-12 Program Resource Center on Transformative Education Research and Translation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-28. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 24 602

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