Research@UIC > Funding Opportunities > Finding Funding > Limited Competitions > Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Undergraduate Science Education Program

Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Undergraduate Science Education Program

Internal Competition Completed

Principal Investigators Selected:

• Stacie Geller, Director, Center for Research on Women and Gender

Program Summary

UIC has been invited to submit a proposals to the 2010 HHMI Undergraduate Science Education Program.  Invitations are limited to 197 research universities with outstanding records of graduating students who go on to advanced study and careers in science.  UIC can submit both a Core Grant and an Experimental Grant application.  All Experiment proposals must accompany a proposal for a core grant, but an Experiment is not required for an institution to participate in the core grant proposal competition.

The mission and needs of each institution vary widely. HHMI grants therefore support a range of activities that engage students in research; create courses that convey the excitement of contemporary science; develop new, current, and future faculty members; and broaden access to science careers through outreach activities that extend to elementary, high school, and community college faculty and students. Through this competition, HHMI seeks to support the very best initiatives in undergraduate science education and develop innovative ways to energize and reform science education at research universities.

Program Objectives
The 2010 Undergraduate Science Education grants will support initiatives that strengthen science education by a variety of strategies to:

• integrate research and teaching in undergraduate education;
• engage students in inquiry-based science;
• prepare undergraduates, including women and members of minority groups underrepresented in the sciences, for graduate studies and careers in biomedical research, medicine, and science education;
• promote science literacy among all students;
• support new and high-quality approaches and techniques in science teaching;
• enhance precollege education by connecting university science departments with education majors, preK-12 teachers, students and schools;
• provide substantive teaching and mentoring experiences to prepare postdoctoral fellows and graduate students for future roles as educators;
• provide opportunities and resources for faculty members to improve their teaching skills, course materials, and mentoring skills;
• encourage collaborations and partnerships that expand opportunities and share resources, including partnerships between the applicant institution and other institutions that serve important constituencies;
• disseminate successful science education approaches and tools.

Core Grants
The undergraduate science education program enables institutions to develop effective ways to enhance the success of all students, including persons from groups that are underrepresented in science. Awards are up to up to $2.2 million over four years.  The core grant will provide funding in four components:

• Student Research
• Faculty Development
• Curriculum Development
• Outreach and Transitions

Core Program Evaluation Criteria
Proposed Activities

• the degree to which the proposal addresses one or more of the initiative’s objectives;
• the likelihood that the proposed activities will meet the applicant’s stated objectives;
• the commitment of the institution to the proposed goals and activities;
• the degree to which the proposed program will enable the applicant to enhance or expand its ongoing activities or to undertake new initiatives;
• the relationship of the proposed activities to initiatives already under way at the applicant institution supported either by a previous HHMI award or other external funding.

Budget and Administration

• the effectiveness of the plan for management and administration of the program, including distribution of grant funds;
• the appropriateness of the budget to activities specified in the proposal;
• evidence that the grant will enable new or expanded activities and not simply be budget-relieving for the institution.

Long-Term Impact

• the effective assessment of previous HHMI-funded activities or other activities related to the proposal’s goals;
• a well developed outcomes-based plan to assess the proposed activities;
• a strategy for broad dissemination of effective practices and products resulting from the grant to extend successes achieved locally to the larger science education community;
• compelling approaches for effecting long-term institutional change in undergraduate science education;
• adequate support by the applicant’s administration;
• substantial involvement of science faculty, particularly research-active faculty, in proposed program activities;
• evidence that responsibilities for program development and administration are distributed among appropriate members of the faculty, administration, and staff.

Experiment Grants
In this competition, HHMI will consider additional support for experiments in undergraduate science education, to encourage science faculty to try innovative ideas in science education.  Awards are for up to $600,000 over four years in addition to the core grant.  Experiments in Undergraduate
Science Education, which will supplement institutional “core” grants to research universities. The aim of the Experiments competition is to encourage science faculty to try well-designed and innovative experiments in undergraduate science education.

Experiment Grant Evaluation Criteria

• degree to which the experiment innovatively and directly addresses one or more important
• challenges in science education;
• evidence of a well-designed hypothesis-driven approach, which clearly lays out all steps of
• experimental process (e.g., questions, methods, results, and discussion)
• evidence of an outcomes-based plan for assessment of the effectiveness of the experimental
• design and results;
• appropriateness of the budget to specified activities of the experiment;
• effectiveness of the leadership and key personnel in administering, assessing, and disseminating
• the specified activities of the experiment.

Because many of these experiments may be considered risky, the application and review of the Experiments will be separate from the core grant proposal.

Additional Information 
http://www.hhmi.org/grants/pdf/comp_annc/2010universities.pdf

Deadlines

*Research Development Services has submitted the Intent to Apply on behalf of UIC and will update the designated PIs contact with HHMI upon completion of the internal selection process.

Letter of Intent Instructions

• By submitting this form, applicant attests that s/he has read and meets the sponsor's eligibility criteria for this program. The LOI can be emailed to RDS@uic.edu, Attn: Tony Halford.
• OVCR may reserve submission slots for previously submitted but unfunded proposals that received highly competitive ratings from the external sponsor. These will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Vice Chancellor. For consideration, scanned copies of your complete reviews (not just summary) must be included with LOI.

LOI form: http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/ovcr/research/funding/forms/0600.doc

Depending upon the number of LOIs submitted, OVCR might be required to facilitate an internal peer review process to select UIC’s submission(s) to this program. White paper instructions will be issued to those submitting LOIs, if necessary.    

Please contact Tony Halford at ahalford@uic.edu or 6-7036 with any questions.

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