IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments | 24 564

Opportunity Information: Apply for 24 564

The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity "IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments" (often called RED) supports major, department-level changes in undergraduate engineering and engineering technology education. The core idea is to move beyond isolated course improvements and instead reshape the culture, structures, and everyday practices of engineering departments so students develop both technical ability and professional identity throughout the entire program. NSF is building on what research and prior NSF investments have already improved, especially the first year (more active learning, early exposure to engineering design and professional skills) and the senior year (capstone design as an integrative experience). RED targets a persistent gap in the middle of the curriculum, where the sophomore and junior years often do not intentionally carry forward the professional competencies and integrative thinking students need for capstone work and for real engineering practice. In short, the program is aimed at making professional formation continuous rather than front-loaded in year one and "saved" for capstone.

RED is jointly funded through NSF's Directorates for Engineering (ENG) and STEM Education (EDU), and it is aligned with the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) framework and the Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) initiative. The program invites projects that are genuinely transformative, including rethinking what counts as the "canon" of engineering content, redesigning how courses are structured and connected, changing departmental policies and incentives, building new industry-education collaborations, and even creating new departmental organizational models. A defining feature across RED projects is the emphasis on organizational and cultural change, meaning proposals should show how students, faculty, staff, and external partners (including industry) will be engaged in redefining what the department is trying to produce and how it will operate to get there. NSF is looking for approaches that do not depend on a single champion or a one-off course redesign, but instead can become part of how the department permanently functions.

The opportunity is organized into four tracks so institutions can enter at the right stage and scale. Track 1, RED Planning, is meant for capacity-building and readiness work, especially for institutions that NSF highlights as strategically important to its mission: two-year engineering-centered programs building transfer partnerships, institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions, Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), and institutions working to increase engineering degrees across the full spectrum of diverse talent. Planning awards are intended to help these institutions explore, design, and prepare competitive proposals for the larger implementation-oriented tracks. Track 2, RED Adaptation and Implementation, supports departments that want to take evidence-based organizational change strategies that have worked elsewhere and adapt them to their own local context, with an emphasis on doing the hard work of implementation and institutional fit. Track 3, RED Innovation, is for creating and testing new revolutionary approaches and change strategies that could redefine how undergraduate engineering education is done at the departmental level. Track 4, RED Innovation Partnerships, extends Track 3 style innovation across multiple institutions, with special interest in partnerships that include two-year institutions working with other eligible institutions, which is consistent with the program's concern for pathways, transfer, and broader reach.

Across Tracks 2 through 4, NSF expects proposals to directly address the cultural, organizational, structural, and pedagogical changes required to transform one or more departments into environments where students are actively engaged, build technical and professional skills in an integrated way, and develop identities as professional engineers or technologists. Importantly, the focus should be on the department's disciplinary courses and the overall program, not just add-on experiences. A key expectation is institutionalization: by the end of the funding period, the new practices and structures should be embedded so they can persist after NSF funding ends.

NSF also signals that it is particularly interested in RED projects that connect to areas of increased national interest. The solicitation explicitly encourages proposals aligned with topics such as advanced manufacturing, advanced wireless, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, microelectronics and semiconductors, net zero technologies, sustainability, systems engineering, and quantum engineering. This does not mean projects must be in these areas, but strong proposals can use these domains as compelling contexts for rethinking curriculum, professional competencies, industry collaboration, and departmental priorities.

Eligibility is limited to accredited US Institutions of Higher Education, including two-year and four-year institutions and community colleges, with a campus located in the United States and applying on behalf of their faculty. If a proposal involves funding work at an international branch campus of a US institution (including through subawards or consultants), the proposal must clearly explain the benefit of doing work at that location and justify why the activities cannot be done at the US campus. Leadership requirements are unusually specific: for all tracks, the Principal Investigator must be a Department Chair/Head (or equivalent) of the department being transformed, and the PI must have real authority to lead the change process. If a chair/head role at a given institution does not have enough responsibility or leverage to drive the scope of change proposed, a dean, provost, or other senior leader may serve as PI, but only if they will actively lead the project. The PI's qualifications and authority are expected to be supported through a required letter from senior institutional leadership. NSF also recommends building a leadership team that includes expertise in engineering education research and organizational change, reflecting that the program is as much about change management and institutional behavior as it is about curriculum design.

From the funding details provided, this is a discretionary NSF grant competition (CFDA/Assistance Listing numbers 47.041 and 47.076) with an award ceiling of $2,000,000 and an anticipated 19 awards. The listed closing date is September 10, 2024. Overall, RED is best understood as an opportunity for departments to redesign the "engine" of their program, not just tune individual parts, with clear expectations that the work will be evidence-informed, locally grounded, and durable enough to become the department's new normal.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-09-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 19 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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