Funding Opportunity: NSF Releases Solicitation for Ideas Lab: Personalized Engineering Learning (PEL)

Funding Opportunity: NSF Releases Solicitation for Ideas Lab: Personalized Engineering Learning (PEL)
Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – September 28, 2023

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting proposals for a new Ideas Lab focused on Personalized Engineering Learning (PEL). This Ideas Lab aims to expand engineering education research to “enable advanced personalization in pedagogy and assessment” at both the K-12 and higher education level. The PEL Ideas Lab aims to create comprehensive technology to improve individual human learning performance for all, by addressing gaps between people and technology. The solicitation highlights the following areas of research: “personalized engineering education, multimodal sensing for personalized learning systems, and team-based personalized learning.” NSF Ideas Labs serve as a convener for diverse groups of experts from various science and engineering backgrounds to create innovative cross-disciplinary, transformative solutions to grand challenges. The solicitation includes a preliminary proposal, an in-person Ideas Lab, and a full proposal. The three-day in-person Ideas Lab will be held the week of February 26, 2024, and will include up to 35 participants with a range of research expertise aligned with the topics identified in the solicitation and the participating NSF divisions (listed below). There will also be virtual meetings to enable teams to develop proposals following the Ideas Lab workshop.

The PEL Ideas Lab is led by the Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities (EFMA) Office within the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and includes the ENG Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI); the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE); the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE); the Division of Graduate Education, the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings, and the Division of Undergraduate Education in the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU); and the Division of Translational Impacts in the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP).

Due Dates: Preliminary Proposals to attend the Ideas Lab are required and are due by November 29, 2023. The Ideas Lab will be held in-person on the week of February 26, 2024. Full proposals are due by May 8, 2024.

Eligibility: To attend the in-person Ideas Lab, an individual must submit a preliminary proposal. The submission of a proposal indicates an individual’s ability to attend and participate in the Ideas Lab, and subsequent virtual meetings. Selected Collaborative teams from the in-person Ideas lab will be invited to submit full proposals related to ideas developed during the Lab. For full proposals, there is no limit on who may serve as a principal investigator (PI) or the number of proposals per organization. However, an individual can only serve as PI or co-PI on one proposal. NSF encourages broad participation from a range of institutions.

Award Information: NSF plans to make up to three awards for the PEL Ideas Lab with the total funding of $3 million. Each award is expected to be funded at up to $1 million for up to two years.

Sources and additional information:
• The PEL Ideas Lab program page is available at https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/ideas-lab-personalized-engineering-learning-pel.
• The full solicitation is available at https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23627/nsf23627.htm.
• More information on the Ideas Lab mechanism is available at https://new.nsf.gov/policies/pappg/23-1/ch-2-proposal-preparation#2F6.