Funder:
Due Dates: July 10, 2025 (Letter of Intent) | October 21, 2025 (Full Proposal)
Funding Amounts: ~$28,000,000 total program funding; 30–35 awards anticipated; project budgets and durations should match project needs.
Summary: Supports research projects at HBCUs to strengthen research capacity in science, engineering, or STEM education, fostering connections with NSF research programs.
Key Information: Only accredited HBCUs may apply; PI must be a full-time faculty or researcher at the applying HBCU.
Description
The Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Excellence in Research (HBCU-EiR) program provides funding to accredited HBCUs to enhance research capacity in science, engineering, or STEM education disciplines. The program is designed to support research projects that align with NSF’s core research areas, with the goal of building sustainable research infrastructure and fostering stronger connections between HBCU researchers and NSF programs. Projects should address both intellectual merit and broader societal impacts, and proposals are encouraged from HBCUs that have not previously been successful in larger NSF research competitions.
Due Dates
- Letter of Intent (required): July 10, 2025 (Second Thursday in July, annually)
- Full Proposal: October 21, 2025 (Third Tuesday in October, annually)
Funding Amount
- Total Program Funding: Approximately $28,000,000 (subject to availability of funds and proposal quality)
- Expected Number of Awards: 30–35
- Award Size/Duration: No strict limits; budgets and project periods should be appropriate to the project scope. Project budgets should consider typical award sizes in relevant NSF programs.
- Equipment Cap: No more than 30% of the budget may be allocated for equipment.
- Cost Sharing: Not required or allowed.
Eligibility
- Eligible Institutions: Only accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with faculty conducting research in science, engineering, or STEM education.
- Eligible Individuals: Principal Investigator (PI) must be a full-time faculty member or researcher at the submitting HBCU.
- Proposal Limits:
- An individual may be PI or co-PI on only one proposal per deadline.
- Maximum of two HBCU-EiR awards per individual during their career.
- No limit on number of proposals per institution.
- Collaborations: Collaborative proposals among HBCUs are allowed. Collaborations with non-HBCU institutions must be structured as subawards and not comprise a substantial portion of the budget.
Application Process
1. Letter of Intent (Required)
- Must be submitted by the deadline via Research.gov.
- Must include:
- Project title (starting with "Excellence in Research:")
- PI and Co-PI names, departments, institution, contact info
- Submitting institution’s name
- Secondary NSF program/division/directorate for consideration
- Project synopsis (≤ 2,500 characters)
- Submission must be by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR).
2. Full Proposal
- Submit via Research.gov or Grants.gov.
- Must follow the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
- Required supplementary documents:
- Letter of institutional support (max 2 pages)
- Letters of collaboration (if applicable; single-sentence format)
- Budget: Include travel for PI to annual grantee meeting in Washington, DC.
- Compliance: Proposals must comply with solicitation and PAPPG requirements.
Additional Information
- Merit Review: Proposals are evaluated on intellectual merit and broader impacts.
- Equipment: Funding requests for equipment must not exceed 30% of the total budget.
- PI Restrictions: PI or co-PI may only be part of one proposal per cycle and hold a maximum of two EiR awards in their career.
- Recommended: PIs with no prior research funding should consider applying to NSF’s HBCU-UP Research Initiation Awards before EiR.
- Sustainability: Project description should include a plan for leveraging results into future NSF funding opportunities.
External Links
Contact Information
| Contact | Email/Phone | Purpose |
|---|
| HBCU Excellence in Research Program | EIR@nsf.gov | Programmatic questions |
| NSF Grants.gov Support | grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov | Technical/application questions |
| NSF Information Center | (703) 292-5111 | General NSF information |
| Research.gov Help Desk | 1-800-673-6188 / rgov@nsf.gov | Research.gov technical support |
| Grants.gov Contact Center | 1-800-518-4726 / support@grants.gov | Grants.gov technical support |