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November 7, 2019

The goal of the Phase-0 Program is to encourage and support South Carolina small businesses in their proposal development activities to compete effectively for SBIR/STTR Federal funding. The request can be either to support the Materials Assembly and Design Excellence in South Carolina (MADE in SC) initiative (NSF EPSCoR RRII Track-1) and/or the SC Science and Technology Plan, or to be in support of other areas described in the SC Science and Technology Plan (Vision 2025).

Additional funding of $3,000 is available for materials science projects for undergrad internship(s). Internships must support one or more of the MADE in SC research clusters.

PLEASE NOTE: Funding for the Phase-0 Program is intended to support proposal development activities and
not intended to support small business infrastructure.

Full Proposals due Mon, Nov 18,
5 pm EST

For more info, contact April Heyward.

The goal of MADE in SC is to discover and develop new intelligently designed optical, electrochemical and magnetic materials (Thrust 1), stimuli-responsive polymeric materials (Thrust 2), and interactive biomaterials (Thrust 3), with all supported by a new Multiscale Modeling and Computation Core.

A major component of developing the research infrastructure is to acquire instrumentation to add new capacity in materials characterization across the MADE in SC network. These instruments will be accessible across the network to extend the programmatic impacts.

By the end of the five-year NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 award in 2022, MADE in SC funds will have spent $4.2 million to purchase state-of-the-art equipment accessible by all SC faculty members. Click here to view list of equipment purchased since the beginning of the award in Sept 2017, their locations and how to access them.

The NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training at US institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations. An MRI award supports the acquisition or development of a multi-user research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. MRI provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur.

The MRI Program especially seeks broad representation of PIs in its award portfolio, including women, underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities. Since demographic diversity may be greater among early-career researchers, the MRI program also encourages proposals with early-career PIs and proposals that benefit early-career researchers.

An MRI proposal may request up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument by applying to one of two tracks: Track 1 (≥$100K and <$1M) or Track 2 (≥$1M up to and including $4M). Full proposal window: Jan 1-21. Learn more

Focus On

Over 400 people from the 28 NSF EPSCoR jurisdictions registered to attend the 26th National NSF EPSCoR Conference held in Columbia, SC, Oct 27-30. Attendees were treated to great food, great weather, and even greater opportunities for learning and networking at the biennial Conference. Search #NSFEPSCoR2019 on social media, especially Twitter, for posts by attendees. Click link to view full Photo and Video Album (including videos of Lightning Talks given by representatives from South Carolina’s NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 award, MADE in SC, and one of the state’s Track-2 awards).

News, Opportunities and Deadlines

NSF EPSCoR has released the FY20 Track-2 solicitation on “Harnessing the Data Revolution to solve problems of national importance.” Only one proposal (as Lead PI) per institution is allowed, and a Letter of Intent (LOI) is due to NSF by Fri, Dec 20.

These awards require collaboration with other EPSCoR jurisdictions. The amount of an award increases with the number of collaborating jurisdictions on the project. NSF limits a researcher to be the PI or Co-PI on one Track-2 grant.

SC institutions are encouraged to conduct an internal selection process to identify the most competitive research idea from their faculty. Each institution that submits a LOI to NSF can receive SC EPSCoR proposal development funds by emailing April Heyward, SC EPSCoR Program Manager, by Mon, Dec 23.

Call for Nominations for the 2020 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Science
Honors an individual or team within the state whose achievements and contributions to science in SC merit special recognition and to promote wider awareness of the quality and extent of scientific activity in SC. Four awards: Excellence in Scientific Research, Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research, Excellence in Scientific Awareness, and Excellence in Scientific Research at a Predominantly Undergrad Institution. Collaborative (team) awards are encouraged and are eligible in each category. Due Dec 3. Learn more

SC Space Grant Consortium (NASA EPSCoR):
• Palmetto Academy FACULTY Applications due by 5 pm, Dec 6

STUDENTS – Due 5 pm, Jan 31
• Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF)
• Kathryn D. Sullivan Earth and Marine Science Fellowship
• Undergrad Student Research Award
• Minorities in STEM Research Award Program
• STEM Outreach Award Application
• Technical College Research Award
• Palmetto Academy STUDENT Applications

Questions regarding these opportunities should be directed to: Tara Scozzaro, SC Space Grant and SC NASA EPSCoR Program Manager, (843) 953-5463, Email

SC Sea Grant Consortium Student FELLOWSHIPS:
• Coastal Management Fellowship,
due Jan 17
• Kathryn D Sullivan Earth and Marine
Science Fellowship, due Jan 31
• John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship,
due Feb 21

OTHER SEA GRANT FUNDING:
Omnibus Proposal Grants
Program Development Grants

Questions regarding these opportunities should be directed to: Susannah Sheldon, SC Sea Grant Research and Fellowships Manager, (843) 953-2078, Email

Looking for collaborators?
• Research Expertise Profiles Database
(faculty)
• Student Research Interests
Profiles Database (students)

Nat’l Conferences on Undergrad Research now accepting abstracts for NCUR 2020 to be held Mar 26-28 at Montana State U. Abstracts due by Dec 6, 11:59 pm MST.

Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Dialogues 2020: Getting on the Right Path: Networks, Relationships, and Uncovering Grant Opportunities, Feb 13-16, Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA. Early-bird registration ends Dec 12.

NOV 14:
DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR)

NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE): Core Programs

NOV 15:
NSF Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (ATI)

NSF Applied Mathematics

NOV 18: SC EPSCoR Phase-0 Program

NOV 19: NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB)

NOV 28-29: SC EPSCoR Program Office closed for Thanksgiving

DEC 3: SCAS Nominations for Governor’s award (see above)

More available on our online calendar

Funding Opps:
• SC EPSCoR (1 open – Phase-0)
• DEPSCoR (DoD EPSCoR)
• DOE
• NASA
• NIH
• NSF
• USDA
• More can be found on our Calendar!