June 2013
Vol. 27, #6
Information
on available
state, federal
and private
grants
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER
Look
inside for:
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Funding for proposals from experts in behavior research to develop pilot experiments in clean energy
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Funding for projects that provide access to healthy foods and create jobs in low-income communities
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Grants for the creation of research institutes, centers, or large groups to study new frontiers in physics
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In-kind donations of musical instruments for underfunded music programs
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Grants for concept papers on preventing childhood obesity
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Postdoctoral fellowship for researchers in the field of Earth Sciences
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Summer Stipends for projects on bridging cultures within the U.S. and around the world
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Grant writing classes
Questions?
Contact:
Grants Action News
New York State Assembly
Alfred E. Smith Building
80 S. Swan St.
Suite 1710
Albany, NY 12248
grants@assembly.state.ny.us
On the state level...
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is requesting proposals from experts in behavior research, including cognitive scientists, sociologists, psychologists, social psychologists, behavioral economists, and clean energy program evaluation experts. The goal of this research is to conduct a range of successful pilot experiments that could serve as models for follow-on, larger-scale behavior demonstration programs and full-scale clean energy programs deployed in New York State. This is the second round of the solicitation and it is seeking proposals under Category A at this time. NYSERDA is interested in innovative pilot proposals that include an experimental research design and proposed behavioral intervention(s) to influence clean energy (energy-efficiency, conservation (energy and water) and renewable energy) behaviors and decision making. Proposals must be from a behavior expert and include an experienced field implementation party and/or clean energy program, and identify the location/region in New York State where the pilot will occur. NYSERDA intends to award multiple contracts under this category. Estimated contract period: 1 to 2 years.
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Eligibility:
The proposers under this solicitation should hold advanced degree(s) in the cognitive sciences, psychology, social psychology, sociology, behavioral economics, and/or the evaluation sciences, and at least one team member must hold a doctoral degree in the same. Proposers must have experience designing, implementing and evaluating behavioral programs; demonstrate knowledge of the growing body of behavioral literature relevant to influencing energy-related decision making; and be able to work with diverse project partners and dynamic programs.
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Funding:
$400,000 is available for behavior research pilot proposals (from $35,000 to $100,000 per proposal depending upon scope).
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Deadline:
August 8, 2013. It is expected that award recommendations will be made by Oct. 15, 2013, for successful behavior pilot proposals under this solicitation.
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Contact:
NYS Energy Research and Development Authority PON 2631
17 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-6399
Marsha Walton
Phone (518) 862-1090, ext. 3271
Email: mlw@nyserda.org
Website: www.nyserda.ny.gov/Funding-Opportunities/Current-Funding-Opportunities/PON-2631-Behavior-Research-and-Energy-Decision-Making.aspx
On the federal level...
Department of Health and Human Services
The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services has announced funding for Community Development Corporations (CDC) projects that will implement innovative strategies for increasing healthy food access while achieving sustainable employment and business opportunities for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other low-income individuals whose income level does not exceed 125 percent of the federal poverty level. Through the Community Economic Development program and within the framework of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, OCS will provide technical and financial assistance for healthy food ventures designed to: (1) improve access to, and the purchase and consumption of healthy, affordable foods; and (2) address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families through the creation of employment and business opportunities in low-income communities. In 2013, OCS is offering bonus points for projects in underserved areas in New York State; projects located in rural communities or that plan to hire low-income individuals from rural communities to fill positions created; and projects that include a collaboration with other Federal HFFI programs from the Departments of Treasury and Agriculture. The initiative builds upon the work led by First Lady Michelle Obama as part of the Let’s Move! initiative to promote active living, encourage healthy eating, and end childhood obesity.
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Eligibility:
Applicant must be a private, non-profit CDC with a 501(c)(3) or non-501(c)(3) status; must have articles of incorporation, bylaws, or other official documents demonstrating that the CDC has a principal purpose in the planning, developing, or managing of low-income housing or community economic development activities; and the Board of Directors must have representation from each of the following: community residents, business leaders, and civic leaders. Faith-based and community organizations that meet eligibility requirements may apply. Individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorship organizations are not eligible to apply.
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Funding:
Approximately $9.4 million.
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Deadline: July 2, 2013 - Application must be submitted electronically through Grant.gov.
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Contact:
Katrina Morgan
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Community Services
OCS Grants Operations Center
1400 Key Boulevard, Suite 910
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: (800) 281-9519
Email: ocsgrants@acf.hhs.gov
Website: http://ocscommunitydevelopment.org/
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is now accepting applications for their Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program. The PFC program is designed to provide support to enable research at the frontiers of physics when the activities are of a scope and complexity that would not be feasible with standard individual investigator or small group support. Through the PFC program, university researchers can form centers, institutes, or large group efforts that lead to major new ideas, discoveries, or broad advances in physics or at the boundaries of physics with other disciplines. Activities supported through the program are in all sub-fields of physics within the purview of the Division of Physics: atomic, molecular, optical, plasma, elementary particle, nuclear, astro-, gravitational, and biological physics. Interdisciplinary projects at the interface between these physics areas and other disciplines and physics sub-fields are also included, although the bulk of the effort should fall within one of those areas within the purview of the Physics Division. A successful PFC activity will demonstrate: (1) the potential for a profound advance in physics; (2) creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, diversity, and public outreach; (3) potential for broader impacts, e.g., impacts on other field(s) and benefits to society; (4) a synergy or value-added rationale that justifies a center- or institute-like approach.
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Eligibility:
Proposals may only be submitted by academic institutions, including universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members.
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Funding:
Estimated total program funding is $10,000,000. The expected number of awards is 7.
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Deadline: Preliminary proposals are due August 5, 2013. Full proposals will be due January 27, 2014.
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Contact: Jean Cottam Allen, Program Director, 1015N
4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
Phone: (703) 292-8783
Email: jcallen@nsf.gov
Website: www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf13559
On the private level...
Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation is now accepting applications from underfunded music programs for in-kind donations of musical instruments. Through the Michael Kamen Grant, the foundation will donate musical instruments to music programs that serve low-income communities and have little or no budget for musical instruments. Priority is given to programs serving the most students within a school population. The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation is also interested in offering assistance to school music programs to replace musical instruments that were lost and/or damaged from the Hurricane Sandy storm. If your school has determined that your music program will not receive assistance to replace musical instruments through the school’s insurance policy or FEMA, the Foundation encourages you to apply.
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Eligibility:
Public, private, and charter schools are invited to apply; however, schools must be eligible for funds under Title 1 and/or serve a population where at least 50 percent of the students qualify for the National Lunch Program. Schools also must have an established instrumental music program (concert band, marching band, jazz band, and/or orchestra) that takes place during the regular school day and is at least three years old. Schools that offer Orff/classroom music only are not eligible to apply.
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Funding:
The program funds instrument repair and the acquisition of new instruments. It does not provide cash grants.
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Deadline: Pre-qualification forms must be received no later than August 1, 2013. Upon review, selected schools will be invited to submit full applications.
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Contact: The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
4370 Tujunga Avenue, Suite 330
Studio City, CA 91604
Phone: (818) 762-4328
Email: deanna@mhopus.org
Website: www.mhopus.org/Apply
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is accepting concept papers for research on environmental and policy strategies with the potential to promote healthy eating and prevent childhood obesity, especially among lower-income and racial and ethnic populations at highest risk for obesity. Through its Healthy Eating Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity program, the foundation will award its Round 8 grants with the aim of providing advocates, decision-makers and policymakers with evidence needed to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.
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Eligibility:
Priority will be given to applicants that are either public entities or nonprofit organizations considered tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations or Type III supporting organizations. In addition, qualified organizations must be based in the United States or its territories.
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Funding:
Approximately $1.4 million will be awarded through Round 8. Each grant will award up to $170,000 for a maximum funding period of 18 months.
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Deadline:
Concept papers must be received no later than July 10, 2013. Upon review, selected organizations will be invited to submit full proposals by September 11, 2013.
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Contact:
Kathy Kosiak, Research Coordinator
University of Minnesota School of Public Health
1300 South Second Street, Suite 300
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Phone: (800) 578-8636
Email: healthyeating@umn.edu
Website: www.healthyeatingresearch.org
Scholars Awards…
National Science Foundation
The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) offers 2-year postdoctoral fellowships to provide opportunities for scientists early in their careers to obtain training beyond their graduate education. EAR focuses on improving our understanding of the Earth’s structure, composition, evolution, and the interaction with the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. The postdoctoral fellowship program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential, and provide them with experience that will establish them in positions of leadership in the scientific community. During the tenure of the fellowships, participants would be conducting research on topics supported by EAR and implementing a broadening participation plan. A research plan whose focus falls within the scope of any of the EAR disciplines is eligible for support. Some EAR disciplines include EarthScope, Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry, Geomorphology and Land Use Dynamics, Geophysics, Hydrologic Sciences, Petrology and Geochemistry, Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology, and Tectonics. Projects may employ any combination of field, laboratory, and computational studies with observational, theoretical, or experimental approaches.
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Eligibility:
Proposals must be submitted by individuals. Institutions may not apply, however, the individuals must affiliate with an institution (e.g. colleges and universities, privately-sponsored nonprofit institutes and museums, government agencies and laboratories) anywhere in the world. Applicants must be U.S. citizens (or nationals) or legally admitted permanent residents of the United States (i.e., have a “green card”) at the time of application and must currently be a graduate student or, at the deadline date, have served in a position requiring the doctoral degree for no more than 18 full-time-equivalent months since earning the degree. Applicants choosing to carry out the fellowship at the institution where they received their PhD or current institution, at the time of submission, must have two scientific mentors, one at the hosting institution and another mentor at a different institution.
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Funding:
Approximately $87,000 per year.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announces its Summer Stipends program to support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Past recipients have produced articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources. NEH welcomes projects that respond to NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative. Such projects could focus on cultures internationally or within the United States. International projects might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American projects might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. Such projects might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse that have informed this quest. In connection with a focus on civic discourse, projects might explore the role of women in America’s civic life as well as the civic role of women in other cultures and regions of the world. Summer Stipends support projects at any stage of development.
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Eligibility:
The Summer Stipends program accepts applications from individual researchers, teachers, and writers, whether they have an institutional affiliation or not. Applicants with college or university affiliations must, however, be nominated by their institutions. Organizations are not eligible to apply. All applicants must have completed their formal education by the application deadline. While applicants need not have advanced degrees, individuals currently enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible to apply.
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Funding:
Summer Stipends provide $6,000 for two consecutive months of full-time research and writing.
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Deadline: September 26, 2013
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Contact: National Endowment for
the Humanities
Division of Research, Room 318
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
Phone (202) 606-8200
Email: stipends@neh.gov
Website: www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends
The Foundation Center
The Foundation Center has scheduled the following free training classes in
New York City during July 2013.
Grant writing
Grant-seeking Basics: July 2
Attendees will learn how the Center’s resources help make them more effective grantseekers. For beginners, this introduction to the library provides instruction in foundation research and identification of potential funders. A tour of the library will follow.
Introduction to Finding Funders: July 2
This class provides a hands-on introduction on how to use the center’s comprehensive online database – The Foundation Directory Online – to research and identify potential funders. The Foundation Directory Online contains over 100,000 profiles of grant-making institutions.
Proposal Writing Basics: July 9
Attendees will learn about the basics of writing a proposal for their nonprofit organization.
Proposal Budgeting Basics:July 9
Attendees will learn how to prepare and present a budget in a grant proposal. This session is geared toward novice grantseekers.
How to Approach a Foundation:July 11
Attendees will learn how to initiate contact with potential donors, plan calls and meetings, and build partnerships with sponsors. This class is intended for fundraisers who have some experience but are not experts.
In addition:
Classes are held at The Foundation Center, located at:
New York Library
79 Fifth Ave. 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003
Space is limited, so register as soon as possible.
For additional training opportunities, to register, or for more information, call 212-620-4230 or visit
www.foundationcenter.org.
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