Letters of intent for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Excellence in Research (HBCU-EiR) program are due July 28, 2022.

The EiR program supports capacity building at both public and private HBCUs by funding research projects that align with NSF’s research programs. By supporting these projects, EiR seeks to promote stronger connections between researchers at HBCUs and NSF’s core research programs.

A letter of intent must be submitted by July 28, 2022 in order to submit a full EiR proposal by October 4, 2022. However, there are no penalties if you are unable to submit a full proposal after submitting a letter of intent.

Letters of Intent must contain the following information:

1. The project title, beginning with “Excellence in Research:” followed by the title.
2. The PI and Co-PI names, department(s), institution(s), phone number(s), and email address(es). The PI must be listed as the point of contact, not the institution’s sponsored research representative.
3. The submitting institution’s name.
4. A project synopsis (no more than 500 words) that describes the proposed research activities.
5. A line that clearly identifies the NSF research program(s), division(s) and the directorate(s) the PI believes to be most appropriate for the review of the EiR project.*

BIO’s EiR Working Group will invite all PIs and Co-PIs whose emails are listed in a letter of intent to participate in a webinar to discuss the unique nature of this program and answer questions prior to proposal submission.

Review the full program guidelines and learn how to submit a letter of intent and a proposal in the latest HBCU-EiR solicitation NSF 20-542.

* Prospective PIs are strongly encouraged to contact the cognizant program director(s) listed in the solicitation from the Directorate(s) that best aligns with their research interests if they need assistance in identifying the most appropriate program to review their proposal. Prospective PIs are also strongly encouraged to contact the program director(s) from the most relevant NSF research program(s) in advance of proposal submission to discuss the fit and appropriateness of their research idea for a specific NSF program(s).