Funding Opportunities

There are a number of joint projects among HSRU allies. Please watch this space for calls. The Office of the Vice President for Research will additionally send out calls for participation to the UNM Principal Investigator listserve and also to the OVPR research council.

Federal Funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) 

MSIs are institutions of higher education that enroll a significant percentage of students from minority groups. They are unique both in their missions and in their day-to-day operations. Some of these colleges and universities are in remote regions of the country, whereas others serve urban neighborhoods. MSIs are eligible for federal funding based on specific eligibility requirements, as determined by the funding agency. Through Presidential Executive Orders and special legislation enacted over the past 20 years, MSIs have accessed federal funds and leveraged agency resources on behalf of their students and communities. Each year, new and existing MSI programs are authorized and appropriated. 

The Biden Administration sees MSIs as a critical component of its plan to increase the STEM workforce in the coming decade. It has incorporated research funding requests into spending packages pending before Congress. If adopted, the plans will fund research infrastructure upgrades at MSIs across the country. This will also provide research funding for new and existing programs. This would be done through both authorizations and appropriations. For FY23, the Biden Administration has requested $20 billion for research infrastructure upgrades at MSIs, as well as $15 billion to fund the creation of Centers of Excellence there, and $10 billion in STEM-focused research funding. In addition, the CHIPS and Science Act authorized several new and some existing programs designated solely for MSIs and Tribal institutions such as: 

  • Clean Energy Technology University Prize Competition 
  • Dr. David Satcher Cybersecurity Education Grant Program 
  • Expanding Opportunities through the Manufacturing USA Program 
  • Activities to expand STEM opportunities 
  • National Engineering Biology Research and Development Initiatives
  • Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. 

The following provides details and links to MSI-related federal funding opportunities. Please note, this list is not comprehensive but instead highlights relevant MSI programs, separated by agency, that MSIs could competitively apply for. MSI designations are not defined by statutes, but are instead based off of enrollment data through the DoED Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). You can access the U.S. Department of Education's list of postsecondary institutions enrolling populations with significant undergraduate minority students here. 

Current Opportunities by Agency

Deadline: November 30, 2022

NSF is committed to expanding the opportunities in STEM to people of all racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities and to persons with disabilities. While broadening participation in STEM is included in NSF's merit review criteria, some programs go beyond the standard review criteria. These investments — which make up NSF's Broadening Participation in STEM Portfolio— use different approaches to build STEM education and research capacity, catalyze new areas of STEM research, and develop strategic partnerships and alliances. 

  • Computer and Information Science and Engineering Minority-Serving Institutions Research Expansion Program (CISE-MSI Program) – Supports capacity building in computer and information science and engineering at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities. 

  • Build and Broaden: Enhancing Social, Behavioral and Economic Science Research and Capacity at Minority-Serving Institutions (B2) – This program broadens participation in the social, behavioral and economic sciences through support for research, training and research infrastructure at minority-serving institutions, including partnerships with and among those institutions. 

  • Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program)-this program supports projects that improve undergraduate STEM education and increase the rates of recruitment, retention and graduation of undergraduate STEM students at Hispanic-serving institutions 

  • Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) and HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering (HBCU-RISE) – This program Supports centers, partnership supplements, postdoctoral fellowships, HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering awards, and SBIR/STTR diversity collaboration supplements to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions. 

  • Additional resources: https://beta.nsf.gov/science-matters/funding-opportunities-minority-serving-institutions

  • For FY 23, there is proposed an additional $1B to the National Science Foundation to support research at MSIs as well as research upgrades. 

  • NSF recently announced new opportunities for Hispanic-serving institutions to support research and capacity building through collaborations and partnerships. NSF's investment in the HSI-Net will establish: 

    • The HSI Center for Community Coordination, designed to create coordination mechanisms, foster communication, organize collaborations and strengthen connections between HSIs in the U.S. and its territories and its stakeholders, including current and new awardees. 

    • The HSI Center for Evaluation, Research, and Synthesis, designed to develop tools and approaches to support the HSI community in culturally responsive evaluation practices, assessments, research and synthesis efforts. 

    • Up to five HSI Program Resource Hubs, designed to support innovative initiatives addressing key areas of need in the HSI community and to effectively serve the HSI STEM community and its stakeholders. 

Deadline: November 30, 2022

  • Department of Defense Research and Education Program for Historically Black Colleges and Minority- Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSI) – The purpose of the Education Program is to increase research and engineering capacity related to national defense and the number of minority graduates from STEM fields. Successful applications will connect to DOD priorities and current research activities including, but not limited to artificial intelligence, cyber, biotechnology, quantum, materials science, or Fully Networked Command, Control and Communications (FNC3). 

  • DOD has doubled its research funding for MSIs in the last five years. While that funding has been largely directed toward HBCUs, there is congressional interest in directing funding towards MSIs for research centers, student internships and other STEM-focused programs in materials sciences, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and aerospace research. 

  • Funding Example: Defense Department Announces Fiscal Year 2022 Research Equipment Awards to Minority-Serving Institutions. FY22 Grant application 

Deadline: November 30, 2022

  • Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program – The Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) Program provides grants to assist HSIs to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the attainment of, Hispanic students. These grants also enable HSIs to expand and enhance their academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability. 

  • IES Early Career Mentoring Program for Faculty at Minority Serving Institutions. The program supports grants that prepare faculty at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to conduct high-quality education research that advances knowledge within the field of education sciences and addresses issues important to education policymakers and practitioners. 

  • Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program- This competitive program assists predominantly minority institutions in effecting long-range improvement in science and engineering education programs and increasing the flow of underrepresented ethnic minorities, particularly minority women, into science and engineering careers. 

  • The FY23 Senate Appropriation bill (pending) have potential funding opportunities to benefit MSIs: 

    • $65 million for Research and Development Infrastructure Investments at HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs 

    • $25 million to competitive grants to institutions of higher education and other public and private non-profit organizations and agencies for innovative approaches to improve rates of postsecondary enrollment and completion among rural students. 

Deadline: November 30, 2022

Deadline: November 30, 2022

  • The Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Exchange – The Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Exchange is a tool that supports your search for innovative and diverse academic collaborators by curating STEM offerings and capability statements of MSIs nationwide. The MSI Exchange can inform partnerships for teaming opportunities and competitive federal awards such as contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants. 

Deadline: December 31, 2022

  • Federal Aviation Administration: Minority-Serving Institution Intern Program – This program provides students from MSIs internship opportunities throughout the year in fields including air traffic control, computer science, aviation management, business administration, engineering, and information technology (IT). 
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Deadline: December 31, 2022

  • Minority Educational Institutions Division – DOE advocates for MSIs to increase the number of students who major in high demand fields such as Science, Technology Engineering, Math (STEM), energy, energy conservation, business, education, health, and the environment. MSIs have the potential and capacity to train and mentor America’s future STEM workforce and increase student experiential learning and career opportunities in the energy sectors to broaden perspectives beyond the classroom environment. These institutions also provide internships that promote research career paths that lead to secure jobs specifically in the energy sector as well as increase the number of sustained, strategic, business and industry partnerships that provide professional development opportunities for students. Services and Support includes: 

Previous Opportunities by Agency

Deadline: August 1, 2022

Nature, in partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, is willing to offer the Alliance virtual seats to a special Masterclass designed specifically for mid-career cancer researchers at HSIs. The Masterclass will be facilitated by two Nature Editors with a kick off from the Editor-in-Chief of Nature Cancer. The two Editors are:

Wanda Layman, PhD; Executive Editor, Breast Cancer (Nature Partner Journal on Breast Cancer, highest impact Breast Cancer journal)

Joao Monteiro, Chief Editor, Nature Medicine

Tentative dates with starting times from 9:00 AM EST – 11:00 AM EST.

  • Webinar 1 --- Tuesday 4 October
  • Webinar 2 --- Thursday 6 October
  • Abstract Review Session --- Monday 10 October
  • Webinar 3 --- Wednesday 12 October
  •  Webinar 4 --- Friday 14 October
Please submit nominations by Monday, August 1, 2022 via Google Form.