Math Conference and Workshop Grants

Conferences, workshops, and related events (including seasonal schools and international travel by groups) support research and training activities of the mathematical sciences community. Proposals for conferences, workshops, or conference-like activities may request funding of any amount and for durations of up to three years. Proposals under this solicitation must be submitted to the appropriate DMS programs at the deadline specified on the program webpage.

Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. -Universities and Colleges - 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. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.

Expected Number of Awards: 100
Estimated Total Program Funding: $4,000,000
Award Ceiling: $100,000
Award Floor: $10,000

GOALI accepting submissions

Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) promotes university-industry partnerships by making project funds or fellowships/traineeships available to support an eclectic mix of industry-university linkages. Special interest is focused on affording the opportunity for: Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students to conduct research and gain experience in an industrial setting; Industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to academe; and Interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct research projects. This solicitation targets high-risk/high-gain research with a focus on fundamental research, new approaches to solving generic problems, development of innovative collaborative industry-university educational programs, and direct transfer of new knowledge between academe and industry. GOALI seeks to fund transformative research that lies beyond that which industry would normally fund.

Solar Energy Research Grants

[From Philanthropy News Digest] The Tucson-based Research Corporation for Science Advancement has announced three-year grants totaling more than $1.3 million to thirteen early career academic researchers working on projects related to solar energy.

The grants are the first made through RCSA's Scialog initiative, a multiyear program designed to accelerate science by funding early career scientists pursuing transformative research on crucial issues of scientific inquiry. This year, the initiative focused on solar energy because of the economic and national security implications associated with a reliable, domestic, and renewable energy supply. The initial grants also were aimed at supporting research with the potential for rapid translational application and development by the private sector, in the hope that federal and private funding will follow suit.

“Scialog Grants for Solar Energy Conversion Awarded to Researchers at 11 Universities.” Research Corporation for Science Advancement Press Release 6/17/10.

Transfer Scholarship Program

[From Philanthropy News Digest] The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in Lansdowne, Virginia, has announced scholarships to forty community college students so that they can transfer to four-year colleges and universities to complete their bachelor's degree.

The foundation's Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program provides up to $30,000 a year for up to three years to exceptional community college students. Hailing from eighteen states, the scholarship recipients will attend some of the best public and private colleges and universities in the country, including Stanford, Duke, New York University, and the University of California, Berkeley. A large percentage of this year's recipients will major in the sciences and pre-medicine, with others majoring in engineering, economics, political science, natural resources, social work, education, film, and photography. Eighteen of the scholars were born outside the United States.

Youth Outdoor Employment

NEW YORK — Leaders from the U.S. Departments of Labor, Interior and Agriculture joined in New York City at the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit on June 20 to announce the launch of a $20 million federal grant opportunity and implementation of an initiative designed to help disadvantaged youth prepare for jobs in the outdoors. Through a national grant competition, funds will be awarded to enable ex-offenders ages 18 to 24 to give back to their communities through service and conservation work, while simultaneously acquiring solid employment skills. The grant competition is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2010.

The program was unveiled by Assistant Secretary Jane Oates of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration; the U.S. Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Rhea Suh; and U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Harris Sherman. At the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit, administration officials conducted two "listening sessions" with the 500 youth participants in the event to hear their perspectives on the president's America's Great Outdoors Initiative and the challenges and opportunities for youth engaging in outdoor activities and pursuing employment in green jobs.

"This multi-agency partnership will allow disadvantaged youth to prepare for lucrative green jobs and outdoor careers, including federal employment with public land management agencies," said Oates. "Our joint initiative also will provide support for meaningful service projects on public lands currently experiencing a backlog."

Prior to the grant competition, the three agencies will begin their partnership by implementing a pilot program this summer to increase outdoor employment opportunities for youth. The pilot will target local workforce areas to place youth in Youth Conservation Corps and other summer employment opportunities on public lands. Some of those opportunities will include working at national parks and forests, conservation areas, historic sites and tribal lands.

The partnership provides bureaus at the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture with the ability to engage youth looking to work and learn about outdoor occupations. At the same time, local workforce areas are provided with expanded support for their worksites where youth can receive work experience, supervision and an education about natural resources, conservation and becoming good stewards of public lands and resources. For more information on Department of Labor training programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.

$20 million to serve at risk youth

WASHINGTON — During a visit to Sasha Bruce Center, a YouthBuild site in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced the release of two national grants in the amounts of $10 million each to serve at-risk youth.

The awards were issued to YouthBuild USA and the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps to support training opportunities for high school dropouts and young adult offenders (ages 18 to 24) nationwide. The two grantees will work in partnership with federal and state correctional agencies, local workforce investment boards and community-based service providers to offer a proven array of academic, employment and other re-entry-focused strategies designed to transform the lives of program participants.

"The grants awarded will improve the employment prospects of disadvantaged youth, young adult offenders and high school dropouts living in high-poverty, high-crime communities who need our support," said Secretary Solis. "The purpose of these grants is to prepare these individuals for employment by increasing the rate at which participants enter post-secondary education and training, and equipping them with industry-recognized job training skills."

Inherent in each award is the understanding that the awardee will be required to competitively select local sub-grantees or program partners to operate the proposed program in a minimum of five high-poverty, high-crime communities in at least two states.

Today's awards were made available through the fiscal year 2009 Department of Labor Appropriations bill. For more information on Department of Labor training programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.

PA receives $141 million for low-achieving schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that Pennsylvania will receive $141 million to turn around its persistently lowest achieving schools through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. These funds are part of the $3.5 billion that will be made available to states this spring from money set aside in the 2009 budget and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"When a school continues to perform in the bottom five percent of the state and isn't showing signs of growth or has graduation rates below 60 percent, something dramatic needs to be done," said Duncan. "Turning around our worst performing schools is difficult for everyone but it is critical that we show the courage to do the right thing by kids."

The $141,090,171 made available to Pennsylvania is being distributed by formula to the state and will then be competed out by the state to school districts. In order for a school district to apply for these funds, it must have a state-identified "persistently lowest achieving" or a Tier III school -- a school that has failed to meet annual yearly progress for two years and is not identified as a persistently lowest achieving school.

However, Tier III schools can only receive funds once all of the state's persistently lowest achieving schools have received funds. Pennsylvania's application, which includes its list of persistently lowest achieving schools, as defined by the state, can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/summary/index.html.

School districts will apply to the state for the funds this spring. When school districts apply, they must indicate that they will implement one of the following four models in their persistently lowest achieving schools:

• TURNAROUND MODEL: Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.
• RESTART MODEL: Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.
• SCHOOL CLOSURE: Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.
• TRANSFORMATION MODEL: Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

Once schools receive SIG funds, they will be able to begin to spend them immediately to turn around schools this fall. States may apply to the Education Department for a waiver to allow them to spend funds over a three-year period. An additional $545,633,000 has been provided for SIG in 2010 and will be awarded to states to fund additional schools in the 2011-12 school year. The department has also made a request for an additional $900 million for the program in the 2011 budget.

Verizon Foundation scholarships

[From Philanthropy News Digest]

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, has announced $3.3 million in college scholarships to 675 students who are children and dependents of the company's employees.

Awarded in partnership with Scholarship America, four-year scholarships of $20,000 were given to students who plan to attend an accredited four-year institution in the fall. Recipients were chosen based on financial need, academic achievement, and extracurricular activities. Since 2001, the scholarship program has awarded more than $39 million to support the college education of children and dependents of Verizon employees, benefitting more than 2,200 students.

"Education is a key issue for Verizon and our communities," said Verizon Foundation president Patrick Gaston. "Through this scholarship program, Verizon provides a tremendous benefit to our Verizon employees, while also making a significant investment in the development of future leaders."

For a list of this year's scholarship recipients, visit the Verizon Foundation Web site.

“675 Students to Share in More Than $3.3 Million in Verizon Scholarships.” Verizon Foundation Press Release 6/10/10.

STEMester of Service

Youth Service America is accepting applications for the second year of the STEMester of Service program.

Funded by Learn and Serve America, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, STEMester of Service incorporates YSA's semester-long service-learning framework to engage educators and students in addressing critical environmental needs and connecting them to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curricula.

YSA is seeking ten middle schools with large populations of disadvantaged youth to join twenty returning STEMester of Service grantees. STEM schools must be located in one of the twelve states with highest dropout rates: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Washington.

The $5,000 grant (which includes travel and training at YSA's Youth Service Institute in Detroit in October) supports teachers as they engage local partners and guide students in addressing local needs through planning and implementing sustainable service projects that will launch on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January 17, 2011) and culminate on Global Youth Service Day, (April 15-17, 2011).

Full service community school grants

The Department believes that the full-service community school model can create the needed synergy to bolster efforts to transform persistently lowest-achieving schools into schools that enable all students to meet high standards. This absolute priority supports projects that propose to establish or expand (through collaborative efforts among local educational agencies, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and other public and private entities) full-service community schools, as defined in this notice, offering a range of services. To meet this priority, an applicant must propose a project that is based on scientifically based research--as defined in section 9101(37) of the ESEA--and that establishes or expands a full-service community school.

Each applicant must propose to provide at least three of the following eligible services at each participating full-service community school included in its proposed project:
1. High-quality early learning programs and services.
2. Remedial education, aligned with academic supports and other enrichment activities, providing students with a comprehensive academic program.
3. Family engagement, including parental involvement, parent leadership, family literacy, and parent education programs.
4. Mentoring and other youth development programs.
5. Community service and service learning opportunities.
6. Programs that provide assistance to students who have been chronically absent, truant, suspended, or expelled.
7. Job training and career counseling services.
8. Nutrition services and physical activities.
9. Primary health and dental care.
10. Activities that improve access to and use of social service programs and programs that promote family financial stability.
11. Mental health services.
12. Adult education, including instruction of adults in English as a second language.

Diplomas Now

The PepsiCo Foundation has announced a three-year, $6 million grant to the Diplomas Now collaborative for efforts to address high dropout rates in select cities across the country.

Launched two years ago with a $5 million grant from the PepsiCo Foundation, Diplomas Now combines the resources of City Year, Communities In Schools, and the John Hopkins Talent Development High Schools Program to help at-risk middle and high school students get back on track, graduate, and prepare for college and a career. The grant will be used to expand the program in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and San Antonio and to establish new programs in other cities, including Detroit.

PA submits for Race to the Top

Pennsylvania’s record of seven years of consecutive gains in student achievement gives the commonwealth a competitive edge in the federal competition for up to $400 million in federal “Race to the Top” funds, Governor Edward Rendell said this week. Learn more.

Family Literacy grants

This program is administered by the Department of Education (Department) for family literacy programs that will:
 1) Target families living in areas of high concentration of poverty who are receiving welfare benefits and who have educational needs.
 2) Enable communities to foster cooperative partnerships that build on existing community resources to create a new range of services.
 3) Provide services that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following:
 a. Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children.
 b. Training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children.
 c. Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency.
 d. An age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences.

Eligibility—To be eligible to receive a grant, an eligible entity must submit an application that demonstrates it has the qualified personnel needed to develop, administer and implement an Even Start program under Part B, Subpart 3 of Title I of the ESEA; will provide access to the special training necessary to prepare staff for the program, which is offered by the Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education (Bureau); and will address each of the following program elements addressed in Section 1235 of the Even Start statute.

Selection Process—Consideration will be given to applications that meet the following conditions:
 1) Reflect the family focus of Even Start.
 2) Effectively implement the program elements in the Even Start statute.
 3) Demonstrate that the area to be served by the program has a high percentage or a large number of children and families who are in need of those services as indicated by high levels of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, limited English proficiency or other need-related indicators, such as a high percentage of children to be served by the program who reside in a school attendance area served by a local educational agency eligible for participation in programs under Part A (that is, Title I school attendance area), a high number or percentage of parents who have been victims of domestic violence or a high number or percentage of parents who are receiving assistance under a State program funded under Title IV Part A of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.A. §§ 601—619).
 4) Provide early childhood services for at least a 3-year age range.
 5) Demonstrate the greatest possible cooperation and coordination between a variety of relevant service providers in all phases of the program. Relevant service providers include, but are not limited to, adult education and literacy programs; county assistance offices; social service agencies; public libraries; PA CareerLink® One-Stop Centers; Workforce Investment Act programs; elementary schools; family centers; preschool programs such as Head Start; licensed child care centers and other community groups or agencies that provide services and assistance to persons in need of basic literacy skills or support services, or both.
 6) Submit a cost-effective total budget which contains a local match beyond the required Even Start statutory percentages.
 7) Are representative of urban and rural regions of the State.
 8) Show the greatest promise for providing models that may be adopted by other family literacy projects and other local educational agencies.

See more details and guidelines here.