About the NSF AISL Program

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning opportunities for the public in informal environments; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments. The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) is an NSF-funded resource center which supports the AISL program. CAISE works in partnership with NSF Program Directors to plan resources that can help teams develop their proposals.

Read the current NSF AISL Program Solicitation (22-626).

Sign up for informational webinars about the solicitation here. Sessions will be held through November 2022.

Full Proposal Deadline (due by 5pm local submitter's time):

January 11, 2023

Revision Notes

1. NEW: AISL Goals for Proposals
2. NEW: Changes to project types, their required components, funding amounts and estimated number of proposals to be funded.
3. NEW: Added new requirements for all proposals: 5 keywords in Project Summary; Goals to be addressed; List of Proposal Personnel
4. REVISED: Solicitation-Specific Criteria
5. REMINDER: All proposals must articulate a clear rationale describing how the project fits within the informal STEM learning literature and practice as well as how it advances our understanding of/contributes knowledge to the informal STEM learning community.
6. REMINDER: The AISL Program prefers collaborative proposals to be submitted using the single-entity option (submitted by one organization with subawards). For collaborative proposals uploaded as separate linked submissions from multiple organizations, the minimum one-year budget amount is $75,000 for each organization for each project year.

Important Information

Innovating and migrating proposal preparation and submission capabilities from FastLane to Research.gov is part of the ongoing NSF information technology modernization efforts, as described in Important Notice No. 147. In support of these efforts, research proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation must be prepared and submitted via Research.gov or via Grants.gov, and may not be prepared or submitted via FastLane.

Any proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should be submitted in accordance with the revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1), which is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after October 4, 2021.

New to Research.gov? Here are some training supports:

• Visit the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), how-to guides, and video tutorials and the Research.gov About Supplemental Funding Request Preparation and Submission page for FAQs.
• Explore preparing Research.gov proposals and supplemental funding requests on the Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site and Research.gov Supplemental Funding Request Demo Site. All Research.gov automated compliance checks are enabled on the demo sites, and the sites can be used to verify proposal and supplemental funding request document compliance in Research.gov before uploading documents in the actual systems.
• View the Fall 2022 Proposal Submission Modernization Update recording including a demo of Research.gov proposal preparation features.

Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support

• As of January 30, 2023, Research.gov and Grants.gov only accept the revised biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support formats. Research.gov and Grants.gov will generate a compliance error message if a proposer or grantee attempts to upload a prior version of either document.
• The revised biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support formats are in SciENcv, and the fillable PDFs are available on the NSF biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support websites. Proposers currently may use either SciENcv or the fillable PDFs. Beginning October 23, 2023, use of SciENcv will become mandatory.
• The Research.gov Project Reporting System will enforce use of the revised current and pending (other) support format when uploaded in annual and final project reports.
• View the NSF Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support: SciENcv and NSF Formats webinar, NSF presentation, and NIH presentation.

Recordings NSF AISL Informational Webinars ​​​​​​

• AISL Proposal Goals (with a deep focus on 1-3 + SSC)  Passcode: AISLGOALS1-6 This presentation provides important resources and an overview of the six new AISL proposal goals with a deeper focus on Goals 1-3, which are required of all proposals.
• AISL Project Types The AISL team walks through the five proposal types in the new AISL solicitation, some of which are new. 
• AISL Budgets This webinar covers budget preparation, line by line, including budget justifications that align with Project Descriptions.
• RECORDING: Evaluation and Project Oversight (For supporting iterative improvement & accountability)

Key NSF Documents

NSF has several prescriptive documents that should inform your proposal development, preparation, and submission.

1. The Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide or PAPPG (NSF 22-1) is the essential document for understanding how to prepare and submit proposals to NSF, as well as how NSF makes awards, and administers and monitors grants. Proposals must be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov platforms. 
2. Prospective New Awardee Guide - There are significant administrative and financial accountability requirements associated with federal grant awards and it is your responsibility as a prospective awardee to understand them. Read this guide in its entirety, as missing, incomplete, or inadequate information may result in your proposal being declined!
3. Data Management for NSF EHR Directorate Proposals and Awards - All NSF proposals must include a “Data Management Plan,” which is a supplementary document that describe how your project will conform to NSF policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results. While some guidance on Data Management Plans is included in the PAPPG, this document provides additional guidance specific to the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate. 
4. Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development - The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences and NSF co-developed the Common Guidelines to clarify the different types of education and learning research and to provide guidance about the purpose, justification, design features, and expected outcomes from these various types. Also, be sure to review the 2018 Companion Guidelines on Replication and Reproducibility in Education Research, which focuses on the importance of replication and reproducibility of research and provides guidance on steps researchers can take to promote corroboration and build the evidence base.
5. NSF Merit Review Website - NSF’s merit review process is intended to ensure that submitted proposals are reviewed in a fair, competitive, transparent, and in-depth manner. While the process is described in the PAPPG, this website offers a deeper dive and an interactive, graphical representation of the timeline. This animated video illustrates the process. You can also watch this video to get a sense of what really happens during a review panel. A new Merit Review Process Digest was released in Fiscal Year 2018. 
6. Perspectives on Broader Impacts - All proposals to NSF must address two criteria—intellectual merit, or the potential to advance knowledge, and broader impacts, the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes. While NSF is not prescriptive about what qualifies as “broader impacts,” it did host a 2014 summit to bring together NSF staff, university leaders, and current Principal Investigators to share definitions and examples of broader impacts activities. This report outlines those diverse perspectives.

Want to Be An AISL Reviewer?

AISL is currently (and always) looking for proposal reviewers. These presentation slides help you understand what to expect. In addition, this website provides a detailed description of the merit review process. Understanding this process is central to conducting proposal reviews.  If you are interested in serving as a reviewer for the AISL program, email a resume or CV, as well as a paragraph about your expertise to DRLAISL@nsf.gov. AISL asks for a paragraph about your expertise because sometimes a resume and CV doesn’t necessarily highlight your full experience. Please include your experience with informal STEM contexts and topics, age groups and communities/audiences/professionals, theories and methods in terms of practice and/or research. If you are a PI or co-PI on a Jan. 18, 2022 AISL submission, or had any direct and substantial involvement in a proposal, you have a conflict of interest and are not eligible to review this round.

Other NSF Resource Centers

CAISE’s efforts complement those of other NSF resource centers that serve the larger professional STEM education ecosystem. Each center has tailored resources and tools that can be used to design, implement, evaluate, research, and disseminate the work of STEM education experiences and settings. The centers include:

1. CADRE (Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education), which supports the Discovery Research K–12 (DRK–12) program (cadrek12.org)
2. The recently sunsetted CIRCL (Center for Innovative Research in Cyberlearning), which supported the Cyberlearning program (circlcenter.org)
3. CIRCLS (Center for Integrative Research in Computing and Learning Sciences), which supports the Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning (RETTL) program (circls.org)
4. CS for All Teachers (Computer Science for All Teachers), is a virtual community of practice that welcomes all teachers of PreK through high school who are interested in teaching computer science (csforallteachers.org)
5. EvaluATE, which supports NSF’s Advanced Technological Education program (evalu-ate.org)
6. STELAR (STEM Learning and Research Center), which supports the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program (stelar.edc.org)
7. MSPnet (Math and Science Partnership Network), which supports the Math Science Partnership and STEM+C programs (hub.mspnet.org)
8. The recently sunsetted ARC (Center for Advancing Research and Communication), which served the Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE) program (arc.uchicago.edu)

NSF's Response to COVID-19

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has created a covid-19 information page: Information from NSF on coronavirus. This page is updated frequently and includes links to the latest guidance on upcoming program deadlines, as well as budget and logistics questions pertaining to existing awards that may be affected in various ways. It is a good starting place for help in answering questions about disruptions to NSF-funded work.

NSF released additional information for the broader grantee community regarding adjustments that may be needed due to covid-19. See this guidance on NSF's implementation of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum (M-20-17), entitled, Administrative Relief for Recipients and Applicants of Federal Financial Assistance Directly Impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) due to Loss of Operations. Grantees are requested to review these documents, and bring any additional questions or concerns to their cognizant program officer. NSF encourages the research community to respond to this challenge through existing funding opportunities.