Facilitating Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers two funding opportunities for faculty members at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), termed the Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) and Research Opportunity Awards (ROA). Both initiatives aim to bolster faculty research and similarly promote the integration of research and undergraduate education.

Under the RUI program, grants are awarded to support research projects that enhance faculty skills and expand their professional field's scope while simultaneously building research capacity at their home institutions. The ROA program offers similar support but allows faculty members to work as visiting scientists at research-intensive organizations, fostering a collaborative environment with other NSF-supported investigators.

These programs are open to accredited PUIs, including two-year community colleges that offer Associate's, Bachelor's, and/or Master's degrees in NSF-supported fields. However, eligibility is limited to those institutions that have granted 20 or fewer Ph.D./D.Sci. degrees in all NSF-supported fields over the past two academic years.

Funding for these programs comes directly from the research and education program allocations and is not set aside as a separate allocation. RUI and ROA proposals are reviewed and funded by NSF programs in the proposed research's disciplinary areas. As such, it is advised for potential applicants (PIs) to discuss specific NSF programs with disciplinary program officers to determine the feasibility and timing of RUI/ROA requests.

RUI proposals can either be for supporting an individual research project or for shared research instrumentation. It can also fund a collaborative research project involving PUI faculty and students from either their own or other institutions.

ROA opportunities, on the other hand, can be requested as a supplement to an existing NSF award, a request to reallocate funds in an existing NSF award, or a submission of a new collaborative proposal between a PUI and another institution, with an ROA component included as a subaward or as part of a linked collaborative proposal.

More information on both initiatives, including points of contact, can be accessed on the NSF's official website.