IUSE / Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED)

The U.S. National Science Foundation, through the Directorate for Engineering, Engineering Education and Centers, and the Directorate for STEM Education, Division of Undergraduate Education, administers the IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments program. The RED program builds on prior NSF investments in engineering education research and is aligned with the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education framework and the Professional Formation of Engineers initiative. Its goal is to catalyze revolutionary rather than incremental changes in the education and professional formation of engineers. The program emphasizes cultural, organizational, structural, and pedagogical transformation within engineering and engineering technology departments, with particular attention to creating coherent technical and professional development across the undergraduate experience. The program supports four tracks. RED Planning, Track 1, supports capacity building and collaboration development at eligible institutions so that teams can prepare for future RED projects in Tracks 2, 3, or 4. RED Adaptation and Implementation, Track 2, supports the adaptation and implementation of evidence based organizational change strategies in local institutional contexts. RED Innovation, Track 3, supports new and revolutionary approaches and change strategies for transforming undergraduate engineering education. RED Innovation Partnerships, Track 4, pursues the goals of Track 3 across multiple institutions and is particularly interested in partnerships involving two year institutions. Projects in Tracks 2, 3, and 4 consider cultural, organizational, structural, and pedagogical changes and are expected to institutionalize RED initiatives by the end of the funding period. NSF especially encourages proposals addressing areas such as advanced manufacturing, advanced wireless, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, microelectronics and semiconductors, net zero technologies, sustainability, systems engineering, and quantum engineering. Specific supported activities may include developing technical and professional threads across undergraduate curricula, exploring new institutional and departmental structures, restructuring faculty incentive or reward systems, developing collaborations with industry and other stakeholders, bridging engineering education research and practice through faculty development, improving recruitment and retention, and exploring new modes for delivering content and facilitating learning. Track 1 may support team formation, workshops, structured mentoring, development of research goals and research plans, leadership and management preparation, collaboration development, and assessment of planning goals. Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. Track 1 budgets are up to $75,000 per year for up to two years. Track 2 budgets are a maximum of $1,000,000 for up to five years. Track 3 budgets range from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 for up to five years, while Track 4 budgets range from $1,500,000 to $2,500,000 for collaborations across multiple institutions for up to five years. The anticipated overall funding amount is $7,000,000 to $8,000,000, subject to availability of funds. Proposals may be submitted by accredited two year and four year institutions of higher education with a campus located in the United States, including community colleges, acting on behalf of faculty members. Track 1 has additional restrictions and may only be submitted by institutions meeting at least one of these criteria: two year institutions supporting transfer students, institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions, Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, or non R1 institutions. For all tracks, the Principal Investigator generally must be a Department Chair or Head, or equivalent, of a department in which a significant percentage of students graduate from or transfer to a bachelor's degree program in engineering or engineering technology. A Dean, Provost, or other senior leader may serve as PI when appropriate if that individual will actively lead the proposed change. There are no restrictions on the number of proposals per organization or per PI or co PI. Full proposals may be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov and must follow the applicable NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide or NSF Grants.gov Application Guide. Collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from multiple organizations must use Research.gov. Track 1 concept outlines should be emailed to a cognizant program officer at least 30 days before the proposal deadline, but the solicitation does not identify the concept outline as a mandatory advancement gate. Track 1 proposals include the vision for revolutionizing the engineering department, need for planning support, project goals and objectives, specific actions, barriers and contingency plans, and involvement of a current or former RED recipient advisor. Tracks 2 through 4 require extensive project planning information, and applicable proposals address vision and rationale, goals, specific actions, barriers, an advisory board, research, independent evaluation, mentoring, dissemination, sustainability, scaling and adaptation, project leadership, faculty support, succession planning, and, for Track 4, partnership dynamics. Required supplementary documentation includes a project participant list, and Tracks 2 through 4 require appropriate institutional leadership commitment letters and partner collaboration letters. Required Data Management and Sharing Plans and applicable Mentoring Plans must also be provided. NSF evaluates proposals under the National Science Board approved Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria. Tracks 2, 3, and 4 also have solicitation specific review considerations addressing faculty development and the potential for project success, sustainability, scaling, and continuity through leadership changes. Proposals may receive ad hoc review, panel review, internal NSF review, or a combination as applicable. Multi year award recipients must submit annual project reports no later than 90 days before the end of the current budget period and required final and project outcomes reports after the grant expires. RED recipients must also discuss department dynamics and progress or obstacles in establishing a culture supportive of holistic professional formation and participate in RED program evaluation activities; site visits may occur during the second project year. The solicitation establishes recurring deadlines. Beginning with April 8, 2025, Track 1 proposals are due on the second Tuesday in April annually thereafter. Beginning with September 9, 2025, proposals for Tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4 are due on the second Tuesday in September annually thereafter. For the current cycle, the Grants.gov record identifies September 8, 2026 as the closing date. Full proposals are due by 5 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time. Cognizant program contacts listed in the solicitation include Alice L. Pawley at 703-292-7286, Matthew A. Verleger at 703-292-2961, and Jennifer E. Lewis, with eer-programs@nsf.gov used as the program email. Research.gov system assistance is available at rgov@nsf.gov or 1-800-381-1532, and Grants.gov assistance is available at support@grants.gov or 1-800-518-4726.

Propose revolutionary rather than incremental departmental change; ground activities in sound educational theory and an explicit theory of change; focus on student impact and coherent professional formation; meaningfully engage faculty at all levels; provide a credible independent evaluation with measurable indicators and formative and summative components; demonstrate sustainability and scaling beyond the funding period; prepare for leadership and personnel transitions; for Tracks 2 through 4 address faculty development and incentives because reviewers specifically assess these areas; clearly address Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.