American Overseas Research Centers (AORC) Program

Overview

The Department of Education is issuing a notice inviting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2024 for the American Overseas Research Centers (AORC) program.

The AORC program provides grants to consortia of institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the United States to establish or operate an overseas research center (Center) to promote postgraduate research, exchanges, and area studies. AORC grants may be used for all or a portion of the costs to operate and maintain the overseas Center; organize and manage conferences; develop or acquire teaching and research materials; acquire or preserve library collections; bring scholars and faculty to the Center to teach or conduct research; support the salaries for Center staff and visiting faculty and professional development stipends and fellowships; pay the travel costs for Center staff and project participants; and to publish and disseminate materials for the academic community and the public.

Priorities: Under this competition we are particularly interested in applications that address the following priorities. Invitational Priorities: For FY 2024 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, these priorities are invitational priorities.

Invitational Priority 1—Professional Development Opportunities for Participants from Community Colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions. Projects that provide professional development opportunities to participants from community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions. The opportunities may be provided domestically or overseas and may include curriculum development workshops to create new courses or to incorporate global content and competencies into existing courses, language instructional programs for the beginning to advanced levels, or participation in academic conferences relevant to the Center’s focus. 

Invitational Priority 2—Open Access to Center-related Research, Instructional, and Scholarly Resources. Projects that provide open access to Center-related research studies, conference proceedings, online libraries, digital archives, instructional materials, scholarly publications, and other resources related to the scholarly and cultural foci of the Center.