Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC)

Overview

The purpose of this solicitation is to broaden participation in innovation ecosystems in key technologies (e.g., advanced manufacturing, advanced wireless, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum information science, semiconductors, novel materials, and microelectronics) by supporting capacity-building efforts in growing external partnerships for institutions of higher education. Traditionally, those MSIs, PUIs, and two-year institutions with limited or no research capacity have been limited to partnerships with larger IHEs and industry in the area of workforce development. This solicitation aims to expand the opportunities for these institutions to participate in one or more aspects of an emerging innovation ecosystem, spanning workforce development, use-inspired research, and the translation of research to practice through the creation of new or expanded partnerships.

The goals of awards made under this solicitation are to enable recipients to:

• Create partnerships with external organizations to grow programs in workforce development, use-inspired research and development (R&D), and/or the translation of research to practice in emerging technology fields; and
• Develop the capacity and institutional knowledge needed to build new partnerships and secure future external funding to support ongoing efforts in emerging technology fields and regional innovation ecosystems.

Desired Activities

Capacity-building efforts supported by this solicitation should focus on the resources, infrastructure, and expertise required for an institution to establish meaningful partnerships with external organizations to facilitate participation in the regional innovation ecosystem. Such efforts may include, but are not limited to:

• Growing corporate, community, and/or local government relations;
• Building external partnerships for nimble workforce development programs responsive to regional needs;
• Growing external partnerships to advance technology commercialization, especially those relevant to the regional innovation ecosystem; and/or
• Expanding the institution's research enterprise (e.g. research development, research administration, research leadership, etc.) through external partnerships.

Because participation in NSF funding opportunities may represent significant logistical challenges for this solicitation's intended audience, this program is employing a three-phase process to provide proposing teams guidance and mentorship generating project ideas and proposal development.

• Phase 1. Submitting Preliminary Proposals: Proposing teams will be selected to participate in Phase 2 based on their institution's need for capacity-building for innovation partnerships as supported by the preliminary proposal. 
• Phase 2. EPIIC Workshops: The workshops will include virtual and in-person meetings designed to create an interactive and free-thinking environment where participants from a range of IHEs immerse themselves in collaborative thinking processes to construct impactful approaches to identifying and improving infrastructure limitations that impede an institution's ability to meaningfully engage in cross-sector partnerships to advance efforts in workforce development, R&D, and translation of R&D results to practice.
• Phase 3: At the conclusion of the workshops, a subset of teams will be invited to submit collaborative full proposals. Invitations to submit full proposals are conditioned upon full participation in the workshops by the proposing team.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 1
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or co-PI: 1

Preliminary Proposals: Submission of Preliminary Proposals is required.
IHEs eligible to apply for funding under this solicitation are only those considered as neither R1 nor R2 institutions according to the 2021 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/).

Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time): December 15, 2023

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time): May 16, 2024

Estimated Number of Awards: 50

EPIIC awards are expected to be up to three (3) years in duration. Each award will be made at the level of up to $400,000 per recipient institution commensurate with the scope and extent of the activities.