Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS)

Overview

The Launching of Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS) supports the launch of the careers of pre-tenure faculty whose research is in Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) fields at institutions that do not traditionally receive significant amounts of MPS funding, such as Carnegie Research 2 (R2) universities, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs).

The LEAPS awards enable PIs from these institutions to initiate productive research programs and generate results useful for preparing subsequent competitive proposals to "traditional" NSF funding opportunities, such as a core program or a CAREER solicitation. A critical goal of the LEAPS-MPS Program is to develop the 21st-century STEM workforce representative of society's full spectrum of talent by increasing the participation in STEM research of members of communities underrepresented and/or under-served in STEM and the number of members of these communities who can serve as role models.

Awards are for 24 months with budgets of up to $250,000 total costs (direct plus indirect).

Proposals in response to this solicitation must be submitted for consideration to the appropriate program in one of the five MPS Divisions.

Program Description
LEAPS-MPS awards support projects led by beginning investigators and focused on advances within or across research areas supported by the
•    Divisions of Astronomical Sciences (AST), 
•    Chemistry (CHE), 
•    Materials Research (DMR), 
•    Mathematical Sciences (DMS), and 
•    Physics (PHY) in the MPS Directorate.

The projects should form a sound basis for a compelling research program. The results of activities supported by LEAPS awards should increase the competitiveness of future proposals to NSF programs by the PIs; these could be, for example, data that can be used in the design of a future project and the formation of productive research collaborations or partnerships to support or increase the impact of educational efforts. Projects should also serve to increase the participation in STEM research of underrepresented and/or under-served communities in STEM and the number of members of these communities who can serve as role models to ensure that the 21st-century STEM workforce encompasses society's full spectrum of talent.
The LEAPS-MPS program does not support proposals more appropriate for consideration by NSF programs outside MPS or other federal agencies and will be returned without review. Potential proposers who are uncertain about the fit of a research project to an MPS division are strongly encouraged to contact the program officers identified below to discuss the fit.
 

Program Performance Period: Proposed projects should be completed in 24 months. LEAPS-MPS awards are for up to $250,000 in total (direct and indirect costs) for a period of up to 24 months. The budget should include funds for the PI's travel to a one-and-a-half-day meeting of LEAPS award recipients in the Washington, DC, area

Principal Investigator Requirements: The Principal Investigator must fulfill these three conditions at the time of proposal submission:

• hold a doctoral degree in a discipline in which the Divisions of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences support fundamental research
• be in the pre-tenure period of a tenure-track or tenure-track equivalent faculty appointment

• have not previously served as Principal or co-Principal Investigator on an NSF research award. For this solicitation, Fellowship, Conference/Workshop, Equipment, Travel, Instrumentation Infrastructure, and Research Opportunity Award (ROA) awards are not included in the research grant category

   

Tenure-track equivalency - For a position to be considered tenure-track-equivalent, it must simultaneously meet these three requirements: (1) the continuing appointment is expected to last at least three years from the start date of the LEAPS award; (2) the appointment comes with substantial research and educational responsibilities; and (3) the employee's career goals and job responsibilities as well as the mission of the department or organization will be served by the proposed LEAPS project.

Co-Principal Investigators are not permitted on LEAPS-MPS proposals.

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitting organization's local time):

     April 17, 2025

     January 22, 2026

     Fourth Thursday in January, Annually Thereafter