U.S. Mission Sweden PDS Annual Program Statement

Overview:

The Embassy encourages the submission of unique and creative proposals from a wide variety of sources. All programs must include a link to the United States and/or an element that builds understanding of the United States including, but not limited to U.S. policy, people, culture and/or perspectives. Programs must be focused on Swedish or regional audiences/participants.

Goals and Objectives
Embassy Stockholm’s public diplomacy programs are directly tied to our Mission goals and support our joint efforts to address today’s most pressing challenges. 

This year, PD Sweden identified four main campaigns of focus: 

•    SECURITY: Programs that support or promote regional issues such as, but not limited to: regional security, cybersecurity, combatting trans-national crime, combating violent extremism, responding to global health crises, combatting malign influence and/or disinformation, multilateral cooperation, enhancing stability in the region, and a rules-based order.

•    SUSTAINABILITY: Programs that support or promote sustainable economic ties and regional environmental issues such as, but not limited to: climate change mitigation, food security, biodiversity sustainability, blue/green technology, youth engagement, entrepreneurship and innovation, and cooperation on Arctic issues, including engaging indigenous communities.

•    PROSPERITY: Programs that support shared prosperity including but not limited to: promoting tech innovation, expanding research partnerships, business/research security, building entrepreneurship, supporting open and fair trade, and promoting deepening economic ties between the United States and Sweden and/or the region.

•    UNDERSTANDING: Programs that deepen connections between the United States and Swedish communities such as, but not limited to: expanding understanding of U.S. policies, culture, and values to Swedish and regional audiences, supporting or promoting cross-cultural ties, and education and exchange opportunities. Also programs that promote our diversity and our shared commitment to inclusion and integration such as, but not limited to: supporting underrepresented communities; promoting human rights; promoting mutual understanding across communities; supporting shared democratic values; and combatting mis- and disinformation.

Evaluation Criteria
•    Preference will be given to institutions and individuals with a proven track record of executing superior events, workshops, and programs.
•    Applications should have a U.S. component and be directed at Swedish and/or regional audiences/participants.
•    Projects which incorporate one of our priority areas are often considered stronger
Examples of PDS Grants Program projects include, but are not limited to:
•    Academic and professional lectures, seminars, and speaker programs;
•    Skill building training programs;
•    Artistic and cultural workshops, joint performances, and exhibitions; or
•    Professional and academic exchanges and projects.
The Embassy encourages the submission of unique and creative proposals from a wide variety of sources.  
 

Other information:

Funding Instrument Type:  Grants, Grants to individual, Fixed amount awards (FAA), or cooperative agreements.

Cost Sharing or Matching: Cost sharing is not required although encouraged.

Program Performance Period: Proposed projects should be completed in 2 years or less. 

Multiple requests from the same applicant will be considered. Applicants should be aware that the total amount granted to any one organization will be considered when additional applications are considered.

The Department of State will entertain applications for continuation grants funded under these awards beyond the initial budget period on a non-competitive basis subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the program, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the U.S. Department of State.

Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Project Grant

Overview:

The Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Project Grant supports an innovative project that represents a change in research direction for an early stage investigator (ESI) and for which no preliminary data exist. Applications submitted to this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) must not include preliminary data. Applications must include a separate attachment describing the change in research direction.

The proposed project must be related to the programmatic interests of one or more of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) based on their scientific missions.

This notice of funding opportunity does not accept applications proposing clinical trials.

Other information:

Recurring deadlines as follows:
January 26, 2024; May 29, 2024; September 26, 2024; January 28, 2025; May 28, 2025; September 26, 2025; January 27, 2026; May 27, 2026; September 28, 2026.

For this funding opportunity, applications including preliminary data will be considered noncompliant with the NOFO instructions and will be withdrawn. Preliminary data are defined as data not yet published. Existence of preliminary data is an indication that the proposed project has advanced beyond the scope defined by this program and makes the application unsuitable for this funding opportunity.

NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) (R25 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Overview:

The overarching goal of the NIGMS Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage pre-college students (pre-kindergarten to grade 12) from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

SEPA supports two types of projects: 

1. classroom-based projects for pre-kindergarten to grade 12 (pre-college) students and teachers and 
2. informal science education (ISE) projects conducted in outside-the-classroom venues such as science centers, museums and libraries.  

Projects that support quantitative and computational skills development are strongly encouraged.

A SEPA project may focus on one or more of the following activities centered on any discipline of health research within NIH’s mission: 

• Courses for Skills Development:  Courses in a specific discipline or research area that extend the STEM content normally taught in schools. 
• Research Experiences: Hands-on exposure to research for pre-college students and teachers. 
• Mentoring Activities:  Provide participants with a perspective on the biomedical research training pathways and tools for overcoming challenges, navigating career transition points, and successfully transitioning into careers in the biomedical research workforce.
• Curriculum or Methods Development: STEM education resources to improve biomedical, behavioral or clinical science education, or develop novel instructional approaches or computer-based educational tools.
• Outreach: Dissemination of STEM education resources or biomedical, behavioral and clinical research findings to students, teachers and the general public.  

Scientific interests of partnering with NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices (ICOs):

• NEI: educational and research programs targeted at pre-K to grade 12 students and teachers to inspire and train a diverse new generation of individuals to expand and strengthen the vision workforce. 
• NHGRI: educational, outreach, research and clinical activities and experiences, including developing programs that provide: early exposure to genomics; increased basic knowledge of genomics; and age-appropriate research experiences. 
• NIA: projects that reflect its mission to support research on aging, the aging process, and diseases and conditions associated with growing older such as Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD). NIA is seeking applications that offer (1) tailored learning opportunities, (2) an emphasis on explaining the relevance of aging, the aging process, and the science of aging to students' lives, and (3) opportunities to engage students with an interest in science from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups, and foster their development as future scientists in aging research, enrich the questions asked, and expand the scope of interventions developed from the research.   
• NIAAA: research education applications across a broad spectrum of inquiry related to alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder. 
• NIAID: innovative science education activities related to our institute’s areas of focus: HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, allergy, immunology, and transplantation research, including the development of therapies, vaccines, diagnostics, and other advanced technologies (including but not limited to data science and bioinformatics). 
• NIAMS: research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases. In the context of this announcement, NIAMS will support educational and research programs targeted at pre-K to grade 12 students and teachers that relate to this mission. 
• NIBIB: educational, outreach, and research activities that provide: early exposure to biomedical engineering and its capacity to improve human health and health equity; increased understanding of engineering concepts and their applications in medicine and biology; age-appropriate experiences that engage participants in the design, building and testing of tools and methods to address questions and problems in human biology and disease; enhanced understanding of and interest in biomedical engineering as a career path; and career opportunities and guidance to make the biomedical engineering career pathway more accessible for students from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in engineering and to prepare students for careers in biomedical engineering. 
• NICHD: research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. Of high priority are research education projects for underserved preK-12 students that are inclusive of mentors, near-peer role models, and students with disabilities (physical, cognitive, and/or intellectual) and chronic disorders, as well as projects that engage in outreach to encourage interest among students diverse in age, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, language preference, socioeconomic (SES) status, and rural/urban residence. 
• NIDCR: innovative research educational activities in research areas relevant to dental, oral, and craniofacial health and disease, and to translate these findings into prevention, early detection, and treatment strategies that improve overall health for all individuals and communities across the lifespan.
• NIDA: applications related to addiction sciences, including, but not limited to: cellular and molecular neuroscience, neuroimaging, genetics, medication and treatment development, development of new and improved strategies to prevent substance use and its consequences, neuroimmune signaling, neuropathology in brain systems, cognitive processes, population neuroscience, HIV and drugs of abuse, medication development, epidemiology, identifying the biological, environmental, behavioral, and social causes and consequences of substance use and addiction across the lifespan, and implementation science, including secondary data analysis. 
• NIMH: research educational activities on topics spanning from basic neuroscience and behavioral science, translational application of brain and behavior relationships in healthy and diseased states, as well as mental health services and intervention activities. 
• NINDS: research educational activities that address or seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system (i.e., in the healthy and diseased brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves) and informal science education activities that highlight knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease for all people. 
• NIMHD: training activities through the development of Courses for Skills Development and Research Experiences for high school students and teachers (grades 9-12) to advance scientific understanding of the causes of health disparities and efforts to reduce health disparities and improve minority health. 
• NCCIH: research educational activities and experiences that are well aligned with the NCCIH Strategic Plan (https://www.nccih.nih.gov/about/nccih-strategic-plan-2021-2025) and provide exposure to research on nutritional, psychological, and physical approaches that may have originated outside of conventional medicine. 
• NIDDK: education programs to support the mission defined in our strategic plan: to improve health and quality of life for people with diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic disorders; liver, intestinal, and other digestive diseases; obesity; nutritional disorders; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.
• ORWH: projects that reflect: (1) Innovative science and health education curricula that emphasize the biological and physiological differences between males and females. (2) Books, films, and other media featuring women scientists and engineers that would inspire girls to enter into STEM careers. (3) Interactive games and role-playing opportunities that highlight the importance of a diverse team in solving scientific problems. (4) Resources for P- 12 teachers that inform how common childhood and adolescent diseases and disorders present differently in boys vs. girls.
• ODSS: research education projects and activities that inspire interest in data science and how data science can advance biomedical research.

Solicitation limitations:

The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time per 2.3.7.4 Submission of Resubmission Application. This means that the NIH will not accept:

• A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) application.
• An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review.

Other information:

• Direct costs are limited to $250,000 annually. 
• The SEPA project period is 5 years.
• Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.
• Participants in SEPA programs are pre-college students, teachers or the general public.  
• Institutions with existing Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) institutional training grants (e.g., T32) or other Federally funded training programs may apply for a research education grant provided that the proposed educational experiences are distinct from those training programs receiving federal support.In many cases, it is anticipated that the proposed research education program will complement ongoing research training occurring at the applicant institution.
• Applications must include a plan for rigorous evaluation of the activities supported by the award. A maximum of ten percent (10%) of the direct costs requested may be devoted to evaluation-related activities.
• Indirect Costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative [F&A] Costs) are reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs (exclusive of tuition and fees, expenditures for equipment and consortium costs in excess of $25,000), rather than on the basis of a negotiated rate agreement.