NSF Announces $200K in Mentoring Awards

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced it intends to have almost $200,000 in fiscal year 2003 funds for new awards under the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) Program. Nominations to honor individuals and institutions are invited for the 2003 competition of these annual awards.

The PAESMEM Program, administered on behalf of the White House by NSF, seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts or programs designed to enhance the participation of groups underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The awardees serve as exemplars to their colleagues and are leaders in the national effort to more fully develop U.S. human resources in the above fields.

Approximately 20 grant awards of $10,000 each are expected to be split evenly among individuals and institutions. Beyond the grant award, each awardee will be invited to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony, recognition events, and meetings with leaders in federal sector education and research, and focused workshops addressing effective mentoring of students from the underrepresented groups. The awardees will be honored at a White House ceremony.

Among eligibility requirements, nominees must have served in such a mentoring role for at least five years. An individual nominee must be a U.S. citizen who has an affiliation with an organization eligible to be an NSF grantee. Likewise, an institutional nominee must be eligible to be an NSF grantee. All specified efforts may be at the K-12, undergraduate, or graduate levels.

Full proposals are due by 5 p.m. (proposer's local time) on February 28, 2003. More information, including proposal submission guidelines and all eligibility requirements, is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf03503