Humanizing Research Event, National Science Foundation Supplemental Support and Other Types of Proposals

Humanizing Research: The Power of Community Engagement

The Center for Research and Creative activity is hosting the event Humanizing Research: The Power of Community Engagement. Join Dr. James Lavery (Emory University) to learn practical strategies for humanizing your work, building authentic partnerships, and ensuring your research creates a real-world impact rooted in trust. Rethink ethics by moving beyond the checklist and putting people first. This virtual session explores how community and stakeholder engagement serves as the “secret sauce” for successful translational research and implementation.

Event Information:

• Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2026
• Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
• Location: Virtual

National Science Foundation Supplemental Support

We encourage principal investigators to consider supplemental funding for existing National Science Foundation (NSF) awards or within a proposal for a new or renewal NSF award. Supplemental funding is a mechanism through NSF to provide additional support to expand the impact of your work. Supplemental funding can take on many different forms, for example, student support, industry engagement, and project extensions.

Supplemental Funding Opportunities

Provided is a list of the more common supplemental funding opportunities, however, this is not an exhaustive list. Detailed information on supplemental funding opportunities can be found in the PAPPG, Dear Colleague Letters, and select solicitations. 

• Standard Supplemental Funding Requests – small amounts of supplemental funding and up to six months of additional support to assure completion of the original scope of work.
• Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) – funding to stimulate collaboration between universities and industry through collaborative research projects, experiential learning opportunities, or integration of industry perspectives and skills into academe.
• Career-Life Balance (Family Leave Provisions) – funding to support additional personnel to sustain research while the PI, Co-PI, other key personnel, postdoctoral researcher or graduate student is on family leave for either primary dependent care responsibilities or other direct family considerations. 
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates Supplement (REU) – funding to engage students in research for an ongoing NSF-funded research project.  
• Research Experience for Teachers Supplement in Engineering and Computer Science (RET) – supports summer experiences for K-14 educators that foster long-term collaborations between universities, community colleges, school districts and industry partners. 
• Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students – funding for graduate students to have experiential learning opportunities through research internships in non-academic settings. 
• NSF-NIST Interaction in Basic and Applied Scientific Research – supports collaborative research and educational activities among National Institute of standards and Technology (NIST) scientific and engineering staff and university researchers. 

How to Apply for Supplemental Support

First, contact your Program Officer (PO) to discuss the supplemental funding request and if encouraged to apply, inform preaward@boisestate.edu. Follow the guidelines in NSF’s Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) for a typical supplemental funding request. Some requests require additional or different guidance, therefore, refer to the guidance by the PO and, if available, the corresponding Dear Colleague Letter or solicitation. Reach out to crca@boisestate.edu for templates and supplemental development support. 

National Science Foundation Other Types of Proposals

We encourage principal investigators to also consider Other Types of Proposals that can be submitted to the National Science Foundation as outlined in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). These Other Types of Proposals, some of which are outside of standard program solicitations, support activities such as planning and exploratory work, quick response research, and interdisciplinary research that does not fall within a defined program. These funding requests are evaluated through NSF”s two merit review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.

Other Types of Funding Opportunities

There are several funding sources available to support projects that do not fall within a NSF program. Provided is a list of these opportunities, however, this is not an exhaustive list. Detailed information on other funding opportunities can be found in the PAPPG, Dear Colleague Letters, and select solicitations. 

• Unsolicited Proposals – several Directorates accept unsolicited proposals that can be submitted at any time, especially if the project is interdisciplinary and does not fit into a particular program. Reach out to a program officer to discuss your idea. Additional information on submitting an unsolicited interdisciplinary proposal is here. 
• Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) – funding for when there is a severe urgency with regard to availability of or access to data, facilities or specialized equipment, including quick-response research on natural or anthropogenic events and similar unanticipated occurrences.
• Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) – supports exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative and high risk, research ideas or approaches. 
• Research Advanced b Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE) – support bold, interdisciplinary projects whose scientific advances like in great part outside the scope of a single program or discipline, research promises to make transformational advances, and prospective discoveries reside at the interfaces of disciplinary boundaries that may not be recognised through traditional review or co-review. 
• Planning Grant – supports initial conceptualization, planning and collaboration activities that aim to formulate new and sound plans for large-scale projects in emerging research areas for future submission to an NSF program. 
• Conference – supports conferences in special areas of science and engineering that bring experts together to discuss recent research or education findings or to expose other researchers or students to new research and education techniques.
• Equipment – funding for specialized equipment for individual or group of investigators. 
• Travel – supports domestic and/or international travel for participation in scientific and engineering meetings.

How to Apply for Other Types of Proposals

For unsolicited proposals, first contact a Program Officer (PO) to discuss your idea. Follow the guidelines in NSF’sProposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). For RAPID, EAGER, RAISE, and Planning Proposals, first send a Concept Outline to the cognizant PO. Guidance for Concept Outlines is provided in the PAPPG. A Concept Outline is generally not required for Conference, Equipment, and Travel Proposals, unless specified in a solicitation or requested by the PO, however, we encourage you to reach out to the PO before applying for one of these opportunities to discuss potential funding. If encouraged to apply for any of these opportunities by the PO, inform preaward@boisestate.edu. Guidance for proposal preparation for each of these Other Types of Proposals is available at the links previously provided. Reach out to crca@boisestate.edufor Concept Outline templates and proposal development support.