Chemical Education Today
Report
Information Technology Research and Education at NSF by Donald J. Wink
The NSF has been a leader in the development of new information technologies, including support for work in education and technology. Often, opportunities for educators are found in larger efforts. This is the case for the Information Technology Research (ITR) program. It has now been extended to education areas, as announced in NSF Publication 00-126. Links to the program announcement in multiple formats are found at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf00126. The Information Technology Research program is crossdirectorate, meaning researchers in many different areas can apply, including now the Directorate for Education and Human Resources. There are three types of proposals: small projects of up to $500,000 that have a single full proposal deadline of January 22–24, 2001; group projects for $500,000 to $5,000,000 having a pre-proposal due November 27–29, 2000, and full proposals due April 9–11, 2001; and large projects that can go as high as $15 million, with pre-proposals due December 4–6, 2000 and full proposals due April 23–25, 2000. Small proposals are deliberately intended for those just breaking into IT research and the program indicates particular
interest in novel ideas and approaches, development of emerging technology, changes in a PI’s research focus, and other fresh starts. Large and group projects will have qualities associated with sweeping research efforts and national center characteristics. The ITR program has three areas of emphasis. Two (fundamental research in IT and applications in science and engineering) are outside of education. The third covers education, specifically extensions of IT education and infrastructure. This includes large project efforts into communityextending activities in undergraduate settings and involving underrepresented groups. Another presentation of the ITR program—one that must be referred to by applicants—is by five different technical areas, where the areas People and Social Groups Interacting with Computers and Infrastructure (called ITR/PE) and Applications in Science and Engineering (ITR/AP) both include educational activities. Donald J. Wink teaches in the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 77 No. 11 November 2000 • Journal of Chemical Education
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