Eligibility

• are a citizen, national or legally admitted permanent resident of the United States AND
• hold a doctoral degree in the typical disciplines of the fundamental research areas supported by the Divisions of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences AND
• present a plan that shows how the proposed activities will increase (1) the participation of scientists from underrepresented groupsand (2) the numbers of such individuals that serve as role models for the scientific workforce of the future AND
• are a new investigator, i.e., in the pre-tenure period, at the time of submission, as a tenure-track faculty member in a U.S. IHE eligible to receive NSF support AND
• have not previously served as Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigator, or Senior Personnel on an NSF research grant, withthe exception of Fellowship, Conference/Workshop, Equipment, Travel and Instrumentation proposals.

Funding Priorities

• The intent of these LEAPS-MPS awards is to initiate the research careers of pre-tenure faculty in tenure-track positions, particularly those at MSI, PUI, and R2 institutions, promoting the participation of scientists from all segments of the MPS scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups. This solicitation complements the NSF CAREER program by providing additional funding opportunities to increase the number of proposals to MPS from suchinstitutions, and by providing early federal funding to help launch the academic careers of individuals who can serve as role models for the U.S. scientific workforce of the future.
• Another specific goal is to support innovative plans for recruiting and retaining a broad representation of researchers in research programs supported by these grants.
• Research proposed in this program must be within the purview of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, which includes the Divisions ofAstronomical Sciences, Chemistry, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, and Physics.

Additional Information

• Co-investigators are not permitted, but collaborations with other scientists and/or visiting scientist status in other laboratories are permitted.
• Principal investigators must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.