Program Description: This program provides funding for graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to bring their leading research practice and findings into K-12 learning settings.  Through collaborations with other graduate fellows and faculty from STEM disciplines, teachers and students in K-12 environments, and community partners, graduate students can gain a deeper understanding of their own research and place it within a societal and global context.  The GK-12 program provides an opportunity for graduate students to acquire value-added skills, such as communicating STEM subjects to technical and non-technical audiences, leadership, team building, and teaching while enriching STEM learning and instruction in K-12 settings.  This unique experience will add value to the training of US graduate students and will energize and prepare the students for a broad range of STEM careers in a competitive globalize marketplace.  Furthermore, the GK-12 program provides institutions of higher education with an opportunity to transform the conventional graduate education by infusing and sustaining GK-12 like activities in their graduate programs. 

Please see the solicitation for complete information.

The lead PI must be a STEM discipline faculty member actively conducting STEM research at the lead institution. 

Faculty members whose primary research is on science education (e.g. physics education, technology education, mathematics education, engineering education, etc) are not eligible to serve as the lead PI.

Associate Deans or Designates should submit the following materials electronically to limitedsub@austin.utexas.edu no later than 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16, 2010

1. Dean's or ORU Director's Letter of Nomination
2. Two to three page maximum lay abstract describing the aims of the proposed research project. 
3. The bio sketch of the UT PI

Each department should submit all proposals forward with a ranking from the Dean/Associate Dean for Research.