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Technical Support to Army for Cultural Resources Management Needs
This Program Assistance Announcement (PAA) is intended to solicit proposals for Cultural Resource Support Cooperative Agreements on either a worldwide (OCONUS), national (CONUS), regional, or state-by-state basis. The Cooperative Agreements will allow organizations to provide cultural resources technical assistance directly Army installations, major commands, and headquarters.
For the topic “Technical Support to Army for Cultural Resources Management Needs”, the Army desires to enter into mutually beneficial partnerships through cooperative agreements to attain clearly identified public purposes associated with cultural resources stewardship, including
- archaeological and historic building and structure planning level surveys;
- archaeological and historic building and structure identification, inventories and reports;
- archaeological and historic building and structure evaluations of eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, and reports;
- archeological data recovery plans and projects;
- levels 1-4 HABS/HAER building and structure documentation;
- technical assistance for building and structure repair, renovation, rehabilitation, and restoration;
- assistance in preparing other documents for cultural resources management needs;
- assistance with Native American cultural resource issues; and
- survey and identification of Native American sacred sites and properties of traditional religious and cultural importance using archeological methods, historic documents, oral histories, and informant interviews.
In addition to the above, in order to enhance the cooperative agreement effort, the Army desires to develop partnerships with stakeholders who could benefit from day-to-day contact with the Army and could provide liaisons to support Army cultural resources management and provide technical expertise. Liaison positions could be part- or full-time. Principal duties would be as follows:
1. Develop a standard operating procedure for day to day working relationship between the cooperator liaisons and Army to address work product schedules, priorities and request
2. Support the Army cultural resources management program by providing expert technical information, regulatory compliance reviews, management plan reviews, project management, corporate data reviews and analyses, technical input into policy development and application, assistance in professional meetings and consultations, and other duties as assigned
3. Provide technical expertise in the cultural resources area, including but not limited to regulatory affairs for National Historic Preservation Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and other pertinent cultural resources statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders
Application Deadline: Continuously Open
Funding Agency: Department of the Army
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC)
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting preventive conservation measures that mitigate deterioration and prolong the useful life of collections.
Libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country are responsible for collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art, and historical objects that facilitate research, strengthen teaching, and provide opportunities for life-long learning in the humanities. To preserve and ensure continued access to such collections, institutions must implement preventive conservation measures, which encompass managing relative humidity, temperature, light, and pollutants in collection spaces; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft and from natural and man-made disasters.
As museums, libraries, archives, and other collecting institutions strive to be effective stewards of humanities collections, they must find ways to implement preventive conservation measures that are scientifically sound and sustainable. This program therefore helps cultural repositories plan and implement preservation strategies that pragmatically balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. Projects should be designed to be as cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sensitive as possible, and they should aim to mitigate the greatest risks to collections rather than to meet prescriptive targets.
To help institutions develop sound preventive conservation projects, NEH encourages collaborative and interdisciplinary planning, which is important for identifying sustainable strategies. Such planning should include consideration of the following factors: the nature of the materials in a collection; the performance of the building, its envelope, and its systems in moderating internal environmental conditions; the capabilities of the institution; the nature of the local climate and the effects of climate change; the cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency of various approaches to preventive conservation; and the project’s impact on the environment.
SCHC offers two kinds of awards:
1. Grants for planning – To help an institution develop and assess preventive conservation strategies, grants will support planning projects, which may encompass such activities as site visits, risk assessments, planning sessions, monitoring, testing, modeling, project-specific research, and preliminary designs for implementation projects. Planning grants must focus on exploring sustainable preventive conservation strategies.
2. Grants for implementation – . Implementation projects should be based on planning that has been specific to the needs of the institution and its collections within the context of its local environment. It is not necessary to receive an NEH planning grant to be eligible for an implementation grant. Planning could be supported by NEH, other federal agencies, private foundations, or an institution’s internal funds. Projects that seek to implement preventive conservation measures in sustainable ways are especially encouraged.
SCHC grants may not be used for
- general conservation or preservation assessments and other basic preservation projects that could be supported through Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions;
- the preservation of materials that are the responsibility of an agency of the federal government, are privately held, or are not freely accessible for research;
- the installation of climate control, security, lighting, and fire protection systems as a component of a project to construct a new building;
- the preservation of the built or natural environment;
- the renovation or restoration of historic structures, except insofar as that activity is needed to preserve humanities collections that such a structure houses;
- the stabilization of archaeological sites; or
- asbestos abatement.
Application Deadline: December 1, 2011
Funding Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities
Governors’ Institute for Community Design
As part of the interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities is seeking proposals to fund one applicant to operate the Governors’ Institute for Community Design. The institute will select and work with interested state leadership (governors, their cabinets, and their staffs) to deliver technical assistance that supports state efforts to implement smart growth and sustainable communities development approaches that protect the environment, improve public health, facilitate job creation and economic opportunity, and improve overall quality of life. Providing financial assistance to establish and operate the Governors’ Institute is a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Transportation, and EPA.
Application Deadline: December 5, 2011
Funding Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Collaborative Research Grants
Collaborative Research Grants support interpretive research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars, for full-time or part-time activities for periods of a minimum of one year up to a maximum of three years. Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; field work; applications of information technology; and technical support and services. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to the appropriate scholarly and public audiences.
Eligible projects include
- research that significantly adds to knowledge and understanding in the humanities;
- conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit scholarly research;
- archaeological projects that include the interpretation and communication of results (projects may encompass excavation, materials analysis, laboratory work, field reports, and preparation of interpretive monographs); and
- research that uses the knowledge and perspectives of the humanities and historical or philosophical methods to enhance understanding of science, technology, medicine, and the social sciences.
As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its grants available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH grant products. For the Collaborative Research program, such products may include monographs, excavation reports, multi-authored volumes, websites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of websites, all other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.
The Collaborative Research program welcomes projects that respond to NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative. Such projects could focus on cultures internationally or within the United States. International projects might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American projects might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. These projects might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse that have informed this quest.
Bridging Cultures: Humanities Scholarship in Mexico and the United States: The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Humanities Department of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Coordinación de Humanidades de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México [UNAM]) are cooperating to foster the exchange of information and advance research in the humanities. NEH is inviting applications for support of collaborative research projects involving scholars from the United States and UNAM. Project participants may also include other scholars from Mexico and other countries. Applications are to be submitted to the Collaborative Research program. Projects may address topics in any field of the humanities and may be multidisciplinary.
Application Deadline: December 8, 2011
Funding Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities
Cyberlearning: Transforming Education (Cyberlearning)
Through the Cyberlearning program, NSF seeks to integrate advances in technology with advances in what is known about how people learn to
- better understand how people learn with technology and how technology can be used productively to help people learn, through individual use and/or through collaborations mediated by technology;
- better use technology for collecting, analyzing, sharing, and managing data to shed light on learning, promoting learning, and designing learning environments; and
- design new technologies for these purposes, and advance understanding of how to use those technologies and integrate them into learning environments so that their potential is fulfilled.
Of particular interest are technological advances that allow more personalized learning experiences, draw in and promote learning among those in populations not served well by current educational practices, allow access to learning resources anytime and anywhere, and provide new ways of assessing capabilities. It is expected that Cyberlearning research will shed light on how technology can enable new forms of educational practice and that broad implementation of its findings will result in a more actively-engaged and productive citizenry and workforce.
Cyberlearning awards will be made in three research categories, each focusing on a different stage of research and development: Exploratory (EXP), Design and Implementation (DIP), and Integration and Deployment (INDP). The Cyberlearning program will also support small Capacity-Building Projects (CAP) and a Cyberlearning Resource Center (CRC).
The following list summarizes the purposes and prerequisites of each project category.
1. EXP: The purpose of this project type is to explore the feasibility of a technological innovation and to shed light on the answers to fundamental research questions related to learning with technology. The prerequisites are a team with a shared vision that takes into account what is known about how people learn, learning in the targeted domain, use of technology for such learning, and challenges to technology use.
2. DIP: The purpose of this project type is to ascertain the potential of ideas, develop guidelines for use of an innovation, and answer research questions about learning with technology. The prerequisites are same as EXP plus completed work equivalent to one or more Cyberlearning EXP projects.
3. INDP: The purpose of this project type is to integrate or extend the use of one or more technologically-sophisticated efforts that have already shown promise and answer a variety of research questions related to learning with technology. The prerequisites are same as EXP plus completed work equivalent to one or more Cyberlearning DIP projects.
4. CAP: The purpose of this project type is partnership building and community building, including conferences, workshops, and short courses.
5. Cyberlearning Resource Center: The purpose of this project type is to support Cyberlearning projects and programmatic efforts. The prerequisites are lead institution should have cyberlearning expertise and demonstrated capacity to plan, develop, and manage a national center that provides technical support for a diverse porfolio of projects.
Multiple Deadlines: Next deadline is December 15, 2011
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
America’s Media Makers: Development Grants
The Division of Public Programs offers support for a wide range of public humanities programs that engage citizens in thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity and history. Projects must be well-grounded in scholarship and illuminate ideas and insights central to the humanities. Grants for America’s Media Makers support projects in a range of formats, including interactive digital media and radio and television programs that engage the public in the humanities thatand explore stories, ideas, and beliefs in order to deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. Projects should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.
NEH offers two categories of grants for media projects: Development Grants and Production Grants.
Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and format and to prepare programs for production. These grants cover a wide range of activities that include, but are not limited to, meetings and individual consultations with scholars, research, preliminary interviews, preparation of program scripts, designs for interactivity and digital distribution, and the creation of partnerships for outreach activities and public engagement with the humanities. Development grants should culminate in the refinement of a project’s humanities ideas, and in a script, or a design document for (or a prototype of) digital media components or projects. Development grants should also yield a detailed plan for outreach and public engagement, in collaboration with a partner organization (or organizations).
Before applying, applicants must have a solid command of the major humanities scholarship on their subject, have clarified the ideas that the project will consider, and have consulted with a team of scholarly advisers to work out the intellectual issues that the program will explore. Applicants must also have made preliminary decisions about the format and storyline and located essential materials for the program(s). Finally, they must have recruited the appropriate media professionals, especially the producer, writer, or interactive designer.
Application Deadline: January 11, 2012
Funding Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities
Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums
The Sparks Grants are a special funding opportunity within the IMLS National Leadership Grants program. These small grants encourage libraries, museums, and archives to test and evaluate specific innovations in the ways they operate and the services they provide. Sparks Grants support the deployment, testing, and evaluation of promising and groundbreaking new tools, products, services, or organizational practices. An applicant may propose activities or approaches that involve risk, as long as the risk is balanced by significant potential for improvement.
Successful proposals will address problems, challenges, or needs of broad relevance to libraries, museums, and/or archives. A proposed project should test and evaluate a specific, innovative response to the identified problem and present a plan to make the findings widely and openly accessible.
To maximize the public benefit from federal investments in these grants, the Sparks Grants will fund only projects with the following characteristics:
1. Broad Potential Impact – The applicant should identify a specific problem or need that is relevant to many libraries, archives, and/or museums, and propose a testable and measurable solution. Proposals must demonstrate a thorough understanding of current issues and practices in the project’s focus area and discuss its potential impact within libraries, archives, and/or museums. Proposed innovations should be widely adoptable or adaptable.
Significant Innovation – The proposed solution to the identified problem must offer strong potential for non-incremental, significant advancement in the operation of libraries, archives, and/or museums. The applicant must explain how the proposed activity differs from current practices or exploits an unexplored opportunity, and the potential benefit to be gained by this innovation.
The Sparks Grants are designed to foster broad sharing of information about project findings. Successful proposals are expected to include communication plans that exploit multiple media and technologies to share project information with targeted audiences.
Examples of activities that might be funded by this program include, but are not limited to
- exploring the potential of highly original, experimental collaborations;
- implementing new workflows or processes with potential for substantial cost savings;
- testing new metrics or methods to measure the impact of promising tools or services;
- rapid prototyping and testing of new types of software tools, or creating useful new ways to link separate software applications used in libraries, archives, or museums;
- offering innovative new types of services or new service options to library, archive, or museum visitors; or
- enhancing institutions’ abilities to interact with audiences in new ways to promote learning or improve services, such as through the deployment of innovative crowd-sourcing techniques.
Application Deadline: February 1, 2012
Funding Agency: Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
STS considers proposals that examine historical, philosophical, and sociological questions that arise in connection with science, engineering, and technology, and their respective interactions with society. STS has four components:
1. Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering, and Technology (EVS)
2. History and Philosophy of Science, Engineering, and Technology (HPS)
3. Social Studies of Science, Engineering, and Technology (SSS)
4. Studies of Policy, Science, Engineering, and Technology (SPS)
The components overlap, but are distinguished by the different scientific and scholarly orientations they take to the subject matter, as well as by different focuses within the subject area. STS encourages the submission of hybrid proposals that strive to integrate research involving two or more of these core areas.
STS provides the following modes of support:
1. Scholars Awards
2. Standard Research Grants and Grants for Collaborative Research
3. Postdoctoral Fellowships
4. Professional Development Fellowships
5. Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants
6. Small Grants for Training and Research (SGTR) **SGTR Grants have an August deadline, this funding is currently anticipated but not confirmed**
7. Conference and Workshop Awards
8. Other Funding Opportunities
Application Deadline: February 1, 2012
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Summer Seminars and Institutes
These grants support faculty development programs in the humanities for school teachers and for college and university teachers. NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes may be as short as two weeks or as long as six weeks. The duration of a program should allow for a rigorous treatment of its topic. An NEH seminar or institute may be hosted by a college, university, school system, learned society, center for advanced study, library or other repository, or a cultural or professional organization. The host site must be appropriate for the project, providing facilities for scholarship and collegial interaction.
NEH encourages Summer Seminars and Institutes in the following areas:
1. Projects for school teachers or college and university faculty designed to strengthen foreign language instruction at the advanced level through the use of humanistic sources.
2. Projects for school teachers that focus on one or more of the artists or artworks featured in the NEH Picturing America program.
3. Projects intended primarily for community-college faculty.
4. Projects that respond to NEH’s new Bridging Cultures initiative. Such projects could focus on cultures internationally, or within the United States. International projects might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American projects might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. These projects might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse that have informed this quest.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2012
Funding Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities
Electronic Records Projects
The NHPRC seeks proposals that will increase the capacity of archival repositories to create electronic records archives that preserve records of enduring historical value. The NHPRC supports efforts by archivists and records managers to meet the challenges of electronic records. Projects must involve institutions that have already established archives and records management programs. The commission seeks applications for (1) start-up projects, which develop the capacity of institutions to prepare to capture and preserve electronic records, through program planning; or (2) collaborative projects, which establish and/or improve electronic records archives by engaging in effective and innovative collaborations.
Most electronic records archives depend upon collaboration among archivists, record managers, and information technology specialists. Only a few organizations have all the required expertise, making training, collaboration and recruitment of new personnel essential components of electronic records archives. The commission strongly encourages applicants to include professional development components necessary for the success of the project. These may consist of basic or advanced electronic records and digital preservation training for archives staff, agency records managers, high-level administrators, information technologists, and others.
Projects cannot establish electronic document management systems that only manage born-digital records with limited retention periods.
Projects in this category cannot digitize historical records.
Application Deadline: June 7, 2012
Funding Agency: National Archives and Records Administration