The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from early-career faculty at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.

If you are considering applying for a NSF CAREER proposal, please let the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (OSRP) know by clicking here no later than Tuesday, July 3, 2018.

Illinois Tech OSRP internal deadlines:

Eligibility Guidelines – CAREER Program Proposers must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:

• Hold a doctoral degree in a field supported by NSF by the cognizant Directorate’s deadline for submission of five CAREER proposals;
• Be engaged in research in an area of science, engineering, or education supported by NSF;
• Be employed in a tenure-track (or tenure-track-equivalent) position as an assistant professor (or equivalent title) as of October 1 after the proposal submission;
• Be untenured as of October 1 following the proposal submission; and
• Have not previously received a CAREER award. (Prior or concurrent Federal support for other types of awards for non-duplicative research does not preclude eligibility.)

Tenure-Track Equivalency – For a position to be considered a tenure-track-equivalent position, it must meet all of the following requirements: (1) the employee has a continuing appointment that is expected to last the five years of a CAREER grant; (2) the appointment has substantial research and educational responsibilities; and (3) the proposed project relates to the employee’s career goals and job responsibilities as well as to the mission of the department or organization. As stated in the Proposal Preparation Instructions, for non-tenure-track faculty, the Departmental Letter must affirm that the investigator’s appointment is at an early-career level equivalent to pre-tenure status, and the Departmental Letter must clearly and convincingly demonstrate how the faculty member’s appointment satisfies all the above requirements of tenure-track equivalency. Faculty members who are Associate Professors or in equivalent appointments, with or without tenure, are not eligible for the CAREER program. Faculty members who hold Adjunct Faculty or equivalent appointments are not eligible for the CAREER program.

Interested parties can find more information here:

• NSF 17-537 Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions