The National Science Foundation has released the following information about their Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) program. The MCA is the only cross-directorate NSF program specifically aimed at providing protected time and resources to established scientists and engineers targeted at the mid-career stage. Participating programs in the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO), Geosciences (GEO), Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), and Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) will accept MCA proposals.
The Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) program offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the mid-career stage to substantively enhance and advance their research program and career trajectory. Mid-career scientists are at a critical career transition stage where they need to advance their research programs to ensure long-term productivity and creativity but are often constrained by service, teaching, or other activities that limit the amount of time devoted to research. MCA support is expected to help lift these constraints to reduce workload inequities and enable a more diverse scientific workforce (more women, persons with disabilities, and individuals from groups that have been underrepresented) at high academic ranks.
The MCA program provides protected time, resources, and the means to gain new skills through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships, typically at an institution other than the candidate's home institution. Partners from outside the Principal Investigator's (PI) own sub-discipline or discipline are encouraged, but not required, to enhance interdisciplinary networking and convergence across science and engineering fields. Research projects that envision new insights on existing problems or identify new problems made accessible with cutting-edge methodology or expertise from other fields are encouraged.
A key component of a successful MCA will be the demonstration that the PI's current research program could substantively benefit from the protected time, mentored partnership(s), and resources provided through this program, such that there is a substantial enhancement to the PI's research and career trajectory, enabling scientific and academic advancement not likely without this support.
Proposals due February 01, 2023 - March 01, 2023; and February 1 - March 1, Annually Thereafter
Budget details: Funds for the PI may include a) up to a total of 6.5 months of salary (plus fringe benefits) over the course of the award, and b) up to $100,000 for other direct costs in support of the research advancement and training plan. See more details about the budget in the Program Solicitation linked below.
For more information about this program, view the full Program Solicitation here.