Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS)

The Launching of Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS) supports the launch of the careers of pre-tenure faculty whose research is in Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) fields at institutions that do not traditionally receive significant amounts of MPS funding, such as Carnegie Research 2 (R2) universities, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs).


The LEAPS awards enable PIs from these institutions to initiate productive research programs and generate results useful for preparing subsequent competitive proposals to “traditional” NSF funding opportunities, such as a core program or a CAREER solicitation. A critical goal of the LEAPS-MPS Program is to develop the 21st-century STEM workforce representative of society’s full spectrum of talent by increasing the participation in STEM research of members of communities underrepresented and/or underserved in STEM and the number of members of these communities who can serve as role models.


Awards are for 24 months with budgets of up to $250,000 total costs (direct plus indirect).


Proposals in response to this solicitation must be submitted for consideration tothe appropriate program in one of the five MPS Divisions.

The Launching of Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS) supports the launch of the careers of pre-tenure faculty whose research is in Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) fields at institutions that do not traditionally receive significant amounts of MPS funding, such as Carnegie Research 2 (R2) universities, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs).


The LEAPS awards enable PIs from these institutions to initiate productive research programs and generate results useful for preparing subsequent competitive proposals to “traditional” NSF funding opportunities, such as a core program or a CAREER solicitation. A critical goal of the LEAPS-MPS Program is to develop the 21st-century STEM workforce representative of society’s full spectrum of talent by increasing the participation in STEM research of members of communities underrepresented and/or underserved in STEM and the number of members of these communities who can serve as role models.


Awards are for 24 months with budgets of up to $250,000 total costs (direct plus indirect).


Proposals in response to this solicitation must be submitted for consideration tothe appropriate program in one of the five MPS Divisions.

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
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The proposal must be submitted by Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S., that arenotcurrently classified as a Doctoral University with “Very High Research Activity” (R1 institutions) according to the most recent Carnegie Classification:https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/.


These include two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S., acting on behalf of their faculty members. Eligibility is based on the classification on the date of proposal submission deadline.


*Who May Serve as PI:

The Principal Investigator must fulfill these three conditions at the time of proposal submission:

• hold a doctoral degree in a discipline in which the Divisions of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences support fundamental research


• be in the pre-tenure period of a tenure-track or tenure-track equivalent faculty appointment


• have not previously served as Principal or co-Principal Investigator on an NSF research award. For this solicitation, Fellowship, Conference/Workshop, Equipment, Travel, Instrumentation Infrastructure, and Research Opportunity Award (ROA) awards are not included in the research grant category

Tenure-track equivalency - For a position to be considered tenure-track-equivalent, it must simultaneously meet these three requirements: (1) the continuing appointment is expected to last at least three years from the start date of the LEAPS award; (2) the appointment comes with substantial research and educational responsibilities; and (3) the employee's career goals and job responsibilities as well as the mission of the department or organization will be served by the proposed LEAPS project.


Co-Principal Investigators are not permitted on LEAPS-MPS proposals.