EMpowering BRoader Academic Capacity and Education (EMBRACE)

The NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) EMBRACE program seeks to support research and educational efforts at non-R1 institutions, including minority serving institutions (MSIs), two-year colleges (2YCs), primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and emerging research and masters level institutions. The program aims to mitigate multiple barriers faced by faculty members in geosciences and related fields at non-R1 institutions in submitting and obtaining federal funding, including high teaching loads, increased expectations for teaching and mentoring, low or no start-up packages, and limited institutional infrastructure and research support personnel. The EMBRACE program supports two categories of proposals: Seed proposals (up to two years of funding) for faculty members to initiate research and/or education programs and build or catalyze research collaborations; and Growth proposals (up to four years of funding) to enable faculty members to establish independent GEO-related disciplinary research programs. The expected outcome of EMBRACE is to attract, grow, and retain diverse talent in the U.S. research enterprise while bolstering capacity, collaboration, and workforce at non-R1 institutions.