What is the NSF STEM K-12 Program?
The U.S. National Science Foundation STEM K-12 program supports research that advances STEM teaching and learning and improves understanding of education across the human lifespan and a range of formal and informal settings.
It encourages innovative, multidisciplinary, and potentially transformative projects that build theory, generate new knowledge, and inform education practices in a rapidly evolving technological landscape with advances in emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI).
Proposals submitted to the STEM K-12 program may focus on:
- Learning or instruction in any STEM field (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics)
- Formal (PreK–12) and informal learning environments
The program also supports projects that identify and address key issues in moving research into practice and leveraging practice to drive research.
What types of research projects does NSF STEM K-12 fund?
The NSF STEM K-12 program encourages multidisciplinary collaborations across education, social sciences, implementation science, computer science, and STEM disciplines.
It supports quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches, including:
- Foundational studies that advance theory
- Design-based research for learning environments and systems
- Projects building STEM workforce and AI/computer science pathways
- Development of curricula, assessments, and technologies
- Research on cognitive, motivational, and social learning processes
- Advanced methods like data science and machine learning
- Research on deeper learning and effective teaching
How does NSF STEM K-12 differ from other solicitations?
This new, broad funding opportunity is expected to accommodate a wider range of projects than previous NSF solicitations, including ideas that would have aligned with the solicitations mentioned below.
Note: The following solicitations are currently archived. Investigators who would have applied to these programs are particularly encouraged to consider NSF STEM K-12.
- Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL)
- Computer Science for All (CSforAll)
- Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12)
- Translation and Diffusion (TD)
Investigators who typically apply to EDU Core Research (ECR) for research in K-12 and informal settings are also encouraged to apply to NSF STEM K-12. ECR will only accept proposals for undergraduate and graduate-focused projects.