Ideas Lab: Personalized Engineering Learning | 23 627

Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 627

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding an Ideas Lab called "Personalized Engineering Learning," a special kind of grant opportunity built around an intensive, highly interactive convening of researchers and practitioners from different fields. Unlike a typical program where teams submit fully formed projects from the start, an Ideas Lab is designed to spark new, cross-disciplinary collaborations and rapidly shape bold, high-risk/high-reward research directions around a defined "grand challenge." In this case, the grand challenge is pushing engineering education research forward so that learning experiences and assessments can be personalized at a much more advanced level than what is common today, whether in K-12 settings or in higher education.

The core aim of the opportunity is to develop the knowledge, methods, and enabling technologies needed to tailor engineering teaching and evaluation to individual learners and learning contexts. The solicitation points to several broad research avenues that NSF sees as especially promising. One is personalized engineering education itself, meaning new theories, instructional approaches, curricula, and assessment strategies that adapt to differences in learners backgrounds, prior knowledge, interests, and progress. Another is multimodal sensing for personalized learning systems, which suggests integrating data streams such as interaction logs, written work, speech, gesture, eye gaze, physiological signals, or other observable indicators to infer what a learner understands, how they are engaging, or where they are struggling. A third area is team-based personalized learning, recognizing that engineering education often happens in groups and design teams, so personalization may need to account not only for individuals but also for team roles, collaboration patterns, and equitable participation while still meeting learning objectives.

NSF emphasizes that this Ideas Lab is meant to bring together experts across scientific, engineering, computing, and education communities to create innovative solutions that would be difficult to produce within a single discipline. The organizing structure reflects that cross-cutting intent. The effort is coordinated through NSF units spanning Engineering, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, STEM Education, and Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. Specifically, it is organized by the Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities (EFMA), Engineering Education and Centers (EEC), Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation, Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS), Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, and multiple divisions within the STEM Education directorate (including graduate education, undergraduate education, and research on learning in formal and informal settings), along with Translational Impacts in TIP. The breadth of participating units signals that competitive projects are likely to blend learning sciences, AI/data-driven approaches, assessment design, and practical deployment considerations, rather than staying inside a single traditional lane.

An informational webinar was planned for October 2023, hosted by EFMA, to walk potential applicants through the solicitation and answer questions, with access details posted on the EFMA website. While that date has passed, the mention is a reminder that NSF intended active community engagement around how the Ideas Lab will run and what kinds of participants and project concepts are a good fit.

Eligibility is limited to specific U.S.-based applicant types. Proposals may be submitted by U.S. for-profit organizations (including small businesses) with strong research or education capabilities and an innovation focus; non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies that are directly tied to research or educational activities; accredited U.S. institutions of higher education (two- or four-year, including community colleges) acting on behalf of faculty; and federally recognized Tribal Nations. There are also special instructions for international branch campuses of U.S. institutions: if any funding would support work performed at an international branch campus (including via subawards or consultants), the proposal must clearly explain why that location benefits the project and why the same work cannot reasonably be done at the U.S. campus.

The opportunity is a discretionary NSF grant in the science and technology research and development category. The funding opportunity number is 23-627, and the CFDA numbers listed include 47.041, 47.070, 47.075, 47.076, and 47.084. The original closing date shown is May 8, 2024. The award ceiling and expected number of awards are not specified in the provided listing, which often means applicants need to rely on the full solicitation for budget expectations, project scope, and the specific Ideas Lab process (for example, how participants are selected for the lab, how team formation happens, and what proposal stages follow).

Overall, this solicitation is best read as NSF trying to accelerate a new wave of engineering education research where personalization is not a superficial feature but a deep capability: instruction and assessment that adapt dynamically, potentially using rich multimodal evidence, and that work not only for individual learners but also for the team-based environments that are central to engineering practice.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Ideas Lab: Personalized Engineering Learning" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.070, 47.075, 47.076, 47.084.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-09-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-08. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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