Program Office: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education
CFDA Number: 84.116H
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants
Also Known As: Research and Development Infrastructure (RDI)

The purpose of the RDI program is to provide Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) including Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions (ANNH), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTIs), and/or Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), or consortia led by an eligible institution, with funds to implement transformational investments in research infrastructure, including research productivity, faculty expertise, graduate programs, physical infrastructure, human capital development, and partnerships leading to increases in external funding.

Grants awarded under this program have performance periods of four years. To be considered for a grant in this program, the eligible institution(s) are expected to implement transformational investments in research infrastructure, including research productivity, faculty expertise, graduate programs, physical infrastructure, human capital development, and partnerships leading to increases in external funding.

Absolute Priority: For FY 2024 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this notice contains one absolute priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet this priority.

Funding for Tribal Controlled Colleges and Universities’ Research and Development Infrastructure.

Projects proposed by TCCUs to improve their research and development activities, including infrastructure, faculty development, and academic programs.

The program has a wide range of allowable uses which are specified in the NIA. These include

• (1) Providing for the improvement of infrastructure existing on the date of the grant award, including deferred maintenance, or the establishment of new physical infrastructure, including instructional program spaces, laboratories, and research facilities relating to the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts, mathematics, health, agriculture, education, medicine, law, and other disciplines,

• (2) Hiring and retaining faculty, students, research-related staff, or other personnel, including research personnel skilled in operating, using, or applying technology, equipment, or devices to conduct or support research,

• (3) Supporting research internships and fellowships for students, including undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral positions, which may include providing direct student financial assistance and other supports to such students.
  Note: Under 20 U.S.C. 1138(d)(1), funds made available under FIPSE may not be used to provide direct financial assistance in the form of grants or scholarships to students who do not meet eligibility criteria under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA),

• (4) Creating new, or expanding existing, academic positions, including internships, fellowships, and post-doctoral positions, in fields of research for which research and development infrastructure funds have been awarded to the grantee under this program,

• (5) Creating and supporting inter- and intra-institutional research centers (including formal and informal communities of practice) in fields of research for which research and development infrastructure funds have been awarded to the grantee under this program, including hiring staff, purchasing supplies and equipment, and funding travel to relevant conferences and seminars to support the work of such centers,

• (6) Building new institutional support structures and departments that help faculty learn about, and increase faculty and student access to, Federal research and development grant funds and non-Federal academic research grants,

• (7) Building data and collaboration infrastructure so that early findings and research can be securely shared to facilitate peer review and other appropriate collaboration,

• (8) Providing programs of study and courses in fields of research for which research and development infrastructure funds have been awarded to the grantee under this program,

• (9) Paying operating and administrative expenses for, and coordinating project partnerships with members of, the consortium on behalf of which the eligible institution has received a grant under this program, provided that grantees may not pay for the expenses of any R1 institutions that are members of the consortia,

• (10) Installing or extending the life and usability of basic systems and components of campus facilities related to research, including high-speed broadband internet infrastructure sufficient to support digital and technology-based learning,

• (11) Expanding, remodeling, renovating, or altering biomedical and behavioral research facilities existing on the date of the grant award that received support under section 404I of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 283k),

• (12) Acquiring and installing furniture, fixtures, and instructional research-related equipment and technology for academic instruction in campus facilities in fields of research for which research and development infrastructure funds have been awarded to the grantee under this program,

• (13) Providing increased funding to programs that support research and development at the eligible institution that are funded by the National Institutes of Health, including through their Path to Excellence and Innovation program,

• (14) Faculty professional development, and

• (15) Planning purposes.

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