U.S. National Science Foundation · United States

Research in the Formation of Engineers (RFE)

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U.S. National Science Foundation expects to make awards, from a total budget of $5.6 million. Eligible applicant types include unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility".

Deadline: Not published yet — check the official call
Grant amount: $5.6 million total budget
Funding rate: No mandatory cost sharing stated; funding percentage not stated
Total budget: $5.6 million
Cost sharing: Not required
Likely applicant types: Companies, SMEs / start-ups, Non-profits, Universities & research, Public bodies, Individuals From source categories or programme rules; the call decides.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Reference: PD-24-1340
Assistance listing: 47.041 Engineering
Last checked: 13 Nov 2026

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About this call

The NSF Engineering Directorate (ENG) has launched a multi-year initiative, the Professional Formation of Engineers , to create and support an innovative and inclusive engineering profession for the 21 st century. Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) refers to the formal and informal processes and value systems by which people become engineers. It also includes the ethical responsibility of practicing engineers to sustain and grow the profession in order to improve quality of life for all peoples. The engineering profession must be responsive to national priorities, grand challenges, and dynamic workforce needs; it must be equally open and accessible to all.

Professional Formation of Engineers includes, but is not limited, to:

• Introductions to the profession at any age;

• Development of deep technical and professional skills, knowledge, and abilities in both formal and informal settings/domains;

Read the full text

• Development of outlooks, perspectives, ways of thinking, knowing, and doing;

• Development of identity as an engineer and its intersection with other identities; and

• Acculturation to the profession, its standards, and norms.

The goal of the Research in the Formation of Engineers (RFE) program is to advance our understanding of professional formation. It seeks both to deepen our fundamental understanding of the underlying processes and mechanisms that support professional formation and to demonstrate how professional formation is or can be accomplished. Ultimately RFE aims to transform the engineer-formation system, and thus the impact of proposed projects on this system must be described. Principal Investigators (PIs) should provide a roadmap detailing how they envision the proposed research will eventually broadly impact practice within the engineer-formation system, even if these activities are not within the scope of the submitted proposal.

In order to accomplish its goals, RFE welcomes proposals in two categories: Research Projects, and Design and Development Projects. Research Projects address fundamental questions of professional formation, while Design and Development Projects provide new approaches to achieving professional formation. Additional details are provided below. Projects in both categories should address the iterative cycle in which research questions that advance understanding are informed by practice and the results of research are, in turn, translated into practice. In other words, proposals should explain how the research results will travel, translate, transfer, or scale. Successful projects identify specific target audiences, effective communication channels, and novel partnerships to ensure effective propagation and scaling. Proposal titles should begin with either “Research:” or “Design and Development:” as appropriate.

Research Projects

Research proposals are particularly welcome in the following areas:

• Research that addresses lifelong learning by the engineering workforce.

• Research on the impact of engineering education research. Proposals addressing this topic could investigate questions such as: How can we measure the impacts of engineering education research? What are effective strategies for scaling reforms? How can we translate knowledge from research to practice? What are the roles of technologies, networks and communities in achieving impact? RFE does not support efficacy, effectiveness, or scale-up studies for specific interventions.

• Research that addresses culture change in engineering education. Included in this topic are investigations of normative cultures of engineering at any level in the engineering education ecosystem and how these cultures may disadvantage certain groups.

• Research that addresses engineering formation at the two-year college level in both formal and informal settings.

• Research that addresses engineering formation at the graduate education level in both formal and informal settings.

• Research that investigates engineering in P-12 settings. Research in…

Who can apply

Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"

Applicant categories are a starting point. The official call decides eligibility.

Topics

Science and Technology and other Research and Development

Timing

Proposals accepted anytime

How to apply

Apply through the funder’s official page (link below); it states the procedure, documents and deadline.

From the call text

Who can apply: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Company stage: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Single applicant or consortium: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Where applicants must be based: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page
Where to apply: Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Contact

U.S. National Science Foundation · grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov · 703-292-4203

Where these facts come from

Fact	Value	How we know	Taken from the source
Deadline	Unknown — not stated in the source we hold	unknown	—
Amount per applicant	Unknown — not stated in the source we hold	unknown	—
Total budget	$5.6 million	official data field	15 Nov 2026
Funding rate	No mandatory cost sharing stated; funding percentage not stated	read from the official text	15 Nov 2026
Who can apply	Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"	official data field	15 Nov 2026
Where to apply	Unknown — not stated in the source we hold	unknown	—

Official sources

Official call page · Funder's programme page

Facts on this page come from the funder’s official data, taken on 13 Nov 2026. The funder's own documents, including later amendments, always take precedence.