42 U.S.C. § 19183 — Capacity-building program for developing universities

(a) Awards: 1. In general: The Director must give competitive awards to eligible institutions — described in (b) — to support the NSF's mission and to build up how much research these institutions can do. 2. Administration: The Director can run separate competitions for each type of eligible institution listed in (b)(1)(A) through (C), so schools with very different research capacities don't have to compete against each other unfairly. (b) Eligible institutions: To qualify for an award, an organization must meet two tests. 1. First, it must be: (A) a historically Black college or university; (B) a Tribal College or University; (C) a minority-serving institution; (D) a college with an established STEM capacity-building program focused on Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives; or (E) a group of these schools working together. 2. Second, it must either (A) have spent no more than $50,000,000 a year on federally funded science and engineering research and development, as reported to NSF's survey; or (B) not be classified as having "very high research activity" under the Carnegie Classification system (a well-known ranking of colleges by research activity). (c) Partnerships: When giving out these awards, the Director must: (1) encourage groups of eligible schools to apply together, and require them to include a plan for a lasting partnership that both schools help build, run, and benefit from; (2) encourage applications that partner with private companies, nonprofits, federal labs, and international research groups; and (3) require these partnership proposals to include a plan for strengthening the HBCU's, TCU's, or MSI's own ability to lead future grant proposals on its own. (d) Very high research activity status — Historically Black Colleges and Universities program: Awards under this section can help HBCUs that already have "high research activity" status move up to "very high research activity" status under the Carnegie Classification system. The money can pay for: (1) training and development for faculty; (2) stipends for graduate students, undergraduate students, and postdoctoral researchers; (3) buying lab equipment and instruments; and (4) other activities needed to build research capacity. (e) Proposals: To get an award, an eligible institution must apply to the Director, following whatever process the Director sets, including: 1. A plan describing how the school will build or grow its research office, and how the award money would be used to: (A) study what the school needs to build up its research capacity and infrastructure; (B) add staff and resources to support faculty research; (C) make the school more competitive for NSF awards; (D) buy the instruments needed to build research capacity in areas connected to NSF; (E) help the school move technology into the marketplace; (F) work more closely with industry through the SBIR and STTR programs and direct contracts; (G) improve STEM courses and research training at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels; (H) support faculty development and strengthen the school's research training system, capacity, and competitiveness; (I) plan for the long-term survival of improvements paid for by the award, including how the award might help the school find other sources of support; and (J) build ways for other colleges to partner with HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs on STEM education — including student exchanges, sharing courses and resources, joint research, mentoring, and helping students move into graduate programs at either school. 2. If it applies, a plan — updated every three years — describing how the school intends to reach "very high research activity" status, including how it will invest its own and other non-federal money, aiming to reach that status within ten years if practical. (f) MSI Centers of Innovation: Award money can be used to set up as many as five "MSI Centers of Innovation." These build on HBCU, TCU, and MSI successes in STEM education and training of underrepresented minority students, to serve as models for other schools — both minority-serving schools and others. The centers will sit on HBCU, TCU, or MSI campuses and act as incubators where colleges can try out, test, evaluate, and grow promising practices. (g) Awards: Awards under this section last three years. They can be extended, but the extra time added by any extensions can't total more than five years. (h) Authorization of appropriations: Congress may spend $200,000,000 in fiscal year 2023, and $250,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027, to carry out this section and section 19182 (the research program described earlier). (i) Report on improving the research capacity at high research activity Historically Black Colleges and Universities: 1. In general: Within one year of August 9, 2022, the National Science and Technology Council must write and submit a report that (A) identifies the challenges and barriers that keep high-research-activity HBCUs from getting federal research awards; and (B) recommends how federal research agencies can use their award-making power to sustainably grow the research capacity of these HBCUs. 2. Report submission: The Council must send this report to the NSF Director, the NASA Administrator, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Health and Human Services, plus the heads of any other agencies the Council decides are relevant. 3. Information from Federal agencies: The Council can get information directly from any federal department or agency that it needs to write the report. If the Council asks, that department or agency's head must provide the requested information.