42 U.S.C. § 19018 — Intramural emerging research institutions pilot program

(a) Establishment. The Director^* may conduct multiple pilot programs within the Foundation. The programs may use existing programs or other programs authorized in this division or division A. They must seek to expand the number of institutions of higher education, including community colleges, and other eligible entities that the Director considers appropriate, that are able to successfully compete for Foundation awards.

(b) Components. Pilot programs under this section may include—

(1) a mentorship program;

(2) technical assistance with writing award applications;

(3) targeted outreach, including outreach to a historically Black college or university, a Tribal college or university, or a minority-serving institution, including a Hispanic-serving institution or an institution of higher education^* with an established STEM capacity-building program focused on Native Hawaiians or Alaska Natives;

(4) programmatic support or solutions for institutions or entities that do not have an experienced award-management office;

(5) increasing the number of award proposal reviewers from institutions of higher education that have not traditionally received funds from the Foundation; or

(6) increasing the term and funding, for no more than 3 years as appropriate, of awards with a first-time principal investigator, when paired with regular mentoring on the administrative aspects of award management.

(c) Limitation. As appropriate, each pilot program under this section must work to reduce administrative burdens for recipients and award personnel.

(d) Agency-wide programs. No later than 5 years after August 9, 2022, the Director must—

(1) review the results of the pilot programs under this section; and

(2) develop agency-wide best practices^* from the pilot programs for implementation across the Foundation, in order to fulfill the requirement under section 1862(e) of this title.