December 15th, 2014
This month, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Wellcome Trust, and the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) announced 11 new awards that will improve the knowledge base and practice of science learning experiences that happen anywhere and at any time. These awards were made through the Science Learning+ program, which seeks to establish strong networks, links, and partnerships between informal learning sectors, foster international collaboration, and connect communities of researchers and practitioners.
These awards have been made as part of Phase 1 of the jointly-funded program, which provided up to $115,000/£70,000 to enable groups in the U.S., U.K., and Republic of Ireland to develop strategies for a larger project. The larger projects will be funded during Phase 2 of the program, which will provide up to $2.4 million/£1.5 million for five-year research plans (or longer, for longitudinal studies). Phase 2 will also be open to new, non-Phase I applicants.
More information about the funding partnership, as well as links to the funded project abstracts, are available on InformalScience.org/science-learning-plus. NSF has also disseminated a press release with more details on the background of the partnership.