[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3840 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3840
To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish
a capacity-building program for developing universities, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2021
Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. Johnson of Texas, and Mr.
Lucas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish
a capacity-building program for developing universities, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening MSI Competitiveness in
Research and Innovation Act''.
SEC. 2. CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPING UNIVERSITIES.
(a) In General.--The Director of the National Science Foundation
shall establish a program to make awards, on a competitive basis, to
eligible institutions described in subsection (b) to support the
mission of the Foundation and to build institutional research capacity
at eligible institutions.
(b) Eligible Institution.--
(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive an award under
this section, an institution--
(A) shall be--
(i) a historically Black college or
university;
(ii) a Tribal College or University;
(iii) a minority-serving institution; or
(iv) an institution of higher education
with an established STEM capacity building
program focused on traditionally
underrepresented populations in STEM, including
Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives, and Indians;
and
(B) shall have not more than $50,000,000 in annual
federally-financed research and development
expenditures for science and engineering as reported
through the National Science Foundation Higher
Education Research and Development Survey.
(2) Partnerships.--An eligible institution receiving a
grant under this section may carry out the activities of the
grant through a partnership with other entities, including
community colleges and other eligible institutions.
(c) Proposals.--To receive an award under this section, an eligible
institution shall submit an application to the Director at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may
require, including a plan that describes how the eligible institution
will establish or expand research office capacity and how such award
would be used to--
(1) conduct an assessment of capacity-building and research
infrastructure needs of an eligible institution;
(2) enhance institutional resources to provide
administrative research development support to faculty at an
eligible institution;
(3) bolster the institutional research competitiveness of
an eligible institution to support grants awarded by the
Foundation;
(4) support the acquisition of instrumentation necessary to
build research capacity at an eligible institution in research
areas directly associated with the Foundation;
(5) increase capability of an eligible institution to move
technology into the marketplace;
(6) increase engagement with industry to execute research
through the SBIR and STTR programs (as defined in section 9(e)
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)) and direct
contracts at an eligible institution;
(7) provide student engagement and research training
opportunities at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral
levels at an eligible institution;
(8) further faculty development initiatives and strengthen
institutional research training infrastructure, capacity, and
competitiveness of an eligible institution; or
(9) address plans and prospects for long-term
sustainability of institutional enhancements at an eligible
institution resulting from the award including, if applicable,
how the award may be leveraged by an eligible institution to
build a broader base of support.
(d) Awards.--Awards made under this section shall be for periods of
3 years, and may be extended for periods of not more than 5 years.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Historically black college or university.--The term
``historically Black college or university'' has the meaning
given the term ``part B institution'' in section 322 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061).
(2) Minority-serving institution.--The term ``minority-
serving institution'' or ``MSI'' means--
(A) a Hispanic-serving institution as defined in
section 502 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1101a);
(B) an Alaska Native-serving Institution or a
Native Hawaiian-serving institution as such terms are
defined in section 317 of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d); and
(C) a Predominantly Black institution, an Asian
American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving
institution, or a Native American-serving nontribal
institution as such terms are defined in section 371 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(c)).
(3) Tribal college or university.--The term ``Tribal
College or University'' has the meaning given such term in
section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1059c).
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Director of the National Science Foundation
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to carry out
the activities in this Act.
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