Last updated: 8/27/25

On August 22, 2025, NSF announced the new NSF STEM K-12 solicitation, which restructures funding opportunities for research in formal preK-12 education and informal settings.

This page briefly clarifies high-level differences with the existing EDU Core Research (ECR:Core) solicitation, including recent changes to ECR:Core.

The following content is for informational purposes only. See the above links for official guidance from the NSF.gov website. For further questions, you can email a program officer (ECR@nsf.gov for ECR:Core; STEMK12@nsf.gov for STEM K-12).

Program scope:

• For the Oct 2, 2025 deadline, ECR:Core will now only accept proposals for fundamental research focused on STEM undergraduate education, graduate education, higher education, and the STEM workforce. 

• Investigators proposing research focused on early childhood, K-12 education, or informal settings are encouraged to instead apply to the new STEM K-12 program. 

• STEM K-12 supports fundamental, applied, and translational research (as before, ECR:Core supports only fundamental research).  

• AISL, CSforAll, DRK-12, and T&D have all now been archived. If you were planning to apply to one of those programs, please consider the STEM K-12 program instead. 

• Among other topics, STEM K-12 will support projects that explore leveraging AI and other emerging technologies—a topic of two related new Dear Colleague Letters.  

Project budget and length:  

• ECR:Core proposals may request up to $2.5M, with durations up to five years.  

• In contrast, most STEM K-12 awards will range between $25,000 and $750,000, with a typical duration of one to three years.  

• STEM K-12 proposals that contain budgets significantly beyond these ranges may be returned without review. 

Proposal deadlines: 

• Full STEM K-12 proposals are accepted anytime.  

• Hence, if you were planning to submit a preK-12 or informal learning proposal in October to ECR:Core, you can still aim to submit it in October to STEM K-12. 

New research security training (effective October 10, 2025): 

• Effective October 10, 2025, all individuals identified as senior/key personnel must complete research security training within 12 months prior to proposal submission. 

• See the official policy note or training modules that satisfy this requirement.