I can see why you've been having difficulty finding grant programs;
most of the ones I've found key in on K-12, and/or grants for very
rural areas. My research revealed quite a few e-commerce grants from
circa late '90s, but they seemed to wither and disappear with the
dot.com bust.
For instance, the Office of Educational Technology's grants are geared toward K-12:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/edgrants.html
Again, you may have to aim mainly for grants that have broader
criteria, such as generalized education grants, or computer science
grants. But again, I had to rule out quite a few as many are mandated
strictly for rural areas, or for disadvantaged communities.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:
Technology Grant News:
http://www.technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/higher-education-grants.html
Your school may be eligible for some grants at that page, since
RITIM's programs are tied to economic development and workforce
development.
"Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program Seeks to Educate for
Technicians for High-Technology in the Workforce.
"Advanced Technological Education grants, ranging between
$25,000-$300,000, support the education of technicians for
high-technology fields that are driving the national economy will be
given to U.S. colleges and universities. The grants from the National
Science Foundation support curriculum development, internships and
field experiences
That grant seems applicable since you are training a high-tech work force.
The correct link is:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf05530/nsf05530.htm
"The ATE program focuses on two-year colleges and expects two-year
colleges to have a leadership role in all projects. Effective
technological education programs should involve partnerships between
two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, secondary
schools, business, industry, and government, and should respond to
employers' need for well-prepared technicians with adaptable skills."
Contact:
"Harry G. Ungar, Program Director (CHEM), Directorate for Education &
Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education, 835 N,
telephone: (703) 292-4647, fax: (703) 292-9015, email: hungar@nsf.gov
Gerhard L. Salinger, Lead Program Director, Directorate for Education
& Human Resources, Division of Elementary, Secondary, & Informal
Education, 885 S, telephone: (703) 292-5116, fax: (703) 292-9044,
email: gsalinge@nsf.gov"
You might also want to check out this Social & Economic Sciences grant
from the NSF:
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5437&org=SES&from=home
". . . The program places a high priority on broadening participation
and encourages proposals from junior faculty, women, other
underrepresented minorities, Research Undergraduate Institutions, and
EPSCoR states."
I called the NSF, which proved extremely helpful. They told me you can
always try searching at their grant and funding page:
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/
Try searching under "Computer and Information Sciences and
Engineering," and "Behavioral and Economic Sciences," and "business,"
although, frankly, nothing listed there really jumped out at me.
Alan Deutsch and Evelyn Baisey-Thomas of the NSF believe your best bet
is Grants.gov:
http://www.grants.gov/
That site was setup as a repository for all government grants. It
lists all funds awarded by the 26 government agencies (including NSF)
that issue grants.
There, click on "Find Grants," in the tab at top right. I didn't have
much luck with searching by keywords like "e-commerce AND university,"
etc., so switched to find by category:
http://www.grants.gov/FindGrantOpportunities?search=category
And switched to "Business and Commerce," where I still didn't have much luck.
The search engine brings up a simply overwhelming number of matches --
most of which are off-target.
I then tried the category search, using "Employment, Labor, and
Training." I found one possibility:
"11/21/2005 Agency: Department of Labor Office: Employment Training
Administration Location: Office of Grants and Contract Management
Type: Grant Title: Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic
Development (WIRED) Initiative Funding #: SGA-DFA-PY-05-04 CFDA #:
17.261"
Click on "grant" to bring up:
http://fedgrants.gov/Applicants/DOL/OGCM/OGCM/SGA-DFA-PY-05-04/Grant.html
"State Governors (for the purpose of this application the definition
of State Governor includes the Governor of Puerto Rico and the Mayor
of the District of Columbia) are the eligible applicants for the WIRED
Initiative. The Governor must submit an application on behalf of a
specific, defined multi-county regional team of public and private
partners. The application must clearly identify the entity that will
be the grant recipient with responsibility for administering the
project on the Governor?s behalf and serving as the grant?s fiscal
agent. . . ."
"In the new global economy, talent development is a key factor in our
nation?s economic competitiveness. To stay ahead of global
competition, we must identify strategies to further integrate
workforce and economic development with education at the regional
level ? where companies, workers, researchers, entrepreneurs and
governments come together to create a competitive advantage.
"The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) fully supports the
development of a regional, integrated approach to workforce and
economic development and education. To further this goal, we are
announcing the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development
(WIRED) Initiative. The initiative will provide regions with funding
and ongoing technical assistance and support from a cadre of experts
to implement a transformational approach to their workforce and
economic development systems at the regional level.
"The WIRED Initiative will take place over the course of three years.
It is anticipated that individual grant awards will be in the range of
$5 million per year for up to three years . . . ."
While I was drowning in the overwhelming number of results at
Grants.gov, I received a call from Kim Deutsch of the NSF, who helped
integrate NSF's "FastLane" grant search program:
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp
with Grants.gov.
Ms. Deutsch informed me that on December 19th, the search engine at
Grants.gov will be upgraded and become Oracle-based, so it should be
MUCH easier to search, and should yield much better targeted results.
Right now, if you try to do a Boolean search, such as "e-commerce AND
university," you just bring up anything that contains the words
commerce or university. (Although using "OR" is a little more
fruitful.)
Ms. Deutsch suggests that you sign up for e-mail notification of new
grants and just use that until the search function is upgraded. Go
here to register:
http://www.grants.gov/Find#receiveGe
I would suggest you sign up for these four categories:
Business and Commerce
Education
Employment, Labor, and Training
Science, Technology, and other R & D
Searching at ResearchResearchlite.com:
http://lite.researchresearch.com/getPage.cfm
I found this NSF program, "Partnerships for Innovation" (Deadline for
2006 is April):
http://lite.researchresearch.com/getpage.cfm?pagename=FundingOpRecord&lang=SW&type=default&id=146845&orgLang=EN
I searched under "Computer Science" and "Business," but that was the
most applicable grant I found. I think most applicable grants here are
likely at Grants.gov.
OTHER GOVERNMENT GRANTS:
What had seemed a promising grant, Technology Opportunities Program
(TOP), administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National
Telecommunications and Information Administration:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/top/whatsnew/whatsnew.htm
was eliminated from this year's federal budget.
So, I checked out the U.S. Department of Education:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/find/title/index.html?src=fp
You may qualify for The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education (FIPSE) - Comprehensive Program
http://www.ed.gov/programs/fipsecomp/index.html
http://www.ed.gov/programs/fipsecomp/eligibility.html
CORPORATE/FOUNDATION GRANTS:
The NASDAQ Stock Market Educational Foundation, Inc.:
http://www.nasdaq.com/services/education_initiatives.stm
Download the "2006 Grant Guidelines"
"Types of Grants" include:
"*Curriculum Development
Generally awarded at the university level to develop financial markets curricula.
*Educational Projects or Programs
Including classroom and extracurricular programs at the high school,
college and university level, teacher training, and professional
development for adults. May also include the creation of new
educational materials."
Grants are awarded to high schools and universities.
RocketCart:
http://www.rocketcart.com/content.asp?id=11
"Please contact Dave Green at dave@rocketcart.com"
Microsoft Research Grants -- Universities:
http://www.research.microsoft.com/ur/us/default.aspx
Review the programs here:
http://www.research.microsoft.com/ur/us/initiatives.aspx
Finding contact information for these programs is a nightmare. You'll
have to call Microsoft's main number: 1-800-642-7676, ask for someone
associated with the company's grant programs, and be prepared to spend
a lot of time on hold.
Be sure to check out "Digital Inclusion Through Mobile and Wireless Technologies
Research Funding Initiative":
http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/RFPs/DigitalInclusion_2005_RFP.aspx
(There is contact information at the bottom of the page.)
Verizon Foundation grants:
http://foundation.verizon.com/06001.shtml
http://foundation.verizon.com/resourcecenter/
http://foundation.verizon.com/resourcecenter/tech.shtml
(I'm not sure if this is totally applicable, but it's worth checking out.)
Contact:
http://foundation.verizon.com/02001.shtml
AT&T:
http://www.att.com/foundation/programs/education.html
Guidelines:
http://www.att.com/foundation/guidelines.html
You may qualify based on "Developing workforce skills for the IT
industry" and "Development and delivery of curricula, with an emphasis
on science, math, engineering, technology and business management." (I
don't think you have to match every single criterion listed there.)
Application:
http://www.att.com/foundation/procedure.html
State Farm Foundation:
http://www.statefarm.com/foundati/foundati.htm
"Priority Schools
The following types of grants for colleges and universities will be
considered by the Foundation for designated Priority Schools:
Insurance studies, actuarial science, and business and related fields."
Corning Foundation:
http://www.corning.com/inside_corning/foundation.asp
(Guidelines and contact info are also on that page.)
Here are some possibilities from grant programs I found a few weeks
ago while answering "Grants for Internet Service Providers":
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=587724
QWEST FOUNDATION:
http://www.qwest.com/about/company/community/foundation/faqs.html
"Qwest for a Strong Workforce
* Build job entry skills through initiatives that focus on school
to career transition, adult learning and workforce development.
* Develop and deliver technology instruction to improve workforce readiness."
*****************
TechFoundation
*****************
TechGrants:
http://www.techfoundation.org/index.cfm?objectid=7CEF3008-9947-509D-653E677460B60BEA
You may want to sign up for their newsletter, although they're more
geared toward community organizations and small businesses. Then
again, perhaps you could hook up with a community organization or
small business in order to qualify for some grants.
Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), which is part of FEI
(Financial Executives International), helps universities obtain
grants:
http://www.fei.org/rf/
I e-mailed Mr. William Sinnett, Manager of Research, Corporate
Secretary. He clarified,
"FEI does not give research grants. However, we do help researchers
find third party research sponsors if their proposal is of interest to
our Research Committee."
Mr. Sinnett says you're welcome to obtain an application form by
contacting him directly:
Bill Sinnett
Director of Research
Financial Executives Research Foundation, Inc.
200 Campus Drive
Box 674
Florham Park, NJ 07932-0674
(973) 765-1004 Voice
(973) 765-1023 Fax
Search Strings:
m-commerce research grants
telecommunications research grants
telecommunications research grants AND school OR university
telecommunications grants
telecommunications grants + Rhode Island
research grants AND post-secondary AND e-commerce OR mobile
communications OR telecommunications
grants AND e-commerce OR mobile communications OR telecommunications
grant AND e-commerce OR mobile communications OR telecommunications
AND Rhode Island
e-commerce grants AND post-secondary
e-commerce grants AND universities
e-commerce And research grants AND universities
computer science grants
I hope my research is of help to you. If you have any trouble
navigating any of the above links, or if you need me to clarify
anything, please post a "Request For Clarification," and I will assist
you.
Best regards,
nancylynn-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
