Honors

Forum on Education Mini-Grants

The Forum on Education of the American Physical Society (APS) is committed to supporting APS members who continue to advance and enrich physics education. To this end, we invite applications for APS Forum on Education Mini-Grants. There are two types of mini-grants, personal and project. Personal Mini-Grants are designed to support professional development for individual members, while Project Mini-Grants are designed to fund projects that further physics education. An archive of past awardees of the Project Mini-grants is at our Past Winners page.

Personal Mini-Grants

Personal mini-grants are designed to support individual members attending APS meetings to present work on education topics or professional development for education. Personal mini-grants have a maximum of $750 per award. Partial funding may be more likely than full.

Selection criteria for the personal mini-grants include the following:

  • Membership in APS Forum on Education (FEd). Applicants should be members of the FEd by the application deadline. APS members can join the Forum at no additional cost. For students (undergraduate and graduate), the first year of APS membership is free. For more information on how to become an APS member, please see APS Membership FAQs. To join (online or by mail), see APS Membership. If you are already an APS member, you can join the Forum on Education for free here.
  • Impact. Applicants should briefly describe how this support will impact their professional educational goals.
  • Financial need and additional considerations.  Extra consideration will be given to applicants who may not have access to other types of grant or research support. These include, but are not limited to: undergraduate students, graduate students, adjunct faculty, and instructors at community colleges. In addition, we strongly encourage those with marginalized identities to apply.

To apply for a Personal Mini-Grant, please submit: A pdf proposal describing your professional educational goals, description of what the funds will be used for, the impact of the funds, your financial need, and any other considerations. The entire description should not exceed 2 pages. Please submit one pdf file per applicant.

There are no reporting requirements for this type of mini-grants. Recipients will need to send receipts to receive funding. 

Project Mini-Grants

Project mini-grants are designed for individuals or groups who are working on projects and/or developing resources that may be deployed to support physics education more broadly. Project mini-grants have a maximum of $3,500 per award. Partial funding may be likely.

Selection criteria for the project mini-grants include the following: 

  • Membership in APS Forum on Education (FEd). Applicants should be members of the FEd by the application deadline. APS members can join the Forum at no additional cost. For students (undergraduate and graduate), the first year of APS membership is free. For more information on how to become an APS member, please see APS Membership FAQs. To join (online or by mail), see APS Membership. If you are already an APS member, you can join the Forum on Education for free here.
  • Timeliness. All projects should be ready to execute in a reasonable timeframe if funded. Specifically, projects with an end goal or deliverable within the next six months will be prioritized. The extent to which funds could immediately be used will be a consideration.
  • Impact. For projects, applicants should demonstrate how this support will impact the broader physics education community. Preference will be given to projects directly related to the improvement of physics education.  Extra consideration will be given to those projects which seek to support students/groups that are traditionally marginalized in physics. Applicants should describe the immediate effects these funds could provide.
  • Additional considerations.  Extra consideration will be given to applicants who may not have access to other types of grant or research support. These include, but are not limited to: undergraduate students, graduate students, adjunct faculty, and instructors at community colleges. In addition, we strongly encourage those with marginalized identities to apply.

Project mini-grants will be funded by disbursing funds to the individual creating the application, not to institutions. Tax information is below. Please make sure you consider this in your budgetary decisions.

To apply for a FEd project mini-grant, you will be required to submit the following items:

1)    Contact information, including email address and institution.

2)    Budget (Budget examples). 

3)    Proposal description. Section headings should be: overview, budget justification, timescale, impact, and additional considerations.

The entire proposal, including contact information, budget, and proposal description should not exceed 4 pages. Please submit one PDF file per proposal. 

Recipients of an award will need to send an update via email describing the results of the funding and a url link to produced materials. There are no other reporting requirements.

The name, title, affiliation, and project url of the Project Mini-Grant Awardees will be published on the FEd website.

Deadlines

The application due date for mini-grants is November 1. To apply, please go to our Fed Mini-Grant Form. Please contact the Secretary/Treasurer with any questions. We are committed to supporting as many of our FEd members as possible, so it is likely that applications will be partially funded. We will update applicants by email.

More Award Information

FEd Executive committee members may not apply.

If your application is awarded, you will receive an email from the Secretary-Treasurer with instructions on how to fill out a payment request form for purchases or a citizenship-appropriate tax form for payments made to individuals. 

Purchases. Awardee submits receipts and a payment request form to APS Accounts Payable and cc’s the Secretary/Treasurer. Awardee receives a check in the mail or a direct deposit, according to their preference.

Payments to Individuals. Awarded grants will be approved by the Secretary-Treasurer of FEd before proceeding with the payments. The Secretary-Treasurer will send awardees a W-9 or W-8BEN to submit to APS Accounts Payable. The W-9 is for U.S. citizens and provides information to the IRS about this award. The W-8BEN is for non-U.S. citizens and is a certification to APS that a foreign person is not subject to U.S. taxation. Awards are taxable to the recipient and they will receive a 1099 if the total within a calendar year is greater than $600.

Please contact the Secretary-Treasurer of the FEd if you have any questions (include in the subject line: FEd Mini-Grant).