c-ShARP Experiential Learning FY24

Overview

c-ShARP welcomes collaborative proposals for educational efforts that leverage Stanford’s Shared Research Facilities to enrich scientific learning journeys with hands-on experiences, thereby facilitating research progress and promoting real-world skills to prepare scientists for successful careers at Stanford and beyond. These proposed educational efforts may include shared facilities access in support of registered coursework, teaching workshops using hands-on research techniques, preparation of high-quality on-line learning materials which support in-person experiences, and other similar efforts which benefit from core facility participation in disseminating educational curricula. While the primary aim is educating Stanford students and researchers, external participants may also benefit.

Each educational effort should provide its own proposal in response to this RFP, e.g., a course involving one or many shared facilities, a workshop spanning one or several days; closely related activities, e.g., a series of quarterly workshops, should be grouped into a single proposal. c-ShARP funding is intended to enable shared facilities to do more and support education in new, more involved ways. It should not be used to replace existing funding from other sources for existing activities pre-dating c-ShARP. Requests to support subsequent iterations of a c-ShARP-developed activity are allowable. The total budget of any submitted proposal should not exceed $50K, though we will consider a higher request for exceptional cases with strong justification.

This call is for FY24 funding, to support learning experiences during Fall 2023 through Summer 2024.

The c-ShARP Shared Facilities and others span SOM, SOE, H&S, and SDSS, and are an essential community for researchers; they include nanofabrication and characterization (SNF, SNSF), mass spectrometry (SUMS), NMR, imaging (BioX, c-EMc, CNI, CSIF, Lucas Center, Wu Tsai Neuro), life sciences/medicine (ChEM-H, FACS, SGSC, TASC, BSL-3) and sustainability (SIGMA, Geochronology, EMF, SIBL), among others on campus, as well as shared Stanford facilities at SLAC. Proposals can be submitted by faculty, instructors, or shared facility staff, in collaboration as appropriate.

Evaluation Criteria

New proposals are evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Justification of need: What is the experience? What are its goals? Why is it needed? What format will the experience take, e.g. coursework, workshop, training? How does it improve existing educational offerings on campus? How does it fit with plans of Departments, Programs, Shared Facilities or other relevant stakeholders?

• Impact: Who is served, and how does the experience benefit them? What is the breadth of impact? If external participants are included, how are the needs of Stanford students and/or researchers also being served? How does it support diversity and/or outreach to underserved populations? What outcomes are expected?

• Finances: Has this or a related effort previously received c-ShARP funding and/or support from other sources? Will there be cost sharing/matching to support this program? If applicable: Include other potential sources of funding or revenue streams if this proposal were successful, e.g., path to sustainability, funding for additional activities

• Space: Describe the type(s) of space(s) that will be required for the experience, e.g. seminar room, wet lab, maker space. Which building(s)/room(s) on campus will you be using? Are these adequate as-is? If not, what adjustments will you be making?

• Budget: Are the costs of developing, preparing, and carrying out the experience well described and reasonable? Have all likely costs been accounted for? If durable teaching equipment is requested, is it well justified and within the $5K limit? Is any anticipated income, e.g. workshop registration fees, well utilized?

Renewal proposals are evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Justification of need: How long has this program been running? How did the previous implementation(s) of this experience achieve its goals and improve educational offerings on campus? What changes, enhancements, refinements are planned for this iteration? What, if any, changes will there be to the format? What has been learned about how the offering fits with plans of Departments, Programs, Shared Facilities or other relevant stakeholders?

• Impact: From the previous iteration of this experience, who was served, and how did the experience benefit them? What was the breadth of impact? If external participants are included, how are the needs of Stanford students and/or researchers also being served? How did it support diversity and/or outreach to underserved populations? How did outcomes meet/not meet expectations? For this renewal, what aspects of the above described impact are expected to be different, and how?

• Finances: How has the funding model changed from the previous c-ShARP supported experience? Has funding been secured from other sources, will there be cost sharing/matching to support this experience? If no, is funding from other sources being pursued? What is the plan for a path to sustainability for this experience? Will there be cost sharing/matching to support this program? If applicable: Include other potential revenue streams if this proposal were successful, e.g., registration fees, sponsorships.

• Space: Describe the type(s) of space(s) that will be required for the experience, e.g. seminar room, wet lab, maker space. Which building(s)/room(s) on campus will you be using? Are these adequate as-is? If not, what, improvements or strategies will be implemented for this iteration to better support the student experience, e.g. more square footage, dividing students into smaller cohorts, supplementing with necessary equipment?

• Instructors’ Forum: How many c-ShARP Instructors’ Forum sessions have you participated in?

• Budget: Are the costs of preparing and carrying out the experience well described and reasonable? If there are development costs, are these well described to enhance this iteration of the experience? Have all likely costs been accounted for? If durable teaching equipment is requested, is it well justified in light of the previous iterations and within the $5K limit? Is any anticipated income, e.g. workshop registration fees, well utilized?
   

Reporting & Participation Requirements 

The PIs of the funded proposals will be required to deliver a brief report on use, budget, and outcomes, and to assist in collecting feedback from participants in the learning experience. Photos and short videos of the experience in action are also highly recommended. They will participate in a periodic Instructors’ Forum and may also be called upon to be reviewers for future rounds of c-ShARP Education funding.