The NIST Training for Improving Plastics Circularity (TIPC) Grant Program seeks to advance the development of coursework and hands-on training resources in polymer measurement methods, manufacturing, and systems thinking that will promote a skilled workforce to support expansion and increased scale of circular domestic plastics industries.
Donor Name: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/17/2023
Size of the Grant: up to $500,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
In response to the converging challenges of disruptions in traditional handling of plastics recycling waste, and growing concerns with mismanaged plastic waste, NIST is interested in assisting U.S. industry in making systemic changes to the full plastics lifecycle through the more circular manufacture and use of polymeric materials. In this notice, NIST seeks applications for development of educational programs that strengthen and enhance the technical measurement and characterization skills of a workforce prepared to support expansion of and innovation in polymers that enable reduced use, increased recovery, and/or increased recycling rates of polymeric materials through mechanical, chemical, or other routes. Applications should support programs that produce expertise tailored to the needs for U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness in polymer circularity through materials design strategies, or technology and innovation in collection, sortation, and reprocessing that reduces plastic waste and promotes circular economy solutions through the full life cycle.
Goal of the Program
The goals of the circular economy include keeping plastic molecules (e.g. polymers, additives, etc.) inside the economy, producing value, and out of unwanted sinks such as the environment (air, land, and water). As such, keeping plastics inside the economy as efficiently as possible means developing technology and processes that minimize use and maximize recoverable material with the fewest losses (material, mass, and energy) possible. Improvements from their current, mostly linear, economy can come in the form of material or product design and manufacture, or in the ability to more efficiently recover, separate, and reprocess materials after consumer or industrial use. To complement innovation and scientific progress, a better appreciation of systems thinking, socio-economic factors, and manufacturing realities are critical to a wellprepared workforce.
The TIPC grant program will fund the development of associate’s or bachelor’s degree curriculum, or a continuing education program for the existing workforce, in areas where deeper understanding of fundamental measurement and characterization tools (molecular, morphological, structural, thermal, or mechanical, including virtual tools) of polymer science and engineering will prepare a future workforce to innovate on current processes and technology to reduce use and/or improve future recovery and reuse rates. Proposed programs may include a course, a unit or module, independent study projects, internships, student competitions or other curriculum elements. The prepared content is intended to reside primarily in science and engineering departments. Collaboration with other departments, such as business, economics, statistics, design, and other complementary disciplines, or external collaborators such as industry partners or trade associations is strongly encouraged.
The proposed programs should incorporate state-of-the-art tools for measuring polymer properties (chemical or physical) in curriculum focused on challenges and opportunities in circularity. These can be any combination of physical and virtual instrumentation and capabilities that enable curriculum development and hands-on instruction.
Applications should connect fundamental polymer measurements to at least one of the following other contexts, skills or disciplines:
- Combining polymer metrology with multidisciplinary context-setting instruction (e.g., input from economics, statistics, public policy, business or environmental sciences, outside the classroom experiences, etc.), which connects fundamental measurements, data, and data quality to systems thinking.
- Instruction in measurement and data that connects understanding of traditional structure-property relationships and/or manufacturing processes (including chemical and materials processes) to supply chain or marketplace challenges in polymer circularity.
- Inclusion of concepts in measurement benchmarking, error and uncertainty analysis, data reposing and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data principles in the context of polymer circularity (e.g., systems thinking and evaluation of decision tools such as life cycle assessments).
- Context setting that extends to the relevance and roll of and opportunities for standards and reference materials to support competitiveness and innovation in circular solutions
Funding Information
In FY24, NIST anticipates funding four (4) awards for up to $500,000 per award with a project performance period of [up to] (3) years.
Eligible Applicants
- Accredited institutions of higher education (IHEs) or non-profit organizations located in the United States or its territories.
- An eligible IHE applicant may work individually or include proposed sub-awards or contracts with others, such as non-profits or commercial organizations, in a project application, effectively forming a team or consortium.
- Although Federal entities are not eligible to receive funding under this NOFO, they may participate as unfunded collaborators.
- NIST seeks to collaborate with a wide range of organizations and encourages minority-serving institutions of higher education to apply.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
