Partnering with NSDL

Information on this page feeds to both the nsdl.org site and to the nsdlnetwork.org (Community) site. Some links may reflect a different brand and style (look and feel), depending on which site you are viewing.

The National Science Digital Library is a national network dedicated to advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching and learning for all learners in both formal and informal settings.

NSDL provides technical tools and services; outreach, professional development, partnership building, and community support services for educators and developers. NSDL collaborates with projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as other agencies (such as the Department of Education and the Institute for Museum and Library Studies); state agencies; and other organizations who leverage NSF’s investment in NSDL.

National STEM Distributed Learning program solicitation

As prospective grantees of the National STEM Education Distributed Learning (NSDL) funding program of the National Science Foundation, and as a guide to your process of collaboration and planning for the submission of your proposal, we welcome your exploration of this information on available technologies and services, and outreach, professional development, partnership building and community development.  

The NSDL program solicitation - NSF 10-545, provides funding in multiple tracks:

•  Pathways I and II projects provide stewardship for content and services needed by major communities of users
•  Targeted Research projects focus on educational impact
•  Services projects develop services that support users and collection providers, and include:
  • Integrated services
  • Selection services
  • Usage development workshops
  • Technology focus

See the solicitation for complete details and guidelines on funding tracks and proposal preparation guidelines.

Letters of Collaboration

Proposals to the NSDL solicitation for 2010 are due to NSF by May 26. Please review NSF’s information with respect to Letters of collaboration. These are not letters of support. The expectation is that negotiation and agreement on some form of collaboration with Technical Network Services and/or the Resource Center will have been attained, and be detailed within your proposal.

Those seeking letters of collaboration from NSDL should submit a request for consultation as soon as possible in your proposal development process, via the NSDL Contact form. NSDL will require up to one week minimum to process these requests.  Please include the following information in your initial request:

•  Project title and all PI names, institutions, and addresses, fax, and phone numbers
•  Brief summary of proposed work, including work plan, and anticipated type of collaborations with NSDL

Applicable Terms of Award

As stated in the NSDL solicitation: 

"In FY2008, NSF initiated a community-based approach for supporting certain aspects of NSDL-wide technical infrastructure and logistical support that makes these costs explicit within each project. To support these program-wide infrastructure services, the budgets for all proposals except those for Small Grants, should include a subcontract line item equal to 15% of the project's total direct and indirect budget request."

The National Science Foundation will allocate these funds from individual grant awards and direct them to NSDL's Technical Network Services to support these key infrastructure and collaborative needs.

More Information

Submit inquiries regarding collaboration with the NSDL Resource Center or NSDL Technical Network Services via the NSDL Contact form, specifying your intended proposal track and the nature of your proposed work, and you will be contacted by appropriate NSDL staff.