Strengthening MSI Competitiveness in Research and Innovation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3840 To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a capacity-building program for developing universities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2021 Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a capacity-building program for developing universities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening MSI 4 Competitiveness in Research and Innovation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPING 6 UNIVERSITIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 8 Science Foundation shall establish a program to make 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3840.IH H3840 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3840 IH awards, on a competitive basis, to eligible institutions de- 1 scribed in subsection (b) to support the mission of the 2 Foundation and to build institutional research capacity at 3 eligible institutions. 4 (b) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive an 6 award under this section, an institution— 7 (A) shall be— 8 (i) a historically Black college or uni- 9 versity; 10 (ii) a Tribal College or University; 11 (iii) a minority-serving institution; or 12 (iv) an institution of higher education 13 with an established STEM capacity build- 14 ing program focused on traditionally 15 underrepresented populations in STEM, 16 including Native Hawaiians, Alaska Na- 17 tives, and Indians; and 18 (B) shall have not more than $50,000,000 19 in annual federally-financed research and devel- 20 opment expenditures for science and engineer- 21 ing as reported through the National Science 22 Foundation Higher Education Research and 23 Development Survey. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3840.IH H3840 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3840 IH (2) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible institution re- 1 ceiving a grant under this section may carry out the 2 activities of the grant through a partnership with 3 other entities, including community colleges and 4 other eligible institutions. 5 (c) PROPOSALS.—To receive an award under this sec- 6 tion, an eligible institution shall submit an application to 7 the Director at such time, in such manner, and containing 8 such information as the Director may require, including 9 a plan that describes how the eligible institution will estab- 10 lish or expand research office capacity and how such 11 award would be used to— 12 (1) conduct an assessment of capacity-building 13 and research infrastructure needs of an eligible insti- 14 tution; 15 (2) enhance institutional resources to provide 16 administrative research development support to fac- 17 ulty at an eligible institution; 18 (3) bolster the institutional research competi- 19 tiveness of an eligible institution to support grants 20 awarded by the Foundation; 21 (4) support the acquisition of instrumentation 22 necessary to build research capacity at an eligible in- 23 stitution in research areas directly associated with 24 the Foundation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3840.IH H3840 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3840 IH (5) increase capability of an eligible institution 1 to move technology into the marketplace; 2 (6) increase engagement with industry to exe- 3 cute research through the SBIR and STTR pro- 4 grams (as defined in section 9(e) of the Small Busi- 5 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)) and direct contracts at 6 an eligible institution; 7 (7) provide student engagement and research 8 training opportunities at the undergraduate, grad- 9 uate, and postdoctoral levels at an eligible institu- 10 tion; 11 (8) further faculty development initiatives and 12 strengthen institutional research training infrastruc- 13 ture, capacity, and competitiveness of an eligible in- 14 stitution; or 15 (9) address plans and prospects for long-term 16 sustainability of institutional enhancements at an el- 17 igible institution resulting from the award including, 18 if applicable, how the award may be leveraged by an 19 eligible institution to build a broader base of sup- 20 port. 21 (d) AWARDS.—Awards made under this section shall 22 be for periods of 3 years, and may be extended for periods 23 of not more than 5 years. 24 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3840.IH H3840 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3840 IH (1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI- 1 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 2 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 3 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 5 (2) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 6 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ or ‘‘MSI’’ 7 means— 8 (A) a Hispanic-serving institution as de- 9 fined in section 502 of the Higher Education 10 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a); 11 (B) an Alaska Native-serving Institution or 12 a Native Hawaiian-serving institution as such 13 terms are defined in section 317 of the Higher 14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d); and 15 (C) a Predominantly Black institution, an 16 Asian American and Native American Pacific 17 Islander-serving institution, or a Native Amer- 18 ican-serving nontribal institution as such terms 19 are defined in section 371 of the Higher Edu- 20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(c)). 21 (3) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 22 term ‘‘Tribal College or University’’ has the meaning 23 given such term in section 316 of the Higher Edu- 24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3840.IH H3840 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3840 IH (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the 2 National Science Foundation $100,000,000 for each of 3 fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to carry out the activities 4 in this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:29 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3840.IH H3840 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS