Promoting Innovation in Science and Mathematics

Burroughs Wellcome Fund supports teaching professionals in their efforts to provide quality hands-on, inquiry-based activities for their students. PRISM promotes excitement for science and mathematics in the classroom by providing funds for materials, equipment, and supplies related to the implementation of high quality curriculum and activities in the classroom.

This award provides up to $3,000 for one year to cover the cost of equipment, materials, and supplies. An additional $1,500 may be requested for professional development related to the implementation of new equipment or use of materials in the classroom. Awards are made to teaching professionals that hold a professional educator's license to teach in a North Carolina K-12 public school.

Career Awards for STEM Teachers

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Career Award for STEM Teachers recognizes outstanding STEM teachers in the North Carolina public primary and secondary schools.

The award provides $175,000 over five years and is available to North Carolina teachers who have an outstanding performance record in educating children and who demonstrate a solid knowledge of STEM content.

This award presents opportunities for professional development and collaboration with other master science and/or mathematics teachers who will help to ensure their success as teachers and their satisfaction with the field of teaching. The award offers schools and school districts the opportunity to fully develop and empower teachers as leaders in the field.

Special consideration will be given to teachers working in hard-to-staff, economically deprived classrooms in North Carolina. Special consideration will also be given to efforts that integrate environmental science and climate change into STEM-related curricula.

The Fund and the State Board of Education recognize that improving STEM education in North Carolina will require systemic revision of K-12 instruction.

Teachers who are content-area experts and have the pedagogical skills are critical to ensuring a student’s success in understanding STEM subjects. These teachers can make a difference by serving as change agents, not only for their students but also for other educators across the state.

The largest hurdle in accomplishing these goals has been a severe shortage of STEM teachers (even beyond North Carolina’s ongoing teacher shortage). In 2015, just 13 percent of the University of North Carolina system’s 4,675 newly prepared teachers were certified in computer science/technology, science, and mathematics.

Student STEM Enrichment Program

The Student STEM Enrichment Program (SSEP) supports diverse programs with a common goal: to enable primary and secondary students to participate in creative, hands-on STEM activities for K-12 students and pursue inquiry-based exploration in BWF's home state of North Carolina. These awards provide up to $60,000 per year for three years. Since the program's inception in 1996, BWF has awarded 201 grants totaling $33.7 million to 103 organizations that reach more than 43,000 North Carolina students.

SSEP awards support career-oriented and practical programs intended to provide creative science enrichment activities for students in K-12 education who have shown exceptional skills and interest in STEM, as well as those perceived to have high potential. After school programs are demonstrating value in helping to close opportunity gaps for underserved and underrepresented students. These programs must enable students to participate in hands-on STEM activities and pursue inquiry-based avenues of exploration—an educational approach that BWF believes to be an effective way to increase students’ understanding and appreciation of the scientific process. To increase academic achievement, programs must provide a well-defined structure that aligns with the school-day curriculum, well-trained staff, and student follow up.