HP Catalyst Initiative

Apply now to join the HP Catalyst Network! See below for the 2011 Call for Proposals. HP founded the Catalyst Initiative, a global network of consortia that brings together leading educational institutions and NGOs, to explore new approaches to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The groups are investigating opportunities, such as collaborative learning and student assessment that make the most of technology to empower great teaching and create powerful new learning experiences for students. Promoting STEM+ education What’s needed is fresh thinking about STEM education that addresses important new disciplines in an interdisciplinary way, emphasizes creative and global collaboration skills, and puts student empowerment at its core. At HP, we call this STEM+ education, and it’s the focus of the HP Catalyst Initiative. By bringing together organizations that now work independently to create a global network of consortia that provide a cohesive, student-centered approach to STEM+ education, HP can be a catalyst for innovation that improves student performance. Through this initiative, HP is joining education leaders in collaborative ventures that address STEM+ education in new ways.

	Innovation themes

In 2010 the HP Catalyst Initiative created five international consortia that are focusing on specific innovation themes for transforming STEM education:

• The Multi-Versity. This consortium explores new ways to provide online STEM education to post-secondary, secondary, and adult students. The group also investigates models of professional development for online teachers and faculty. The long term goal is to broaden learning opportunities for students and ensure that coursework—no matter the institution—can be applied toward certification and degrees.
  
  This consortium is being led by the Sloan Consortium (USA)
  
  
• Pedagogy 3.0. This consortium examines the future of STEM teacher preparation and preparing teachers to facilitate 21^st century learning experiences for their students. It’s not enough for a teacher to be an expert in math or science. Instructors need to offer project-based experiences that help students understand how technical disciplines can be applied in creative ways to solve social challenges. The long-term goals of this group are to prepare and retain more STEM teachers, enhance the STEM expertise of teachers and faculty, and improve student success in pursuing STEM degrees.
  
  This consortium will be led by Futurelab (UK)
  
  
• Global Collaboratory. This consortium enables students to participate in collaborative problem-solving to address urgent social challenges using the power of collaborative grid computing. It builds on the HP and UNESCO Brain Gain Initiative, created to slow the exodus of scientists and academics from Africa and the Middle East. The HP and UNESCO partnership launched a powerful grid computing network across 20 universities, providing researchers with shared computing power that supports their research.
  
  This consortium is being led by the CSIR Meraka Institute (South Africa)
  
  
• The New Learner. This consortium engages formal and informal education organizations to explore how to build a network of learning opportunities for students. The goal is to create new models of student-driven STEM learning that are engaging, lead to higher school completion rates, and promote “learning how to learn.”
  
  This consortium is being led by the Agastya International Foundation (India)
  
  
• Measuring Learning. This consortium is developing ways to assess STEM competencies that are often not assessed in school, in areas such as innovation, higher-order thinking, global collaboration, and the ability to tackle big, open-ended challenges. Despite the universally acknowledged importance of these 21st-century competencies, education systems rarely measure student performance in these areas. Technology can change that.
  
  This consortium is being led by Carnegie Mellon University (USA)
  
  

See the 2010 grant recipient list for details about currently funded projects.

New for 2011, the HP Catalyst Initiative is launching a sixth consortium:

• STEM-preneur. This consortium will address novel ways to combine STEM education with the skills and passion of entrepreneurship. By giving technical students the skills of an entrepreneur, and giving entrepreneurial students more technical understanding, the STEM disciplines become more relevant, appealing, and more students are prepared to tackle the big challenges in society.

	2011 Call for Proposals

In 2011, HP seeks to add 20 new member organizations to the HP Catalyst Network - up to 7 members for the new STEM-preneur consortium, and up to 4 members for any of the 5 existing consortia.

Fully funded organizations will receive a grant valued at more than $150,000 (USD) in equipment, cash, and professional support.

	Eligibility

Member organizations were selected through an open and competitive global call for proposals. Eligible organizations are:

• Accredited public or private education institutions that serve tertiary or secondary students (i.e., schools, colleges, universities, as well as nonprofit or nongovernmental educational organizations)
  
• Located in an eligible country; For 2011, these are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States

» See the Request for Proposals for additional eligibility requirements

	Application Documents

Step 1: Download and read the 2011 HP Catalyst Request for Proposals.

Step 2: Download the 2011 HP Catalyst grant equipment catalog.

Step 3: Download the Terms and Conditions for your region.

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada (English) and Canada (French) 
• China
• France, Germany, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, UAE, UK
• India
• Mexico
• USA

Step 4: Complete all required documents offline.

Step 5: Upload required documents to http://bit.ly/hpcatalyst-application

Deadline for Applications: May 12th, 2011 5pm Pacific Time

Recipients will be announced here on May 31st.

	Questions

If you have any questions about the HP Catalyst Initiative or the application process, contact us online.