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42 U.S. Code § 18993. Graduate STEM education
(a) Mentoring and professional development
(1) Mentoring plans
(A) Omitted
(B) Evaluation
Not later than 120 days after August 9, 2022, the Director shall enter into an agreement with a qualified independent organization to evaluate the effectiveness of the postdoctoral mentoring plan requirement for improving mentoring for Foundation-supported postdoctoral researchers.
(2) Career exploration
(A) In general
The Director shall make awards, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institutions or organizations) to develop innovative approaches for facilitating career exploration of academic and nonacademic career options and for providing opportunity-broadening experiences, including work-integrated opportunities, for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars that can then be considered, adopted, or adapted by other institutions and to carry out research on the impact and outcomes of such activities.
(B) Review of proposalsIn selecting award recipients under this subparagraph, the Director shall consider, at a minimum—
(i)
the extent to which the administrators of the institution are committed to making the proposed activity a priority; and
(ii)
the likelihood that the institution or organization will sustain or expand the proposed activity effort beyond the period of the award.
(3) Development plans
The Director shall require that annual project reports for awards that support graduate students and postdoctoral scholars include certification by the principal investigator that each graduate student and postdoctoral scholar receiving substantial support from such award, as determined by [1] has developed and annually updated an individual development plan to map educational goals, career exploration, and professional development.
(4) Professional development supplement
The Director shall carry out a five-year pilot initiative to award up to 2,500 administrative supplements of up to $2,000 to existing research awards annually, on a competitive basis, to support professional development experiences for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who receive a substantial portion of their support under such award, as determined by the Director. Not more than 10 percent of supplements awarded under this subparagraph [2] may be used to support professional development experiences for postdoctoral researchers.
(5) Graduate education researchThe Director shall make awards, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institutions or organizations) to support research on the graduate education system and outcomes of various interventions and policies, including—
(A)
the effects of traineeships, fellowships, internships, and teaching and research assistantships on outcomes for graduate students;
(B) the effects of graduate education and mentoring policies and procedures on degree completion, including differences by—
(i)
sex, race and ethnicity, and citizenship; and
(ii)
student debt load;
(C)
the development and assessment of new or adapted interventions, including approaches that improve mentoring relationships, develop conflict management skills, and promote healthy research teams; and
(D)
research, data collection, and assessment of the state of graduate student mental health and wellbeing, factors contributing to and consequences of poor graduate student mental health, and the development, adaptation, and assessment of evidence-based strategies and policies to support emotional wellbeing and mental health.