2025 IDEAS Grant Competition: Call for Reviewers

On October 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of State’s IDEAS (Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students) Program launched a grant competition for accredited U.S. colleges and universities to help create, expand, and/or broaden their study abroad programs. Under this competition, the IDEAS Program invites members of the study abroad community in the United States to serve as peer reviewers to evaluate and recommend applications for funding by the U.S. Department of State. Individuals who are interested in participating in the review process should complete the interest form at the following link by December 3, 2024. The form process should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. Reviewers will be notified of selection by December 20, 2024.

Background

The IDEAS Program is recruiting approximately 80 panelists to participate in the virtual review of proposals from both phases of the grant competition. Reviewers will be asked to select whether they are available to review applications during one or both application phases.

The 2025 IDEAS grant competition also features a new opportunity for consortia of U.S. colleges and universities to apply for additional funding for collaborative projects focused on preparing the workforce of the future. Applications for the IDEAS consortium grant will be reviewed on a panel separate from general Phase One applications. Application reviewers interested in serving on this panel will be asked to explain their relevant knowledge and experience in the interest form.   

For full details of Phase One of the IDEAS grant competition, please review the Request for Proposals and the program website.

2025 IDEAS Application Review Timeline

• Phase One: Each reviewer will evaluate no more than ten applications. Phase One applications are 750 words maximum and provide an overview of the proposed project goal(s), implementation plan, and budget.
  • Training Session: January 7, 2025 (session will be recorded)
  • Review Period: January 8-22, 2025
  • Anticipated Time Commitment: 4-6 hours

• Phase Two: Reviewers will score no more than eight proposals (inclusive of a technical proposal and budget documents) and participate in a 90-minute virtual panel with approximately three other reviewers.
  • Training Session: Week of April 21, 2025 (exact date TBD, session will be recorded)
  • Individual Review Period: April 25-May 8, 2025
  • Panel Review Period: approximately May 12-23, 2025 (specific time to be agreed upon by panelists)
  • Anticipated Time Commitment: 10-12 hours

World Learning and the U.S. Department of State will consider the panelists’ recommendations, which will ultimately lead to a final selection of approximately 35 grant applications and approximately one consortium grant application to be funded under the program. The IDEAS Program expects to announce the grantees in June 2025.

Qualifications

The IDEAS Program seeks a broad representation of participants from the U.S. study abroad community to serve as reviewers. Eligible reviewers will meet the following criteria:

• Affiliation with any accredited U.S. higher education institution or study abroad provider in the United States
  • Those study abroad or international education professionals who are currently seeking employment in the field or are retired are also encouraged to complete the interest form
  • Past and current grantee institutions are encouraged to complete the interest form
  • Representatives from prospective applicant institutions are welcome to complete the interest form
• Demonstrated experience administering and/or leading international education programs
• Willingness and ability to objectively review and evaluate no more than ten Phase One applications and/or no more than eight full Phase Two proposals
• Agreement to acknowledge any conflicts of interest which may require the following reviewer recusals, as well as others as deemed necessary by ECA and World Learning:
  • Recusal from scoring proposals from a reviewer’s home institution
  • Recusal from scoring proposals in which the reviewer is listed as a consultant/contractor or in which the reviewer stands to benefit financially from a successful proposal in any way
  • Recusal from scoring proposals in which the reviewer has substantial knowledge of the proposed project beyond what is represented in the proposal documents

The IDEAS Program will select reviewers to ensure a diverse array of expertise, institution types, and geographies are represented in the broader reviewer pool as well as on individual Phase Two panels.

Questions

Questions concerning this opportunity should be submitted by email to [email protected]. Please include “2025 Application Review” in the subject line.