Hands-on science is increasingly the norm at Florida International University, a 2010 HHMI grantee. Credit: Florida International University

Through its initiative for universities, HHMI awards four-year grants to research institutions to support science education at the undergraduate and pre-K to 12th-grade levels. 

HHMI invited 197 institutions that serve undergraduates to compete in its 2010 competition. The institutions were classified as research universities (very high- and high-research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fifty research universities in 30 states and the District of Columbia were awarded a total of $70 million through the program. The schools are using the grants, which range from $800,000 to $2 million over four years, to develop creative, research-based courses and curricula; to give more students vital experience working in the lab; and to improve science teaching from elementary school through college.