2021 Preservation Technology and Training Grants | P21AS00252

Opportunity Information: Apply for P21AS00252

The 2021 Preservation Technology and Training Grants (PTT Grants) are a competitive National Park Service funding opportunity designed to strengthen historic preservation practice by improving the technology, materials, and methods used to conserve cultural resources. Administered by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), which serves as the NPS innovation hub for the preservation field, the program focuses on practical, field-ready advances that help professionals better care for historic buildings, cultural landscapes, archeological sites, and museum or archival collections. Rather than paying for construction or repair work, the grants are meant to push preservation practice forward through research, training, and widely shareable guidance.

Projects funded under this program generally fall into three core categories. First, the grants support innovative research that either develops new preservation technologies or adapts existing technologies for cultural resource conservation; these awards are typically around $20,000. Second, the program funds specialized workshops or symposia intended to identify and address national-level preservation needs, commonly in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. Third, it supports the creation of practical dissemination products such as how-to videos, mobile applications, podcasts, best-practices publications, and webinars, usually funded between $5,000 and $15,000. Across all categories, the goal is to produce tools, training, and knowledge that others can apply directly in preservation work, not to subsidize physical rehabilitation projects.

The maximum award amount for any single project is $20,000, with the final award size tied to the scope and scale of the proposed work. The opportunity explicitly states that it does not fund "bricks and mortar" activities, meaning direct construction, repair, or restoration work on structures is outside the program scope. Instead, applicants are expected to propose work that leads to improved preservation outcomes through innovation, capacity-building, or broader distribution of effective methods.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of public-serving and preservation-focused entities. Based on the announcement and the authorizing statute (54 U.S.C. 305304(c)), eligible applicants may include federal and non-federal laboratories, accredited museums, universities, nonprofit organizations, National Park System units and offices (including Cooperative Park Study Units), State Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, and Native Hawaiian organizations. The opportunity listing also indicates eligibility for public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as specified), and other qualifying applicants depending on the full announcement details.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity offered by the National Park Service under CFDA 15.923, categorized under science and technology and other research and development. The funding opportunity number is P21AS00252, and the original application closing date was March 15, 2021, with the opportunity created on January 13, 2021. Applicants were directed to consult the full announcement attachment for complete application requirements, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions.

• The National Park Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2021 Preservation Technology and Training Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.923.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-01-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-03-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $20,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for P21AS00252

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: