Funding Opportunity: NASA EPSCoR Research Implementation Grants

Deadlines​
  • Letter of Intent (LOI) Due: 1700 CST, Tuesday, March 7th, 2023
  • LOI Selection Announcement: Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
  • Pre-Proposals Due: 1700 CST, Friday, July 14th, 2023
  • Pre-Proposal Selection announcement: Friday, July 28th, 2023
  • Selected pre-proposal team will work with NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR to submit full proposal to NASA 
Program Description 
  • Grant Cycle: 2021-2024 will consist of a Letter of Intent (LOI), pre-proposal phase, and a full proposal phase.  A statewide NASA EPSCoR board will select projects from the LOIs which will move forward through a preproposal stage.  One submitted preproposal will be selected to prepare a full proposal that will go forward to NASA.
  • NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR anticipates the release of a NASA EPSCoR Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Research Implementation Competition in August 2023 with a 90-day turn around for the full proposal.
  • Proposal requires research collaboration among Oklahoma researchers and their counterparts at a NASA Center or Mission Directorates.  Commercial / Industrial partnerships are strongly encouraged.
  • NASA requires 50% cost share: for every $2.00 of NASA funds, $1.00 must be supplied as match. Pre-proposals must include a statement indicating that the applicant understands and agrees to all budgetary and cost share requirements should the submitted proposal be selected to move forward.
  • $250,000 per year for three years. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education will provide $50,000 per year of matching funds.  15% of both NASA funds and Regent match funds must be allocated to NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR Office.
  • Research must align with NASA priorities.
  • Since the new Notice of Funding Opportunity will not be released until August, researchers are strongly encouraged to consult the 2023 Research NOFO EPSCoR_Final.pdf (nasaprs.com) for guidance.  Special attention should be given to the evaluation criteria listed on pages 21-23.
Letter of Intent Content and Review Criteria
 
All letters of Interest will be considered, however, researchers with previous or existing NASA Travel Grant and/or Research Initiation Grant funding are encouraged to submit a Letter of Interest to be considered for NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR sponsorship.  A competitive process will be used to determine the the researchers who may move on to the Pre-Proposal phase.
  
Letter Content 
  • NASA Research Focus Area identifier and title
  • The title and description of the potential research including the NASA Mission Directorate and NASA scientist that has expressed interest in the project.
  • Goals and objectives should be included in the letter which can be up to two full pages in length. 
  • A list of the primary researchers and their institutions 
  • A two-page CV together with a list of current and pending support for the lead investigator,
  • A one-page CV together with a list of current and pending support for each anticipated researcher.
LOI Selection Criteria
 
 LOI's will be judged on the following criteria:
  • Conformity to NASA priorities 
  • Identification of an interested NASA Researcher
  • Goals and Objectives
  • Qualifications of research team
  • Past interaction with NASA (including Travel Grants or RIG)
LOI Submission
 
LOI must be e-mailed to the NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR Office at [email protected] by deadline.
 
Pre-Proposal Review Criteria
(Selected LOI's only)
 
Proposers who have been selected from the LOI's will be eligible to submit a pre-proposal.
  • Scientific and Technical Merit (40%)
  • Demonstrated Alignment with NASA Budget Priorities (40%)
    • Narrative should be specific demonstrating alignment with NASA priorities and specify proposed collaboration with NASA.  Include role of NASA personnel, and discussion of use of NASA facilities if applicable.
    • Include a letter of intent from relevant NASA collaborator(s)
  • Management and Evaluation (20%)
    • Project Management
      • Identify Lead Science Investigator Sc-I (include 2 pg cv )
      • Identify each Team Member (include 1 pg cv )
      • Clear description of responsibilities of all researchers
    • Specify information sharing plan and how individual tasks integrate to plan
    • Specify meeting plans and directions for ongoing research
    • Include description of metrics or milestones used to evaluate project progress
Pre-Proposal Format
 
Please follow the following order of documents and page count limits.
  • pdf format
  • Proposal Cover Page: 1 page
  • Proposal Summary:  4000 characters
  • Proposal Body (Including Scientific, Technical, NASA Alignment, Management and Evaluation excluding cvs):  5 pages
  • Budget:  Applicants must include a statement indicating agreement and understanding of the budgetary and cost share requirements should the submitted proposal be selected to move forward.
  • Biographical sketches (Sc-I 2pg, Co-Is 1 pg each)
  • References and Citations:  As Needed
  • The pre-proposal is not a contractually binding document, therefore it is not required to obtain official university approval signatures.  It will only be reviewed by the state EPSCoR committee.
Pre-Proposal Submission
 
Pre-proposal must be e-mailed to the NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR Office at [email protected] by deadline.
 
For the most recent updates on this funding opportunity, visit http://epscor.oknasa.org/implementation 
 
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