NASA EPSCoR FY25 RID Mini-Grant Competition

NASA EPSCoR FY25 RID Mini-Grant Competition

Pertinent Dates

Proposals Due: October 30, 2024 (5:00 pm Central time). The submission system does not allow submissions after this time.
Anticipated Funding Period: December 1, 2024 - September 30, 2025

The FY24 versions of the Budget Form & Budget Justification are available here to download:

Complete the Budget Justification and Budget Form, and obtain required signatures (electronic signatures allowed). The Excel spreadsheet is designed to calculate automatically. The Budget Justification must follow the directions provided with as much specificity as possible. Scan and upload these documents as one PDF file in the "Budget and Budget Justification Upload" section of this form.

Notes for the Application

Co-Investigators are not allowed. Only 1 PI per application.
Only text is allowed in the application. No tables, images, figures, etc.
Required cost share is 1:0.5 for EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Mini-Grants. Additional information is provided in the Cost-Share Requirement section below.
We will accept budget forms with electronic signatures from the appropriate individuals.

Funding Period

The anticipated funding period is December 1, 2024 - September 30, 2025.

NASA Nebraska EPSCoR Research Mini-Grants

There are two goals of the EPSCoR Research Mini-grant program: 1) To elevate the aerospace-related research being conducted in Nebraska for future infrastructure building and workforce development opportunities; and 2) To result in future proposals to NASA and/or other federal, state, or private organizations for funding.

Mini-grants are not intended to be sustaining funding; rather they are intended to support a project or program for one year, allowing the project or program to grow and obtain more permanent funding elsewhere. Funding for non-NASA or non-aerospace related projects is not supported by the program.

Per NASA, this funding is not appropriate and shall not be used for the augmentation of awards already made under the NASA EPSCoR Research Award program.

Note: These Mini-Grants are different from the NASA Nebraska Space Grant Research Mini-Grant program.

Eligibility

Faculty and full-time research staff at all institutions of higher education in Nebraska are eligible for NASA EPSCoR research funds.

Prohibition on Collaboration with China

Participation, collaboration, or coordination with China, any Chinese-owned company, any Chinese university, etc. is strictly prohibited on these awards. Applicants will need to acknowledge at submission that they are not connected with with China or a Chinese-owned company, and that the proposer will not participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally with China or any Chinese-owned company, at the prime recipient level or at any sub-recipient level, whether the bilateral involvement is funded or performed under a no-exchange of funds arrangement. This also includes NASA Collaborations between the PI (if of Chinese, Russian, Iranian, or North Korean citizenship), and NASA researchers, scientists, etc.

Funding Limits

We anticipate making 5 awards at the $17,000 funding level and 3 awards at the $6,000 funding level.

Applicants may request NASA support in an amount no greater than $17,000 if the proposal:

Has a NASA collaborator who endorses the importance of the proposed research to NASA,
Clearly identifies how the proposal supports one of the NASA Mission Directorates, and
Uses part of the funding to provide a student research experience.

Applicants may request NASA support in an amount no greater than $6,000 if the proposal:

Includes a component to virtually meet with a potential NASA collaborator regarding the proposed research,
Clearly identifies how the proposal supports one of the NASA Mission Directorates, and
Uses part of the funding to provide a student research experience.
It is expected the faculty member would grow their research and collaboration and apply for the $17,000 grant within the next two years.
Subsequent funding will be based on the ability of the applicant to establish a NASA collaboration.

Proposed amounts should be reflective of the scope of the project. It is important to note that not all projects will be funded at the maximum award levels. Selected projects may be funded at lesser amounts based on the project’s alignment with the goals of the program or due to budget restrictions.

Unallowable Costs

The following items are not allowable expenses:

Foreign travel
Giveaways (t-shirts, door prizes, promotional items, gift cards, etc.)
Travel for NASA and other federal agency civil servants
Equipment (items costing more than $5,000 per unit)
Catering for events
General computing supplies (computers, laptops, external hard drives, etc.) are only allowed under special circumstances; therefore, they are strongly discouraged and rarely approved. Permission must be obtained 7 days prior to proposal submission and attached to the scanned budget. Email nasa.nebraska@unomaha.edu for permission.
Indirect costs (F&A) and faculty salary costs are not allowable in the request; however, waived (or contributed) indirects and faculty salary may be used as cost-share.

Cost-Share Requirement

Cost-share may be in-kind or cash, but must be non-federal funds. Applicants are required to provide at least a 1:0.5 match or cost-share. For example, if the request is for $1,000, the applicant needs to provide $500 in cost-share. Salary and waived/contributed indirects (F&A) are the most common forms of cost-share. Contact your Sponsored Programs or Business Office for assistance in determining what is allowed at your institution. UNO applicants may not use waived indirect as cost share since the indirect is already waived on the larger grant based at UNO.

Diversity Component

See application form

Resulting Publications, Presentations, and Proposals

See application form

Data Management Plan

See application form

Evaluation Plan

See application form

Must Proposals be Submitted through the Sponsored Programs Office or Business Office at the University or College?

Non-UNO Applicants: Institutional authorization is required to approve proposed expenditures and cost-share. This is done through the Sponsored Programs Office or Business Office signing the required budget attachment. The PI must submit the application through the NASA Nebraska InfoReady Portal. The portal limits submissions to one per researcher for this competition.

UNO Applicants: No. UNO applicants must obtain signatures from the Department Chair and College Dean on the required budget attachment.

Proposal Submission

Complete the Smartsheet application form
Complete the Budget Justification and Budget Form, and obtain required signatures (electronic signatures allowed). The Excel spreadsheet is designed to calculate automatically. The Budget Justification must follow the directions provided with as much specificity as possible. Scan and upload these documents as one PDF file.

The PI is responsible for ensuring the correct, complete documents are attached. Applications that are incomplete, or have incomplete or incorrect attachments will not be considered. The August 2024 Budget Form and Budget Justification Form must be used.

Late Submission Policy

Applications received after the deadline will only be reviewed after the on-time applications are reviewed, providing funding is still available.

Questions

The NASA Nebraska Space Grant staff members are available to answer questions about the application process, allowable budget items, cost share, etc. Please contact us at:

Phone: (402) 554-3772
Email: Nasa.Nebraska@unomaha.edu

Submitting Organization (e.g. UNO)*

Applicant Last Name*

Applicant First Name*

Title of the Proposed Research Project*

PI's Country of Citizenship*

PI's Department (e.g. Physics)*

Office Address*

Office City*

Office Zip Code*

Office Phone Number*

Phone

Email Address*

Type of Research Mini-Grant you are applying for:*

Select

Provide a short abstract of the proposed project that includes its relevance to NASA and can be shared on a website for the general public to understand.*

NASA requires this funding to align with one or more of the NASA Mission Directorates. Which NASA Mission Directorate(s) does the project relate to? Mark all that apply.*

Select

Describe how the proposed project supports the NASA Mission Directorate(s) indicated. Be specific as to how it relates to their projects and/or priorities.*

If applying for the $17,000 level, describe the existing NASA Collaboration with NASA scientists and/or engineers. Discuss the history and success of the collaboration to date. Provide the name of your NASA contact, their Center, phone number, and email address.

If applying for the $6,000 level, describe the emerging NASA collaboration and how it will be expanded during the funding timeline (see instructions re: Funding Limits). This plan will be carefully scrutinized by the reviewers.

Diversity Component

Diversity is a NASA STEM Engagement Core Value and must be reflected in its portfolio of programs. These mini-grants should include a diversity component: underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, and persons with disabilities meet this requirement. For purposes of this program, underrepresented minorities include African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders currently fit this definition; Asians do not.

Describe how the proposed project contributes toward the Diversity Component. Include the participation rates for underrepresented minorities and females in the project.*

Indicate if this proposed project has a collaboration with either of the Nebraska Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). Mark all that apply.

Select

Resulting Publications, Presentations, and Proposals

Resulting publications, presentations, and proposals are key outcomes expected from this funding. If funded, NASA support from this grant should be clearly acknowledged in all publications and presentations. Additionally, NASA requires publications authored or co-authored under this funding to be entered into the NASA PubSpace System. Resulting proposals to other agencies or industry for continued funding is a goal of the Mini-Grant program.

Describe the plan for resulting peer-reviewed publications and presentations from this project, including which publications and conferences will be targeted to share the results, and if student authors will participate.*

Describe the plan for resulting proposals to other agencies or industry for continued funding, including which specific agencies or programs will be targeted for future funding. Do not include future Space Grant proposals.*

How will this project contribute to the economic development of the state, or to state science and technology priorities?*

Provide an outline of the milestones for December 2024-September 2025. Text only; do not include tables, figures, or images.*

Data Management Plan

Researchers funded under this grant will follow their university guidance and the “NASA Plan for Increasing Access to Results of Federally Funded Research” for ensuring the preservation of the data. Each proposal will include its own Data Management Plan (DMP), detailing how data sharing and preservation will enable the validation of the published results, or if the data is not able to be shared publicly, how validation of the data will occur, as well as the preservation of data. If the data are not able to be included as supplementary data to the published articles, the article will indicate how the data may be accessed. Additionally, researchers are required to report their publications in PubSpace.

Provide a Data Management Plan for this project, including data sharing and preservation. See instructions for more details.*

Evaluation Plan

The evaluation methodology for the proposed project should be based upon reputable models and techniques appropriate to the content and scale of the project. Applicants should devise an evaluation plan that states the objectives in terms of measurable outcomes, including quantitative metrics; includes how data will be acquired and aggregated, and then compared against pre-award baseline data; describes the plan to implement improvements throughout the entire period of performance based on ongoing evaluation evidence; and describe how student performance data will be gathered (if applicable).

Furthermore, applicants are asked in the application to clearly state the objectives of the project and how they will evaluate against them. Applications should describe key metrics used for program evaluation, including a plan for acquiring and aggregating data to which the pre-award baseline data will be compared.

Include how your project will contribute to the following Research Program Metrics:

% higher participation of underrepresented students

% higher participation of female students

# of newly established or strengthened collaborations with NASA scientists

# of leveraged contracts and grants resulting from mini-grant funding

# of resulting paper presentations or peer-reviewed research publications

# of higher education courses related to aerospace science and engineering are created or revised to include NASA-related content

Describe the evaluation plan, including key metrics, to determine the effectiveness of the activity. Refer to your proposed milestones and provide a plan to show you will meet them. See the instructions for further information on what to include in this section. Text only; do not include tables, figures, or images.*

Provide the research proposal narrative below. Include these criteria as relevant: quality student research experience provided, interdisciplinary, and contribution to faculty development. Text only; do not include tables, figures, or images.*

Does the proposed project involve Human Subjects or human-derived information? If yes, list the IRB approval date or, if approval is pending, the date on which your request was submitted to the IRB.*

Budget and Budget Justification Upload*

1. Complete the Budget Form & Budget Justification form. The Excel spreadsheet is designed to calculate automatically.

2. Obtain the required signatures.

3. Scan both documents as a single PDF document. Save it and name it in the following format: EPSCoR_Research_FY25_Institution_Last Name_Budget (for example: EPSCoR_Research_FY25_UNO_Smith_Budget)

4. Upload the single document into Smartsheet.

Drag and drop files here or

Acknowledgement

Selection notification will be made via the email address provided in the application. Be sure the email address provided is correct.
NASA requires progress reports. We will use Smartsheet as much as possible to collect this information throughout the year.
Awardees may be mentioned in reports and proposals to NASA.
The PI is responsible for ensuring the correct, complete documents are attached.
Applications that are incomplete, or have incomplete or incorrect attachments will not be considered.

This is our first time using the Smartsheet platform for a research mini-grant competition. We appreciate feedback from the proposer perspective.

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