New NASA Research Announcement (NRA): University Student Research Challenge (USRC)

Amendment 1 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) 2019 NRA has been posted on the NSPIRES web site.

University Student Research Challenge (solicitation NNH19ZEA001N-USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new aeronautics ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics.  USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants for their projects and it includes the challenge of raising a modest amount of cost share funds through crowdfunding platform.  The process of creating and preparing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and taking action.  Crowdfunding also raises awareness about students’ research among the public.

The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies.

There have been a number of changes from the previous USRC pilot project, including NASA providing a larger share of funds and half of that being provided upfront.

Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required for this solicitation.  Proposals can be submitted at any time and will be evaluated in three cycles: October 30, 2019, February 26, 2020, and June 24, 2020.