NASA solicits proposals for the NASA EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development (RID) 2012 program

NASA’s Office of Education solicits proposals for the NASA EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development (RID) 2012 program. Each funded NASA EPSCoR proposal will focus on building the core strength needed to develop competitive research and technology development methods and activities for the solution of scientific and technical problems of importance to NASA as defined by one or more of the three Mission Directorates, the Office of the Chief Technologist, and/or one or more of the ten NASA Centers (including JPL). Proposals will also contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science and technology capabilities, higher education, and/or economic development of the EPSCoR jurisdiction.

NASA EPSCoR legislation, jurisdictions eligible to compete for this opportunity are those jurisdictions eligible to compete for the National Science Foundation EPSCoR. Based on the most recent three-year (FY 2009 – 2011) calculations, the 29 eligible jurisdictions are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Each NASA EPSCoR RID program must perform scientific research and/or technology development in areas that support the strategic research and technology development priorities of one or more of NASA’s three Mission Directorates, the Office of the Chief Technologist, and/or one or more of the ten NASA Centers. An emphasis should be placed on developing a core expertise capable of successfully competing for funds from NASA and non-NASA sources outside of the EPSCoR program. The programs should move progressively toward gaining support from sources outside the NASA EPSCoR program by aggressively pursuing additional funding opportunities offered by NASA, industry, other federal agencies, and other sources.

The maximum funding level that can be requested by a jurisdiction is $125,000 per year for up to three years for a total award of $375,000.

This announcement is accessible through the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) and through Grants.gov.

To access it through NSPIRES, go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com and click on Solicitations.

To access it through Grants.gov, go to http://www.grants.gov/search/agency.do and select the link for NASA.

For inquiries, please contact Jeppie R. Compton, Project Manager, NASA EPSCoR, Office of Education at jeppie.r.compton@nasa.gov .