Release of NASA Research Announcement “Research Opportunities in Fundamental Physics”
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released NASA Research Announcement (NRA) NNH11ZTT001N, entitled “Research Opportunities in Fundamental Physics.” This NRA solicits fundamental physics research proposals from U.S. investigators to participate in planned European Space Agency (ESA) research activities on the International Space Station (ISS). These ESA activities are the Space Optical Clock (SOC) project, the Quantum Weak Equivalence Principle (QWEP) project, and the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) project.
The full text of the solicitation is available on the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com under menu listing “Open Solicitations.” Potential applicants are urged to access this site well in advance of the proposal due date to familiarize themselves with its structure and to register in the system. Proposals solicited through this NRA will use a two-step proposal process. Proposers must show a clear connection between their proposed activities to the planned ESA SOC or QWEP or ACES ISS projects. Only Step-1 proposers determined to be relevant with respect to the Research Emphases outlined in this NRA will be invited to submit full Step-2 proposals. Step-2 proposals must be compliant with respect to all sections of this NRA or they will be declined without review. Proposals must be submitted electronically. Step-1 Proposers can use either NSPIRES (see URL above) or Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov ) for proposal submission. Invited Step-2 Proposals must be submitted electronically via the NSPIRES proposal data system.
Step-1 proposals are due September 7, 2011. Step-2 proposals are due November 4, 2011.
All categories of U.S. institutions are eligible to submit proposals in response to this NRA. Principal Investigators (PIs) may collaborate with investigators from universities, Federal Government laboratories, the private sector, state and local government laboratories and other countries.
Every organization that intends to submit a proposal in response to this NRA must be registered with NSPIRES, and such registration must identify the authorized organizational representative(s) who will submit the electronic proposal. Instructions on how to register in NSPIRES is described in the NRA. Each electronic proposal system places requirements on the registration of principal investigators and other participants (e.g. co-investigators). Questions in regards to responding to this NRA may be addressed to the contacts referenced in the full solicitation document.
This is a broad agency announcement as specified in FAR 6.102 (d)(2). Notwithstanding the posting of this opportunity at FedBizOpps.gov, nspires.nasaprs.com, or Grants.gov, NASA reserves the right to determine the appropriate award instrument for each proposal selected pursuant to this announcement.
