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GUIDE TO NASA FUNDING

Guide to NASA Funding

APTS Grant Center staff recently met with the Associate Administrator for Education at NASA to learn more about the operating and funding structure within the agency and find opportunities for public broadcasting stations to be involved. Broadly, the NASA Education Department has four goals: to inspire, engage, educate and employ. More specifically, the Education Department’s current priorities are on spurring innovation and better preparing teachers. All NASA education programming is grounded in current NASA projects and missions. While NASA values STEM education, agency funding only supports projects that are created around work that NASA scientists are doing.

While there are not currently any open competitions for funding, stations should be aware of the following programs, as they will re-open in the future:

Though this year’s competition is closed, NASA’s Global Climate Change Education program is also a good opportunity for public broadcasting stations. The Grant Center learned that the next round of this program will have less restrictive eligibility requirements; all nonprofit organizations will be eligible to apply.

NASA’s biggest K-12 education initiative is its Summer of Innovation program. Though the 2010 program is currently over, stations should be aware of it for the future. In 2010, NASA established cooperative agreements with nonprofit organizations, state-based educational leadership organizations and school districts in order to provide and deliver summer or other out-of-school learning programs that improve student learning or career exploration.

In addition to competitive programs for which NASA issues solicitations, there are a few more informal ways that stations can connect with NASA and build partnerships:

NASA’s Space Grant College and Fellowship Program is a national network of colleges and universities that are working to expand opportunities for Americans to understand and participate in NASA’s projects. They support and enhance science and engineering education, research and public outreach efforts. Stations may be able to collaborate with one or more of these institutions and can begin doing so by contacting the relevant state director. 

Many of NASA’s funding opportunities are part of the ROSES (Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences) program and focus primarily on research. Awards from these programs usually also include funds to share results of the research. Stations that are interested in doing public outreach for these programs should be in contact with the Principal Investigators (PIs) for each project. NSPIRES is NASA’s PI directory, and ROSES PIs will be listed there.

Each of NASA’s 10 centers is both locally and nationally supported and conducts education activities. There may be opportunities for public broadcasting stations to collaborate with individual offices on local outreach and education events. Stations that are interested in that possibility should contact the office directly to begin establishing a relationship. To find education contacts at a specific office, visit the center’s website:

Stations can sign up to receive announcements about NASA’s education programs, activities and events from their EXPRESS newsletter. NASA grants are posted on Grants.gov, and grantseekers can also search NSPIRES for open solicitations. In addition, relevant grant opportunities will also be posted on the Grant Center website.