Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) | NNH24ZHA001C

Opportunity Information: Apply for NNH24ZHA001C

NASA's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is a grant opportunity designed to strengthen aerospace and aerospace-related research capacity in U.S. jurisdictions that have historically received a smaller share of federal research funding. The central idea is to provide seed funding that helps these jurisdictions build up an academic research enterprise that can stand on its own over the long term. Rather than funding one-off projects in isolation, NASA EPSCoR is meant to help create durable, nationally competitive research capabilities that can keep attracting funding, partnerships, and talent after the initial award period ends. In practice, this means supporting efforts that grow research infrastructure, expand expertise, and increase the overall competitiveness of universities and related institutions in eligible states and territories.

The program emphasizes outcomes that go beyond the immediate research results. By strengthening the local research base, NASA EPSCoR aims to improve a jurisdiction's economic viability, since a stronger aerospace research ecosystem can lead to workforce development, technology innovation, and industry collaboration. At the national level, the program is also intended to broaden the country's aerospace research and development capacity by bringing more regions into the pipeline of competitive, high-quality R and D activity. NASA indicates it will continue supporting these objectives as funding allows, reinforcing that the program is part of a longer-term strategy to grow capability across eligible jurisdictions.

Awards are made through a competitive, merit-based process. Proposals submitted by jurisdictions are evaluated through peer review, and then they move forward to a NASA Headquarters Mission Directorate Review Panel for an additional level of review. This layered evaluation structure signals that NASA is looking for both strong scientific or technical merit and alignment with NASA mission priorities, while also ensuring proposals are judged fairly across applicants. The opportunity uses a cooperative agreement funding instrument, which typically implies more substantial NASA involvement or collaboration during the project compared with a standard grant, though the exact level of involvement depends on the specific award terms.

Eligibility is tied to the National Science Foundation EPSCoR eligibility determinations. NASA relies on the most recent NSF EPSCoR eligibility tables to decide which jurisdictions qualify for NASA EPSCoR participation. For this solicitation, the referenced standard is the NSF FY 2023 eligibility table, which is published online and used as the governing source for overall jurisdiction eligibility. In other words, applicants generally need to be located in or representing a jurisdiction listed as EPSCoR-eligible under NSF's current table for that year.

For this specific funding opportunity, the sponsor is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with Funding Opportunity Number NNH24ZHA001C and CFDA number 43.008. It is categorized as a discretionary opportunity under the funding activity category of education, reflecting the program's focus on strengthening academic research enterprises and the supporting pipeline of researchers. The listed award ceiling is $750,000, and NASA anticipates making about 15 awards, depending on the availability of funds. The opportunity was created on 2023-10-30, with an original closing date of 2024-01-22, which is the key deadline applicants would have needed to plan around for proposal submission.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.008.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-10-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-01-22. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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