University Leadership Initiative (ULI) | NNH23ZEA001N ULI

Opportunity Information: Apply for NNH23ZEA001N ULI

The University Leadership Initiative (ULI) is a NASA Headquarters funding opportunity designed to let university-led teams take the lead on high-impact aeronautics research programs. The core idea is not just to fund individual research tasks, but to push universities to show real technical and organizational leadership: defining a compelling aeronautics challenge, building a multidisciplinary solution strategy, setting up credible peer review processes, and using creative teaming approaches that increase the reach and usefulness of the work. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies a more collaborative relationship with the agency than a standard grant, especially around coordination, milestones, and shared technical direction.

NASA is seeking proposals in six specific topic areas aligned to major aeronautics strategic thrusts. These topics cover (1) Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations, focused on scaling aviation safely and efficiently as global demand increases; (2) Innovation in Commercial Supersonic Aircraft, aimed at enabling practical and acceptable supersonic flight for civil use; (3) Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports, targeting major efficiency gains in the kinds of aircraft that make up most of today’s commercial fleets; (4) Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles, supporting advances for helicopters, eVTOL concepts, and other vertical lift systems with an emphasis on safety, noise reduction, and cost; (5) In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance, centered on tools and methods to evaluate and assure safety across the entire aviation system fast enough to matter operationally; and (6) Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation, which focuses on trustworthy autonomy for future aviation operations, including verification, validation, resilience, and operational acceptance of autonomous or highly automated systems.

The solicitation uses a two-step submission and down-select process. First, applicants must submit a short and mandatory Step-A proposal by July 6, 2023. NASA will evaluate these Step-A submissions and only the most highly rated teams will be invited to submit a more detailed Step-B proposal. All proposals are submitted electronically through NSPIRES (https://nspires.nasaprs.com), which is NASA’s standard platform for research solicitations and award management.

To help applicants understand expectations and connect with potential collaborators, NASA scheduled an Applicant’s Workshop on May 11, 2023 (1:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET) with details provided at https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/applicants-workshops/workshop7. NASA also maintains an “interested partners” list for teams looking to form or expand collaborations (https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/partners). Organizations that want to appear on that list as a potential lead or partner are instructed to email hq-univpartnerships@mail.nasa.gov with “ULI Partnerships” in the subject line and include the required table information referenced on the partners webpage.

From an eligibility and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is labeled “unrestricted,” meaning it is broadly open to applicant types, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement. The Funding Opportunity Number is NNH23ZEA001N, the CFDA number is 43.002, the activity category is science and technology and other R&D, and NASA anticipated making about five awards. The listing shows an award ceiling of $0, which usually indicates the ceiling is not specified in the summary record and applicants need to rely on the full solicitation text for budgeting constraints, period of performance details, and any topic-specific funding guidance.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Headquarters in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "University Leadership Initiative (ULI)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.002.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 25, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 06, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for NNH23ZEA001N ULI

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