NSF/CASIS Collaboration Solicitation (window opens)

Program Title:

Transport Phenomena Research at the International Space Station to Benefit Life on Earth (NSF-ISS)

Synopsis of Program:

The Division of Chemical, Bioengineering and Environmental Transport (CBET) in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is partnering with The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) to solicit research projects in the general field of fluid dynamics, particulate and multiphase processes, combustion and fire systems, thermal transport processes, and nanoscale interactions that can utilize the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab to conduct research that will benefit life on Earth. Only U.S. entities including academic investigators, non-profit independent research laboratories and academic-commercial teams are eligible to apply.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.

• Nora F. Savage, Nanoscale Interactions, telephone: (703) 292-7949, email: nosavage@nsf.gov

• Ronald Joslin, Fluid Dynamics, telephone: (703) 292-7030, email: rjoslin@nsf.gov

• William Olbricht, Particulate and Multiphase Processes, telephone: (703) 292-4842, email: wolbrich@nsf.gov

• Harsha Chelliah, Combustion and Fire Systems, telephone: (703) 292-7062, email: hchellia@nsf.gov

• Ying Sun, Thermal Transport Processes, telephone: (703) 292-7443, email: yisun@nsf.gov

• Shahab Shojaei-Zadeh, Transport Phenomena Cluster, telephone: (703) 292-8045, email: sshojaei@nsf.gov

• Ryan Reeves, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, telephone: (321) 751-5151, email: rreeves@issnationallab.org

Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):

• 43.007 — Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
• 47.041 — Engineering

Award Information

Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant

Estimated Number of Awards: 7

Anticipated Funding Amount: $3,000,000

NSF Funding (total) available under this solicitation is up to $3 million to be distributed in FY 2020. Budget requests may be for up to $400,000 total, direct and indirect costs, and up to four years in duration. The award size and duration should be consistent with the project scope.

Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.

Funding for ISS Experiments

NSF awards under this solicitation will provide PIs with support to conduct fundamental and translational research, to prepare experiments for execution onboard the ISS, to collaborate with service providers as necessary, to provide preliminary analysis to conduct the experiment, to analyze and interpret data, and to disseminate results broadly. CASIS operations will assist grantees in translating ground-based experiments and technologies into an appropriate ISS certified hardware solution where possible. All costs associated with the translation of the proposed experiments to flight experiments onboard the ISS, including training of ISS crews, transporting the experiment payload and equipment to the ISS, and conducting experiments on the ISS, will be supported by CASIS through their cooperative agreement with NASA.

For other technical and/or operational inquiries, please submit questions to (ops@issnationallab.org).

Eligibility Information

Who May Submit Proposals:

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

• Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) – Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.
• Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.
• For-profit organizations: U.S. commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education.

Who May Serve as PI:

The PI(s) must be eligible to submit NSF proposals, as described in the PAPPG. Projects can be collaborative and collaborations with industry and relevant costs for their participation are allowed.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 1

An individual may participate in any capacity (PI, co-PI, Other Senior Personnel, or Consultant) in only one proposal submitted in response to this solicitation. The submitting organization is responsible to ensure that the PI, co-PIs, Other Senior Personnel, and Consultants are participating in only one proposal. This limitation includes proposals submitted by a lead organization and any sub-award submitted as part of a proposal. Violations of this rule will result in return without review of all proposals including the offending individual except for the first such proposal submitted in time-stamped order.