The Space Grant Office at NASA Headquarters has recently distributed an opportunity for Space Grant institutions to propose a two-year project in one of two areas, undergraduate STEM retention and STEM educators.  The full announcement may be viewed at here.

The main features are:

A.     Undergraduate Retention in STEM Focus:

• Target First-Year and Sophomore STEM-interested students, or STEM majors (students most at-risk of STEM attrition)
• Project should implement innovative practices that address STEM attrition in undergraduate students and encourage persistence toward graduation in STEM majors
• Project may include: mentoring, hands-on activities, experiential learning opportunities, research engagement, challenges, competitions, and/or other academic and financial support
• Eligible participants are limited to:
  • Rising first-year or sophomore undergraduate students
  • U.S. Citizens
  • Must be enrolled at an accredited college or university in the U.S. 

B.     Qualified STEM Educator Focus:

• Target Junior and Senior-level undergraduate students
• Project may include: mentoring, STEM content incorporation in classroom setting, research engagement, and/or other academic and financial support
• Recruited participants should be:
  • Rising junior or senior undergraduate students
  • U.S. Citizens
  • Must be enrolled at an accredited college or university in the U.S.

Each Space Grant jurisdiction may submit two proposals, each for $500,000 over a two-year period.  Ten proposals will be funded.  There is no requirement for cost sharing in the announcement, although cost sharing is allowed.   “Partnerships” with other institutions are required, as discussed on page 5 of the announcement. 

A Notice of Intent to propose (NOI) is due November 26; the proposal itself is due December 14. 

If you are interested in proposing to one of these opportunities, please submit the following to via e-mail to Peter Sukanek, Director of the MS Space Grant Program, at cmpcs@olemiss.edu, by 5PM November 13, 2012:

• A one-page summary of the proposal, including the proposed partnerships
• An indication of the proposed ties to NASA
• The project goals and SMART objectives

The Mississippi Research Consortium will review the summaries select 2 proposals among those endorsable by MS Space Grant Director. The 2 selections will be announced by November 17, and the authors and invited to develop full proposals to NASA. These proposals will be submitted by UM on behalf of the jurisdiction on or before December 14.