Grants to Kansas faculty and students at institutions of higher education to initiate research collaborations related to space and technology. Funding is intended for research studies and projects that result in publications and grant proposals. The goal of the grant program is to develop partnerships between underserved and underrepresented students at Kansas universities and NASA.
With support from NASA and the Kansas Board of Regents, the Kansas NASA EPSCoR Program (KNEP) is preparing to award Partnership Development Grants (PDG) to Kansas investigators, under the KNEP Research Infrastructure Development (RID) program. These grants are intended to facilitate the development of beneficial and promising NASA collaborations.
The PDG recipient is expected to initiate, develop, and formalize a meaningful professional relationship with a NASA researcher. Given this expectation, it is vital investigators and students travel to a NASA center if selected for an award. Ideally, the faculty member, student, and research host become co-participants in a promising research effort. The PDG award should lead to sustained collaborations, joint publications, and, most importantly, future grant proposals.
PDG awards are competitive, with a strong emphasis on:
- Addressing NASA Mission Directorate and Kansas interests (required)
- Developing new, sustained, and meaningful NASA contacts (required)
- Involving US students, especially underrepresented and underserved Kansas undergraduate and graduate students, in the research (required)
- Strengthening collaboration among academia, government agencies, business, and industry
- Exploring new and unique R&D opportunities
- Shared publications and future EPSCoR and non-EPSCoR grant submissions
PDG target outcomes, per award, include:
- One or more publications, with NASA or relevant industry co-authors
- One or more EPSCoR or non-EPSCoR grant proposals, as a product of the PDG award
- Significant project involvement by one or more students.
KNEP focuses its program and project elements on NASA’s interests. From the Kansas perspective, as outlined in previous sections, the following specific “NASA Strategic Plan 2014” goals and objectives are significant:
- Strategic Goal 1 - “Expand the frontiers of knowledge, capability, and opportunity in space.”
- Strategic Goal 2 - “Advance understanding of Earth and develop technologies to improve the quality of life on our home planet.”
For additional information on these goals, see: https://nasainkansas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/KS-NASA-EPSCoR-PDG-2023-RFP.pdf#page=6
