Vermont NASA EPSCoR Program Research Infrastructure Development (RID) Augmentation Request for Years 2 and 3

Vermont is in many ways the prototype of an EPSCoR state. Predominantly rural, the state’s population in 2017 was 623,960 ranking it 49th in the nation. The University of Vermont (UVM) is the state’s only comprehensive university offering a full spectrum of graduate programs leading to advanced degrees in STEM disciplines. Baccalaureate degrees and limited Masters level degrees in STEM disciplines are offered at Norwich University, Saint Michael’s College, Vermont Technical College and elsewhere in the state college system. With a few exceptions, the largest cohort of active academic researchers in Vermont are faculty at UVM, which is recognized as the state’s only research university. Even at UVM, and despite the high quality of the faculty, the pool of academic researchers is comparatively small owing to the institutional size. As a result, it is often a challenge to attain the critical mass of researchers and research infrastructure needed to compete successfully for federal research funding. The fact that Vermont is geographically remote from all NASA centers (the nearest being 600 miles away) adds to the challenge of developing potential collaborations with colleagues at NASA.

Despite these challenges, Vermont’s NASA EPSCoR program has had significant success creating an interest in NASA research priorities among Vermont’s academic researchers. It has supported activities that have established and strengthened connections between Vermont’s academic researchers and collaborators at NASA Centers and has made our jurisdiction’s academic researchers more competitive for non-EPSCoR external funding on the national level. These supported activities have fostered the development of additional aerospace-related research infrastructure in Vermont. During the recent Phases III, IV and V of the NASA EPSCoR RID Program, research funding awarded by Vermont’s program has significantly increased the number of research proposals on topics that are NASA research priorities submitted by Vermont academic researchers to NASA and other federal agencies through non-EPSCoR mechanisms. Several of these proposals have led to significant research grants awarded in regular national funding competitions. Research grants from our Core Research Infrastructure Project have also established ties between Vermont’s academic researchers and Vermont’s small technology-based companies, forged links between Vermont’s NASA EPSCoR program and State Agencies, and supported Vermont’s economic development goals.

The present proposal for Research Infrastructure Development (RID) funding from 2019 to 2021 will continue to expand the strong foundation established by our prior RID-sponsored efforts. Vermont’s proposed 2019-2021 RID project plan has been designed to further increase the national competitiveness of Vermont’s academic researchers, to increase Vermont’s NASA-related research infrastructure, and to develop new collaborative research ties with NASA centers and Mission Directorates while strengthening existing ones. Locally, the RID VI project will promote academic-industrial partnerships that support State economic development goals and foster collaborations among state colleges and universities that enhance Vermont’s ability to respond to the evolving research and technology needs of NASA. The RID funding will be used specifically to support pilot and small-scale competitive research grants, travel grants to enable investigators to visit NASA centers, and the Industrial Partners Initiative, which seeks to strengthen collaborative links between academic researchers and Vermont companies in areas that align with NASA’s research and technology needs.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.