Alaska's NASA EPSCoR Program 2019-2022

The Alaska State Committee on Research (SCoR) updated the Alaska Science and Technology Plan, To Build a Fire [see https://www.alaska.edu/research/research/scor/] in 2016. In this report, they present a road map for Alaska science and technology development which they organize into seven specific areas to which “Alaska’s unique characteristics lend themselves….” Each of the EPSCoR programs (NASA, NSF, DOE, etc.) currently active in the state look to this document to find the commonality between Alaska’s research interests and those of the federal agency. This proposal outlines those commonalities between Alaska’s S&T plan and NASA’s 2018 Strategic Plan.

Specifically, this NASA EPSCoR RID proposal seeks to build Alaska’s research infrastructure and technology capabilities in areas of interest to Alaska by providing seed funding and training that will lead toward long-term, self-sustaining, nationally-competitive capabilities in support of NASA related research and technology priorities.

Goal: Increase Alaska’s ability to respond to research and technology development needs of NASA and the State and to partner with Alaska’s aerospace industry to expand the space-related capabilities within the State.

Objective 1: Develop research infrastructure by awarding a minimum of three Research Development Seed Grants per year in areas of strategic importance to NASA and Alaska which lead to a minimum of three follow-on proposals submitted per year.

Objective 2: Facilitate new partnerships with NASA researchers by providing Partnership Development Travel Grants to attend NASA EPSCoR annual Technical Interchange Meetings and/or other NASA related workshops that will lead to a minimum of one new collaborative proposal per year.

Objective 3: Promote commercialization and collaboration with industry by supporting faculty and student participation in relevant workshops such as NASA’s Small Business Technology Infusion Road Tour and Lean Launch startup workshops which leads to one significant university/industry collaboration.

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.