Alaska's NASA EPSCoR Program 2015-2018

The Alaska Science and Technology Plan [2014-ST-plan_Feb.-BOR-1.pdf] was finalized in January 2014 [see http://www.alaska.edu/research/research/scor]. This document notes that: “Alaska’s economy is based on knowledge. Research – the expansion of knowledge – can improve the state’s resilience and competitiveness and contribute to human progress. While Alaska’s vast size, extreme climate, and scattered population present challenges for science and technology development, the state also offers many advantages: a rich resource base, a unique Arctic location, an educated population and increasingly well-regarded university system…” This plan goes on to outline seven specific science and technology research arenas 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 2014 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 incentives 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: Incentivize Research Development Seed Grants to foster partnerships among Alaska’s academic institutions and/or industry. 25% of Research Development Seed Grants will include multi-institution and/or academic-industry collaboration. Objective 3: Facilitate new partnerships with NASA researchers by providing Partnership Development Travel Grants and/or arranging Annual Faculty Group visit to a NASA Center that will lead to a minimum of one new collaborative proposal per year.

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.