NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development

Specific RID activities will target four objectives: 1) Initiate contacts and forge direct partnerships with scientists and researchers at the Mission Directorates, the Office of the Chief Technologies, and/or one or more of the ten NASA Centers; 2) Promote collaborative research programs with the NASA Centers, Mission Directorates and Industry; 3) Initiate research activities in areas of strategic importance to the Agency; and 4) Support undergraduate and graduate research experiences. The majority of the proposed funding will be used for Travel Grants and Research Initiation grants awarded to Oklahoma faculty researchers that align with Goals 1-3 of The 2014 NASA Strategic Plan. All of the objectives of this proposal also are in alignment with priorities of the Oklahoma jurisdiction, in particular the Aerospace Industry Engineer Workforce Bill of 2008, House Bills 680 and 681 in conjunction with Senate Bill 720 that ensure that research impacts the State’s economy through the technology transfer pipeline, opening doors to universities to license technology and faculty members to own businesses that market technology and invention, and the Council of Science and Technology. The primary activities and majority of the funding support up to six Travel Grants, which provide opportunities for researchers to forge a direct partnership with a NASA Center, Mission Directorate, or Office of Technology Development for possible collaborations. Once Travel Grant awardees have successfully established links, they may apply for one of three Research Initiation Grants (RIGs), to further develop research collaborations.

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.