April 28, 2015          15-071

NASA has awarded 26 grants totaling $9.9 million to help bolster the capacity and competitiveness of 28 states and territories (jurisdictions) in the area of technology research and development.

Through its Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, NASA awards Research Infrastructure Development (RID) grants every three to five years to jurisdictions that have not, in the past, participated equitably in aerospace and aerospace-related research activities.

The grants have a three-year period of performance, with renewal each year contingent on annual performance. Each awardee receives $125,000 per year, with the exception of Hawaii and South Carolina, each which receive $150,000 a year in order to also provide funding to the territories that fall under their program purview (Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, respectively).

In addition to Hawaii and South Carolina, grants also were awarded to EPSCoR programs in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

EPSCoR programs are managed in each participating jurisdiction by a program director, usually a faculty member of a university in the jurisdiction, who oversees the process of submitting grant proposals and the work performed with grant funding. Work funded by these grants must address areas of science and technology research and development that support NASA’s current and future missions.