Competitive Mini-grant Program
The NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC) requests qualified proposals from institutions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a competitive mini-grant program.
WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING MINIGRANT APPLICATIONS AT THIS TIME.
Through this program, the PSGC provides funding for Affiliate members and other Commonwealth institutions of higher education in support of qualifying proposals to continue, expand, or develop new programming. The PSGC accepts proposals on a rolling basis. Proposed project efforts should be completed within one year.
At this time the PSGC will consider qualified proposals for awards in each of our three program areas:
- Higher education: projects that directly benefit students. Funding for these projects may include: student support (limited stipends or wages), materials and supplies for a student project, and student travel. It is expected that project leads will conduct open calls for students to attract, recruit, and train U.S. citizens, especially women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities to build a future STEM workforce that reflects the nation’s diversity.
- Research infrastructure: programs that benefit the institution and its research efforts. Funding for these projects may include: limited graduate student support (for a summer or one semester), limited support for a recent Ph.D. recipient (less than 4 months), limited support for an early-career faculty, and/or materials and supplies when appropriate.
- Pre-college: K-12 programs and activities that enhance and broaden the knowledge of both the students and teachers. Award may include support for teacher preparation and enhancement, curriculum development, and student opportunities.
Mini-grants will be awarded based upon merit and funding availability. Award amounts are determined by the depth and breadth of the proposed project at three levels: less than $5,000; $5,000-$11,999; and $12,000. PSGC Mini-grants of any amount are sub-awards of the PSGC’s prime award from NASA, and all terms and agreements flow down to our subrecipients. For more information, see our 2020 award 80NSSC20M0097.
All proposed mini-grant budgets must include detailed justification. Proposals must include Statement of Work, S.M.A.R.T. Goals, and must align with one or more priorities of NASA’s Mission Directorates: Aeronautics Research, Human Exploration and Operations, Science, and Space Technology. Diversity and inclusion is a priority of NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program.
To satisfy NASA’s grant matching requirements, the total PSGC award amount must be matched by at least 1:1 by the proposing institution with non-federal funds in either cash, in-kind support, or both. Salary and waived/contributed indirect costs (F&A) are the most common forms of cost-share. Upon completion of any PSGC-funded project, the project PI must submit a signed report documenting the institution’s contributions to the committed cost sharing.
Please reference the Mini-Grant Proposal Guidelines, Cover Sheet and Budget Template for detailed information about the proposal writing process.
WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING MINIGRANT APPLICATIONS AT THIS TIME.
Please use the link to below to submit your proposal:
Submission form for Mini-Grant Propoals.
For any questions related to the PSGC mini-grant program, contact us at spacegrant@psu.edu
