Various Minority-Serving Institutions Receive Funding to Support NASA Programs

NASA is providing funds to minority-serving institutions to work on various projects that will support the agency’s top priorities, including understanding and monitoring global ocean health, helping build a more inclusive workforce, and realizing the Artemis program’s goal of returning humans to the moon.

The Minority Universe Research and Education Project is funding four new opportunities designed to enable institutions to increase their research capabilities and allow them to become “more competitive” for contract awards.

The funds will also provide the selected institutions with an opportunity to broaden their participation in fields focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, NASA said Friday.

One of the agency’s funding opportunities is the Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry award, which helps MSIs prepare for competitions aimed at gaining a deeper scientific understanding of the Earth. In June, 10 MSIs received more than $6.6 million in cooperative agreements with NASA to study climate change and its effects.

NASA is also providing funds to support the Artemis program through the MUREP Space Technology Artemis Research awards. M-STAR is backed by the Space Technology Mission Directorate with the goal of promoting STEM literacy and enhancing the capabilities of MSIs to compete in agency research for missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. In July, NASA awarded almost $3.5 million in cooperative agreements to seven institutions.

Another funding opportunity is in support of the National Science Foundation’s Nation of Community of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science model. Under MUREP INCLUDES, MSIs received nearly $7.2 million on July 21 to work on a new initiative designed to form and lead coalitions for broadening participation in engineering. The funding will support efforts to determine effective methods for bringing diverse students into engineering research, explore innovative approaches to fill in identified gaps, and expand existing programs.

NASA also awards MUREP-Small Business Technology Transfer Research planning grants. The M-STTR funding opportunity seeks to reduce barriers and enable MSIs and small businesses to win contracts under the Small Business Innovation Research and STTR programs. Earlier this month NASA selected 10 institutions to work on 11 projects under grants amounting to more than $540,000.