NASA Research Coordination Networks
The Research Coordination Networks (RCNs) are a mechanism for community collaboration.
Research Coordination Networks (RCNs) are virtual collaboration frameworks designed to support interdisciplinary research coordination across disciplinary, institutional, and geographic boundaries. The RCNs do not provide funding for research, and membership is not tied to specific NASA competitive awards. Instead, RCNs bring together researchers who have already been independently funded through NASA programs, and researchers with other funding sources, allowing them an opportunity to collaborate on research projects and astrobiology related activities.
Learn about the NASA RCNs
Click on the tabs above for information on current RCNs
The RCNs do not provide funding for scientific research. If you are looking for research funding opportunities from the NASA Astrobiology Program, click on the link below.
The Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS)
NExSS is dedicated to the study of planetary habitability.
The goals of NExSS are to investigate the diversity of exoplanets and to learn how their history, geology, and climate interact to create the conditions for life. NExSS investigators also strive to put planets into an architectural context – as solar systems are built over the eons through dynamical processes and sculpted by stars.
The Network for Ocean Worlds (NOW)
NOW is designed to accelerate ocean worlds research by facilitating communication among active research teams funded across NASA divisions and by expanding community-wide engagement.
NOW seeks to advance comparative studies to characterize Earth and other ocean worlds across their interiors, oceans, and cryospheres; to investigate their habitability; to search for biosignatures; and to understand life—in relevant ocean world analogues and beyond.
LIFE: Early Cells to Multicellularity
LIFE is dedicated to understanding life from early cells to multicellularity.
The focus of the LIFE RCN is to bring together researchers to address life and its complexities, as well life's response to the dramatic evolution of planetary environments. Their research questions span from LUCA (the last universal common ancestor) to multicellularity. LIFE strives to build a network of scientists from all backgrounds in order to achieve a holistic understanding of the evolution of life.
Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments Consortium
Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments Consortium (PCE3)
PCE3 is a community of researchers striving to transform the origins of life community by breaking down language and ideological barriers and enhancing communication across the disciplinary divide between early earth geoscientists and prebiotic chemists. The fundamental objective of PCE3 is to provide a network of communication and intellectual cooperation that fosters innovation across the community and gives rise to novel research avenues and encourages out-of-the-box thinking.
The Network For Life Detection (NFoLD)
The goal of NFoLD is to promote communication, coordination, and synergy among researchers in the fields relevant to life detection.
The diverse expertise needed to develop and implement strategies to search for evidence of life beyond Earth is distributed across multiple science and technology disciplines, some of which are not primarily focused on astrobiology questions. NFoLD aims to bridge the gaps between all these disciplines to build a cohesive life detection community whose research and expertise becomes integral to all stages of astrobiology-themed solar system and exoplanet mission activity, from inception to operations.
RCN Organizational Structure
Research Coordination Networks operate through a streamlined, self-governing structure designed to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration with minimal administrative overhead.
Each RCN is headed by three to four co-leads. These co-leads are prominent scientists within their fields who set and guide the overall priorities of their RCNs. They are selected in collaboration with NASA Astrobiology Program staff and representatives from other Science Mission Directorate Divisions, and are typically Principal Investigators (PIs) of NASA-funded research projects.
The broader governance for each RCN includes a steering committee that is composed of PIs of NASA-funded research projects, and an early career council composed of early career scientists who guide activities for their fellow early-stage researchers.
RCN Membership
General membership to an RCN is voluntary and not tied to funding. However, to be a member of the steering committee for an RCN, researchers must first receive funding through programs like the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s annual omnibus solicitation: Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES).
Once funded, PIs who identified RCNs they were interested in during their proposal submission will be extended an invitation to join an RCN. PIs can elect to join one or more RCNs relevant to their work.
The networks also welcome affiliated membership for researchers without NASA funding, who can participate in community activities such as workshops and symposia.
Cross-network coordination is maintained through quarterly virtual meetings between co-leads and annual meetings of all steering committee members, with alternating years coinciding with the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon).
The RCN model enables continuous membership refreshment as new NASA awards are made, supports teams of varying sizes and funding levels, and provides a framework for established scientific communities to coordinate their efforts more effectively. Regular reviews every 5-6 years ensure the networks remain responsive to evolving scientific priorities and mission goals, while the structure allows for the establishment of new networks or sunsetting of existing ones as research landscapes change.
Finally, RCNs are assigned a NASA HQ representative responsible for communication with the RCNs and who facilitate the transfer of information regarding RCN activities and accomplishments to NASA.
How do the RCNs support NASA’s mission?
The Research Coordination Networks directly advance NASA's congressionally mandated objective to contribute to "the search for life's origin, evolution, distribution and future in the Universe" through coordinated, interdisciplinary research efforts.
RCNs support NASA's mission by fostering collaborative research that addresses new topics through novel partnerships, producing strategic plans for utilizing current mission data, and generating innovative ideas for future missions while encouraging broad community participation from planning through operations phases. The networks identify critical technological gaps and instrumentation needs, influence Decadal Surveys across all NASA Science Mission Directorate divisions through advancing mission readiness and white paper submissions, and enhance international engagement within the astrobiology community. RCNs contribute to NASA's strategic planning through various mechanisms including participation in NASA-DARES as subject-matter experts providing broad community feedback on programmatic elements and astrobiology strategy development, delivering reporting presentations to the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS), and engaging in activities related to strategies for life detection.
Additionally, the networks coordinate provide an avenue for coordination of NASA's research investments with federal partners (NSF, NOAA, DOE) and private foundations, exemplified by successful collaborations like the NASA-NSF Ideas Lab for origin of life research. This coordination, ultimately maximizes the scientific return on NASA's astrobiology investments while building and sustaining the interdisciplinary research community.
