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NEW! May 22, 2023

SMD Bridge Seed Funding Webinar

Your first opportunity to meet our team and learn more about the NASA SMD Bridge Program is happening this week!

Are you interested in learning more about the NASA SMD Bridge Program? Do you want to know how to apply for Bridge Seed Funding? Please join us and the Research Initiation Awards team on a joint webinar Wednesday May 24, 2023, from 1:00-2:30PM ET.

Joint Information Session w/RIA: May 24 1:00-2:30 PM EST | Register Here

This informational joint webinar about the Research Initiation Awards Program (F.22) and the Bridge Program Seed Funding (F.23) will occur on Wednesday, May 24 at 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The webinar will provide an overview of both programs, describe the proposal process and requirements, and allow for webinar attendees to submit questions.

We hope to see you there and answer all your questions about our program.

New call for SMD Bridge Seed Funding is open now!!

April 24, 2023

We are excited to share the news that the first SMD Bridge Program funding opportunity is now open!

Our October community workshop was a vibrant opportunity to co-create the Bridge Program, and main themes from the workshop have provided a foundation for establishing funding opportunities in the Bridge Program. Workshop content, including agenda, recordings and presentations may be reviewed at: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/smdfall2022/agenda/.

A common theme from the workshop was the need for NASA to facilitate new potential Bridge partnerships where no NASA collaboration currently exists, through seed funding. Another key theme from the workshop was the importance of strong positive mentorship in developing students into STEM professionals, as well as the impacts of poor mentorship on retention of STEM students.

In response to this theme, NASA has released the SMD Bridge Seed Funding call for proposals as F.23 in ROSES-2023. In addition to this seed funding opportunity, we expect to release a call for full Bridge Partnership proposals later this year.

SMD Bridge Program Seed Funding awards are expected to have a budget up to ~$300,000 for a duration of 24 months. These awards are not intended to be a form of long-term support, but to facilitate the development or continuation of partnerships that will lead to future proposals to NASA, such as a full Bridge Partnership proposal, (see https://science.nasa.gov/smd-bridge-program) in the next one to three years. The expected total program budget for new awards ~$2-4M/Year, to be awarded to up to 30 teams, pending adequate proposals of merit.

Bridge Program Seed Funding proposals may be submitted at any time but will be reviewed as follows:

Thereafter, submit via ROSES-2024, expected to be released February 14, 2024.

We’re hoping this call with generate a lot of enthusiasm and interest, as well as some questions. We are eager to engage with you, the community of potential SMD Bridge partners and participants.

A joint informational webinar about this opportunity and the similarly themed F.22 Research Initiation Awards will take place on May 24 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern Time via Zoom.

To join in on the Webinar, please register at https://nasa-gov.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_0TCHDV4KR02SiiGxCaoAsA  so you will receive a Zoom calendar invitation that will get updated with Connect information.

Brief overview of SMD workshop themes and future course of action.

April 14, 2023

SMD hosted a one-week Bridge Program workshop in October 2022 to co-create the program with potential partners from a variety of institutions and perspectives. The agenda, presentations and recordings of this workshop are publicly available at https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/smdfall2022/agenda/. The workshop attracted over 400 registrants, with hundreds of active participants each day. 

A written report documenting the workshop has been drafted and will soon be made public. The written report identified two overarching themes from the workshop. The ideal SMD Bridge Program would:

1. Center the needs of students, faculty, and research capacity at institutions that have been historically and systematically marginalized.
2. Lead a paradigm shift wherein NASA SMD takes responsibility for fostering impactful relationships and partnerships that further NASA SMD’s science and equity objectives.

In response to these overarching themes, the Bridge Program team plans to implement the following course of actions.

• Issue ROSES Call for Bridge Program Seed Funding Proposals 
• Issue ROSES Call for Bridge Partnership Pilot Proposals 
  • Require a component focusing on Student Mentoring in Proposals
• Finalize SMD Bridge Program Communications Plan 
• Organize Networking Event(s) to Foster New Partnerships 
  • Both in-person and virtual/hybrid options are being considered
• Organize Symposia to Bring Bridge Teams Together 
• Leverage Internal and External Partnering 
  • Internal Examples: NASA Office of STEM Engagement, Science Activation program, SMD’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility (IDEA) Team
  • External Examples: NSF, AIP, APS, AAS, AGU, NSBE, NSBP, SACNAS, AISES
• Consider Augmentations to Existing Efforts
   

We are developing an FAQ for the Bridge Program based on questions we have received, and will post those answers to this page in a future update.

How to stay informed: When ROSES calls for proposals are released through NSPIRES, an announcement will be emailed to the NASA Science Mission Directorate mailing list. To be added to this list, do the following. Create an NSPIRES account at https://nspires.nasaprs.com. Then subscribe, through NSPIRES, to the NASA Science Mission Directorate mailing list. From your NSPIRES account, click on Account Management, then click the Email Subscriptions link.

Questions about the SMD Bridge Program should be directed to Padi Boyd (padi.boyd@nasa.gov) and please cc SARA@nasa.gov.