NASA Announces Curriculum Improvement Partnership Award for the Integration of Research into the Undergraduate Curriculum Solicitation

The NASA Office of Education, Integration Division, Minority University Research and Education Programs, in cooperation with NASA’s four Mission Directorates — Aeronautics Research, Exploration Systems, Science, and Space Operations, solicits proposals for the Curriculum Improvement Partnership Award for the Integration of Research into the Undergraduate Curriculum (CIPAIR) project. CIPAIR is intended to strengthen the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curricula of two-year and four-year Minority Institutions (MIs) so that their graduating students will have the skills, knowledge, and hands-on experience that will make them competitive when applying for employment with NASA, academia, or the aerospace industries. Successful proposals shall incorporate NASA’s unique STEM content, and system engineering and project management approaches to introduce sustainable curriculum reforms at their institutions. The outcomes of the awards shall support NASA’s Performance Assessment and Rating Tool (PART) metrics for Higher Education.

CIPAIR awards will be in the form of grants.

A Notice of Intent (NOI) is required for submission of proposals to this solicitation and is due on May 26, 2009.

Full proposals are to be submitted via NSPIRES and are due by June 26, 2009.

Eligibility Information:

Organization Limit: Only Minority Institutions named in the U. S. Department of Education Lists of Post-Secondary Institutions as of 12/31/2008 or after will be eligible to apply for this NASA Research Announcement (NRA). For a list of designated MIs, please go to: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.html

Eligible institutions are established within the 50 United States or its Territories. Questions regarding institutional eligibility to apply should be addressed prior to submission of the Notice of Intent (NOI) by contacting the CIPAIR Project Manager.

Principal Investigator Requirement: Individuals listed as Principal Investigators (PI) or Co-Investigators (Co-I) in submitted proposals must be full-time faculty members of a two-year or four-year MI. A proposal submitted by a two-year college must name a PI from that college and may name a Co-I from a partner four-year institution. A proposal submitted by a four-year institution must name a PI from that institution and must name at least one faculty member from a partner two-year college as a Co-I.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: Eligible organizations shall submit only ONE (1) proposal per institution. If an institution submits more than one proposal, none of the proposals from that institution will be evaluated.

For more information regarding this opportunity, please visit the NSPIRES website. Go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com and click on Solicitations. Additionally, any Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that arise after the announcement is released will be posted on NSPIRES.

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact the NSPIRES Help Desk at nspires-help@nasaprs.com or call 202-479-9376 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time.