Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, and inter- or intra-agency transfers depending on the nature of the proposing organization and/or project requirements. The period of performance for an award may be one to five years. Note that it is NASA policy that all investigations involving non-U.S. organizations will be conducted on the basis of no exchange of funds. An optional pre-proposal teleconference will be held on Feb 20, 2013 from 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Prospective proposers are requested to submit any questions in writing to
[email protected] no later than 4 business days before the teleconference so that NASA will be able to cover as much information as possible at the teleconference. NASA plans to post written questions and answers and teleconference charts to the NSPIRES website. An opportunity to ask questions and solicit clarification will be provided in the teleconference. To dial into the teleconference, call 1-888-469-1385. The participant passcode is CP4SMP. For relay services for the hearing impaired, call 711 at least 30 minutes before the call is to begin. Only non-profits that are legally recognized by a federal, state or local authority, including all types of NASA Visitor Centers (e.g., private, state or federal entities) located in the United States or its Territories that provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programming (such as but not limited to exhibits) are eligible to apply for this NASA Research Announcement (NRA). An eligible institution does not need to have the words museum, visitor center, science, or planetarium in its legal name. No later than the due date for proposals, proposers to this NRA are required to have: 1) a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, 2) a valid registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) [formerly known as the Central Contractor Registry (CCR)], 3) a valid Commercial And Government Entity (CAGE) Code, 4) a valid registration with NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) (this also applies to any entities proposed for subawards or subcontracts.) Consult Section VII. Eligibility Requirements of this NRA for the complete detailed explanations and caveats related to institutional and all other eligibility criteria. Principal Investigator Requirement: Principal Investigators (PIs) must be the President, Vice President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chairman of the Board, or similarly ranked executive (e.g., Planetarium Director, Director of Sponsored Research) from an eligible institution. Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: Eligible organizations shall submit only ONE (1) proposal per DUNS number. If an eligible organization submits more than one proposal using the same DUNS number, then none of the proposals will be evaluated. The NASA Office of Education, in cooperation with NASA Headquarters Offices of Communications and Chief Technologist, Mission Directorates (i.e., Aeronautics Research, Human Exploration and Operations, and Science), and Mission Support Directorate solicits proposals to support NASA-inspired space, science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (S-STEM) informal education projects, including exhibits and partnerships with K-12 schools or districts, to support inquiry-based education. This NRA or solicitation seeks projects featuring NASA-themed content in space exploration, aeronautics, space science, Earth science, or microgravity, or a combination of these topics (See Section III of this document) to support NASA education outcomes. Leadership of the proposed projects must reside at informal education institutions (IEI); partnership relationships are highly encouraged (See Appendix C for partnership discussion). Proposed projects should address NASAs most current Strategic Plan and propose efforts that are well-aligned with NASA and do not duplicate other federal investments. Proposals also should address substantiated (e.g., through an existing needs assessment or other evidence) national, regional or local educational needs or challenges and offer solutions with potential for significant impact. Examples of eligible projects include but are not limited to: exhibits (permanent, traveling, or virtual); STEM programming serving educators, students, youth, parents, and the general public; STEM programming for informal education providers and staff professional development (e.g., youth groups, out-of-school-time programs, youth group leaders, workshop or activity leaders, curriculum developers, docent managers, exhibit designers, library professionals, community education leaders, education and public outreach (EPO) professionals); informal learning research in STEM, informal education programs, data usage and analysis; curriculum support for informal science education, technology development, performing arts, or activities that are culturally focused on targeted populations, such as women and minorities. Grantee institutions have the responsibility for budgeting and documenting compliance with Code of Federal Regulations, 14 CFR1230, commonly referred to as the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects. Research to develop NASA-themed exhibits, programs, curriculum products, etc., may involve full human subjects review through an Institutional Review Board or IRB or it may be exempt. An IRB also certifies when research is exempt. Every institution that intends to submit a proposal to this NRA, including the proposed prime award or any partner whether an informal education institution, other non-profit institutions, state and local Government agencies, and other organizations that will serve as subawardees or contractors, must be registered in NSPIRES. Electronic submission of proposals is required by the due date and must be submitted by an authorized official of the proposing organization. Such registration must identify the authorized organizational representative(s) who will submit the electronic proposal. All principal investigators and other participants (e.g. co-investigators) must be registered in NSPIRES regardless of submission system. Potential proposers and proposing organizations are urged to access the system(s) well in advance of the proposal due date(s) of interest to familiarize themselves with its structure and enter the requested information. Electronic proposals may be submitted via the NASA proposal data system NSPIRES or via Grants.gov. Organizations that intend to submit proposals via Grants.gov must be registered 1-- with Grants.gov and 2--with NSPIRES. Additional programmatic information for this NRA may develop before the proposal due date. If so, such information will be added as a Frequently Asked Question or FAQ or formal amendment to this NRA and posted on http://nspires.nasaprs.com . It is the proposers responsibility to regularly check NSPIRES for updates to this NRA. When the CP4SMP+ portal page on NSPIRES is updated a notice will be added to the NASA Education Express weekly news service. To subscribe to NASA Express, go to http://www.nasa.gov/education/express .