NASA has asked for proposals from universities in search of ideas for multi-disciplinary university-led research efforts the agency deems Space Technology Research Institutes space technology mission directorate’s research grants and project opportunities.
The space agency said Friday the Space Technology Research Institutes Appendix solicitation seeks STRIs to serve as a platform for coordination among experts from various fields in a single distributed research structure.
NASA plans to award two potential five-year, $15 million awards under the STRI initiative.
Potential university partners will work to complement the directorate’s research grants and opportunities in the fields of bio-manufacturing for deep space exploration and computationally accelerated materials development for ultra high strength lightweight structures.
“This approach facilitates a more focused and coordinated set of research and technology development efforts than typically arise from a series of separate solicitations and individual grants,” said Steve Jurczyk, STMD associate administrator.
NASA said it will accept preliminary proposals until July 28 and invitations to submit full proposals will be sent out to qualifying offers on August 18.