Welcome to the NASA FRC robotics competition application process for the 2009 competition season. We are very excited that your team is planning to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) this year. You are choosing to provide your students with the opportunity to use their minds to accomplish an incredible task: starting with a bunch of unrelated parts and the ideas that exist only in the minds of your team members and then creating a functioning robot in only six weeks. Wow! As you get started with the process of applying for sponsorship from NASA, we want to explain a few things to you.

• Please include only office/business contact information (phone number, email, etc.)
  
  
• Do not use the BACK or REFRESH buttons while navigating this site. Doing so may cause technical problems with or duplicate submissions of your application.
  
  
• You will have to register on our web site to be able to submit an application. After reading and agreeing with the statement at the bottom of the page, click the button to be taken to the registration area. Registration is for access to the NASA sponsorship application site only and does NOT register you with FIRST.
  
  
• After you Login into the application you will be able to save your work in progress and return to it at a later time for completion. Please note, a saved application does not constitute a submission. Your application will not be submitted until you click on the submit button and are taken to the confirmation page. NOTE: You will not be able to submit an application until you have a FIRST team number (either a final or temporary number). For non-rookie teams, you will use the number you used in the past. Rookie teams will need to wait to submit until they have registered with FIRST. Important: Do not submit your application until you are satisfied with it. You will not be able to make changes to your application once it has been submitted.
  
  
• You may only apply for ONE grant each year. Modifications to an application do not count against this limit.
  
  
• The data you provide will be automatically validated for technical accuracy after you click on the submit button. Problem areas will turn red and must be corrected before the data can be saved or submitted. Important: YOUR APPLICATION HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED UNTIL YOU ARE TAKEN TO THE CONFIRMATION PAGE. Please print the confirmation page for your records and as proof of your submission.
  
  
• The application page has a 120 minute timeout and starts from the moment you Login. If you exceed the 120 minute timeout your submission will fail and you will need to log back in and start over.
  


• Applications will be accepted between Friday, 19 September 2008 at 00:00:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and Monday, 20 October 2008, 23:59:59 EDT. Applications submitted after 23:59:59 EDT Monday 20 October 2008 will not be considered.
  
  
• NASA will review submitted applications and inform teams of their selection via the NASA Robotics Alliance Project web site (http://robotics.nasa.gov). It is our plan to announce selections no later than Wednesday, 12 November 2008.

• Two types of NASA sponsorship are available to FRC teams. These are described below. Teams may only apply for one type of NASA sponsorship.
  
  
  • Regional Challenge Grants: In conjunction with the sponsorship of Regional Competition events, NASA is making Regional Challenge Grants available to teams that participate in these events. The grants provide $6,000 funding to cover the registration costs for that event and partial costs of constructing the robot. All funding will be sent directly to FIRST, and FIRST will credit the accounts of teams selected to receive a NASA sponsorship.

    Rookie Teams: The Regional Challenge Grants are intended for new rookie teams that are entering the FRC program for the first time. Rookie teams that successfully participate in the program may apply for a second year of sponsorship.
    
    Second-Year Teams: Second-year funding is available ONLY to those teams that received a "rookie year sponsorship" from NASA for the SAME event during the 2008 competition season.
    
    Veteran Teams: Additionally, during the first year of a new Regional Competition event (in 2009: Washington, D.C. Regional), a number of "veteran team" sponsorships will also be awarded. These sponsorships are for one year only, and are awarded to veteran teams that are electing to attend the new event. By involving veteran FRC teams in the new events, it is expected that the overall level of the competition, quality of the experience, transfer of knowledge and experience to rookie teams, and demonstration of values associated with the FRC program will be increased.

    For the 2009 competition season, Regional Challenge Grants will be available for the following events:
    
    

    	Capitol Regional (Washington DC)	up to 10 rookie and 10 veteran sponsorships
    	Bayou Regional (New Orleans, LA)	up to 10 rookie and 10 second-year sponsorships
    	Hawaii Regional (Oahu, HI)	up to 10 rookie and 10 second-year sponsorships
    	Wisconsin Regional (Milwaukee, WI)	up to 10 second-year sponsorships

  • Program Growth Grants: Approximately one hundred (100) Program Growth Grants are being offered to teams in their first two years of participation in the FRC competition. These sponsorships are not tied to any particular competition event. The grants will provide $6,000 funding to cover the registration costs for the team to attend one Regional Competition event, and part of the cost of constructing the robot. All funding will be sent directly to FIRST, and FIRST will credit the accounts of teams selected to receive a NASA Program Growth Grant.
    

    Second-year teams: Priority will be given to Second-year Teams that received a Program Growth Grant as a rookie during the 2008 season. Based on their successful participation in the 2008 season, and their continued participation in the FRC program, any of these 65 teams may apply for a second year of sponsorship for the 2009 season.
    
    Rookie teams: After the second-year teams are selected, any remaining resources may be applied to applications received from teams that will be rookies during the 2009 competition season as defined by FIRST ( http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=6632). The exact number of rookie sponsorships provided will be based on the total available resources, number of second-year teams sponsored, and the number of eligible applications received. Depending upon the availability of Congressionally appropriated funding, rookie teams that successfully participate in the program in 2009 may apply for a second year of sponsorship for the 2010 season.
    
    Veteran teams: Except as noted above, these NASA sponsorship programs are primarily intended to provide support for rookie teams that are just entering the FRC program. The intent of both types of NASA sponsorships is to assist in the formation of new teams. However, it may not be possible to award all available sponsorships to qualified second-year or rookie teams. In this event, qualified veteran teams that have applied for sponsorship may be selected. Applications from veteran teams will be considered after all rookie team and second-year team selections have been awarded.

  Limitations:

  • Due to decisions beyond our control that limit full accessibility of the FRC program, we regret that we cannot offer sponsorship to Michigan teams. Grant applications for NASA Regional Challenge Grants and NASA Program Growth Grants from Michigan teams will not be accepted.
    
    
  • While NASA strongly supports the expansion of the FRC into an international event, we regret that we cannot offer sponsorships to non-US teams.
    
    
  • Applications from second-year and veteran teams previously funded by NASA will not be accepted if all the requirements of the original grant have not been satisfied. Please make sure that any outstanding requirements are completed and submitted prior to submitting an application for a 2009 grant.

1. "NASA" MUST BE IDENTIFIED as a team sponsor and appear in the sponsored team's official name on record with FIRST. Other sponsors may be listed before or after NASA, but NASA must be included.
   
   
2. All student team members MUST COMPLETE a brief general online survey at the beginning and end of the season to assist NASA in assessing the impact of the program. Teams will be made aware of this survey via e-mails sent to the main team contact. Please make sure that the e-mail address you provide for the main contact is kept current.
   
   
3. Sponsored teams MUST COMPLETE a Chairman's Award submission and provide a duplicate copy to NASA. If the team is a rookie team (and therefore ineligible to submit a Chairman's Award to FIRST), the team must compose a narrative equivalent to the Chairman's Award and submit it to NASA (http://www.firstawards.org). Either of these options will satisfy the requirement to submit a written annual report, as required of all Federal grant recipients.
   
   
4. A robot MUST BE COMPLETED by the deadline specified by FIRST and shipped to the appropriate competition.
   
   
5. If the sponsorship is associated with a specific regional event, sponsored teams MUST ATTEND the specific event for which the sponsorship was awarded. Additionally, teams agree to attend all three (3) days (Thursday through Saturday) of the sponsored competition.
   
   
6. Sponsorship MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED to another team; it must be used by the original team applying for sponsorship.
   
   
7. IMPORTANT: Following your registration you will receive one additional request for data at the main contact's registered email. In addition to your application submission you will need to supply the following supplemental documentation before Monday, October 27, 2008, 23:59:59 EDT. We must receive an email from your accredited educational sponsor (school or other educational entity) endorsing the team's desire to apply for funding, confirming the educational sponsor's commitment to the team, and agreeing to the conditions of sponsorship. This must be sent in electronic form as an email or scanned copy of a letter to frc-requirements@mail.arc.nasa.gov, must originate from the official email account of the educational sponsor (Principal, Assistant Principal, or equivalent), and must include your FRC team number and the name of your school IN THE SUBJECT LINE. If you have questions about this requirement, please contact us at frc-grants@mail.arc.nasa.gov. Failure to submit such a letter will result in your application not being considered for funding.
   
   

Demonstrate at least $6,000 of existing corporate or community funding, and

Agree to mentor a rookie FRC team either directly or via telephone/email.

Should you have any questions please send an email to frc-grants@mail.arc.nasa.gov We will attempt to respond to your message within twenty-four (24) hours.

Please note that this site collects a wide array of information to allow us to effectively review and assess proposals. The contact information collected here will never be shared with anyone outside of the Robotics Alliance Project Office.

If you have any questions or concerns about the collection of this data, please contact the FIRST Grants program at: frc-grants@mail.arc.nasa.gov .