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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Office of the Chief Technologist

Technology Funding

Two Columns

Technology Funding

Internal Research and Development Program (IRAD)

How the Program Works
Each spring, the Office of the Chief Technologist solicits research proposals through an integrated call for proposals. Successful proposals demonstrate identified opportunities of interest and support some or all or subsets of Goddard's Lines of Business. They also improve the skills of Goddard employees. Therefore, only Goddard civil servant employees may submit proposals. In addition, we discourage the funding of contractors to perform work on winning proposals.

Evaluators judge proposals on technical merit and whether they directly support Goddard's strategic Lines of Business, enhance the Center's competitive posture, and represent an effective and efficient use of resources. Evaluators also consider whether the technology has a realistic future and the extent and significance of progress as result of this investment.

Award Amounts
We have no preset award amount; however, we select proposals for a single year and typically award between $50,000 - $150,000 in procurement dollars, along with associated manpower or Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) resources between 0.5 - 2.0 FTEs.

Toolkits for IRAD Recipients
The Office of the Chief Technologist provides toolkits V3 to assist principal investigators in writing and submitting required reports.

GSFC Early Stage Innovation Program
The GSFC Early Stage Innovation Program is seeking technical and non-technical innovations important to GSFC and its future. Under this pilot program, selected innovators will receive between 40-240 hours to develop early-stage ideas that address institutional or technological challenges. The exact funding depends contingent on the scope, complexity, impact and time urgency of the proposed idea, as described in the Description of Task. One of the goals of the program is to help develop these ideas to a level where the innovator could propose the idea for further development under the Center’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program. FY11 Solicitation is closed and Awards are planned to be released on Oct 1.

Other Goddard Funding Sources
The New Opportunities Office manages Bid and Proposal (B&P) resources. They are intended to cover expenses incurred in preparing, submitting, and supporting bids and proposals for potential new work. B&P resources may only be applied to activities that will develop information that is ultimately used in proposals. It includes civil service and support contractor labor, IDC, production, printing, graphics, technical editing, unique purchases and travel. It does not include funding for Co-Is.

Other NASA Funding Sources
Included below are research opportunities offered by offices at NASA Headquarters. Clicking most links on this page will take you outside our Web site.

Technology Funding

Our flagship program is the Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program, which funds risk-reduction activities for mission and instrument opportunities, advanced concept development, and long-range, high-impact activities. It features both competed and directed components.