Please note that, in order to include the new director of the NAI in the CAN Cycle 7 process and to make selection with full knowledge of FY14 budgets the Step-2 proposal due date is changed to April 30, 2014.NASA expects that decisions for the Step 1 proposals will be made on or before Dec 18, 2013. In addition, a number of links to NAI websites have been corrected. The full text of the CAN is available electronically at http://nspires.nasaprs.com.

The Step-1 proposal due date changed from November 4, 2013 to November 18, 2013 due to the government shutdown.

Solicitation Number: NNH13ZDA017C
Pre-proposal Conference: September 30 at 11am PDT
Step 1 Proposal Due: November 18, 2013
Step 2 Proposals Due: April 30, 2014

On September 23, 2013 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate released a Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) soliciting team-based proposals for membership in the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). The CAN-7 document can be downloaded from the NSPIRES web page.

The goal of CAN Cycle 7 is to maintain a multidisciplinary institute by selecting focused, interdisciplinary teams that complement without replicating the strengths of the continuing teams. The teams selected in Cycle 7 will replace the teams selected in Cycle 5, whose five-year Cooperative Agreements are expiring.

Unlike previous CANs for the NAI, Cycle 7 required a brief Step-1 proposal to be submitted six weeks after the release of the CAN. Based on a programmatic review of these Step-1 proposals, proposers will be encouraged to or discouraged from submitting a full proposal. Other changes to previous solicitations are described in sections 1.7 Open Access to Research Materials and Results and 4.6 Education and Public Outreach (E/PO).

Issuance of this CAN is dependent on programmatic factors, including NASA receiving an appropriation and operating plan containing adequate funding within the NASA Planetary Science Division budget. Any costs incurred by prospective investigators in preparing submissions in response to this CAN are incurred completely at the submitter’s own risk.

A pre-proposal conference was held on September 30, at 11 AM PDT (2 PM EDT) to provide interested parties with the opportunity to better understand the intent, scope, and selection criteria of this CAN. The recorded video and presentation charts from this briefing are available at the NSPIRES website on which this CAN is posted.

Programmatic questions regarding this solicitation should be submitted in writing or via E-mail no later than 10 days prior to the proposal due date to:

Dr. Mary Voytek
Senior Scientist for Astrobiology/ NAI Program Scientist
Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters
300 E Street SW Washington, DC 20546
Phone: (202) 358-1577
E-mail: CAN7@nasa.gov

Note that where appropriate, questions and answers will be made publicly available at the web site on which this CAN is posted. It is the responsibility of interested proposers to check for such information prior to the submission of their proposals.