ISS National Lab Announces Funding Opportunity to Prepare Students for STEM Careers

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), February 12, 2025 – The International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory is soliciting proposals to leverage the orbiting outpost for education programs and training for space-focused careers. This ISS National Lab Research Announcement (NLRAThe abbreviation for an ISS National Lab Research Announcement. NLRAs are one of the ISS National Lab’s primary mechanisms to solicit proposals in specific research areas.) is open to U.S.-based institutions (academic, commercial, government, or not-for-profit) with a vested interest in workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The solicitation has up to $350,000 in total funding available, with the expectation to award up to three projects.

The ISS National Lab will host an informational webinar for this solicitation on February 27, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. EST. Through the webinar, organizations interested in workforce development can review the objectives of the research announcement, discuss educational opportunities related to the space station, and ask questions. To register, please visit the webinar registration page.

Proposals must seek to create or expand education programs, projects, or public-private partnerships that leverage the space station or space-based research to:

• Engage post-secondary students (including colleges, universities, community or junior colleges, and vocational institutions)
• Enhance K-12 learning
• Provide professional development experiences for formal and informal educators

Proposals for flight projects must include a statement defining how the concept will engage and prepare students for STEM careers.

For example, a project awarded through a prior education-focused NLRA, Tomatosphere™, is a free, curriculum-driven program that allows K-12 students to investigate how the space environment affects tomato seed germination and growth. Educators in the U.S. and Canada can register to receive tomato seeds that flew on the space station. More than 3 million students in more than 24,000 classrooms in North America have participated in Tomatosphere since 2001. Through the program, students learn about crops and food produced from seeds and gain a newfound awareness and interest in career possibilities in space.

A new, college-level program recently awarded through a STEM NLRA is designed to introduce Ph.D. and M.D. students at the Cleveland Clinic to space medicine. The week-long course, lab practical, and simulated-space-environment experiment is focused on orthostatic hypotension (a condition that causes a sudden drop in blood pressure when a person stands), which affects both astronauts and people on Earth. Through these activities, the program aims to strengthen students’ knowledge of empirical lab methodology.

This research announcement will follow a two-step proposal submission process. Before being invited to submit a full proposal, all interested investigators must first submit a Step 1: Concept Summary for review. Step 1: Concept Summaries must be submitted by end of day on March 26, 2025. Step 2: Full Proposals (from those invited to submit) will be due by end of day June 2, 2025.

To learn more about this opportunity, including how to submit a Step 1: Concept Summary, please visit the research announcement webpage. To learn more about the ISS National Lab and the science that it sponsors, please visit our website.

Download a high-resolution image for this release: NASA Astronaut Nick Hague on the ISS

Media Contact:
Patrick O’Neill
904-806-0035
PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org

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About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory: The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles.. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes).) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative AgreementA cooperative agreement is Federal assistance that establishes a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient in which the principal purpose of the relationship is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.  Since 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™) has managed the National Laboratory® through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. with NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration, facilitating access to its permanent microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CASIS accepts corporate and individual donations to help advance science in space for the benefit of humanity. For more information, visit our donations page.