NC STEM Teams: Apply for a 2023-24 Team Competition Award

North Carolina Space Grant’s Team Competition and Experience Grant Program is accepting applications until Friday, October 13, 2023. 

Undergraduate and/or graduate student teams led by faculty principal investigators can apply for funding to participate in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) organization national competitions.

Up to 9 teams will be competitively awarded $5,000 each. The period of performance runs from November 1, 2023 to July 15, 2024.

“Each year we receive remarkable proposals and awarded teams’ competitive achievements are always impressive,” Sandy Canfield, NC Space Grant assistant director, said. “We look forward to funding outstanding teams competing in this upcoming year’s national competitions and seeing all they accomplish.” 

Competitions should be STEM related, involve interdisciplinary disciplines, and provide students with hands-on experiential learning opportunities related to one or more of NASA’s Mission Directorates: Aeronautics Research, Exploration Systems Development, Science, Space Operations and Space Technology. 

NC Space Grant strongly encourages teams to recruit and include members with diverse backgrounds and perspectives in alignment with our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and accessibility (DEIJA). NC Space Grant strongly encourages proposals from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority serving institutions (MSIs).

In the past, teams participating in competitions such as NASA Student Launch Initiative, NASA Human Exploration Rover Competition, NASA Lunabotics, Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition, Spaceport America Cup, Robosub and First Nations Launch have been funded. 

Recently awarded teams performed exceptionally well. For example, the High-Powered Rocketry Club at North Carolina State University and the UNC Charlotte 49er Rocketry Team earned 1st place awards in the NASA Student Launch national competition. UNC Pembroke’s Rocket Team competed in the NASA Student Launch for the 1st time this year.

Faculty principal investigators should apply by emailing a completed proposal to Sandy Canfield at srcanfie@ncsu.edu by Friday, October 13, 2023. 

For full details about the award:
Team Competition and Experience Grant RFP

Contact:
Sandy Canfield, Assistant Director
srcanfie@ncsu.edu
919-515-5943

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