National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Senior Fellows of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are soliciting proposals for the fiscal year 2021 Goddard Fellows Innovation Challenge (GFIC). GFIC, sponsored by the Senior Fellows, is distinct from other Goddard and NASA Headquarters programs, such as the Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program and the Center Innovation Fund (CIF). GFIC focuses on early-stage investment and exploratory research, potentially radical or high-risk and high-reward efforts that could have dramatic, long-term consequences for science and engineering. Alignment with NASA’s decadal goals and Goddard’s lines of business is encouraged but not compulsory, as long as the results of the proposed research could potentially open up new areas of work consistent with Goddard’s science-focused mission or technology development. GFIC proposals may focus on science, engineering, or mission and instrument concepts, but they will ideally represent a synthesis of compelling new science concepts and the advanced engineering technologies needed to enable them.
The proposals do not require a supervisor’s endorsement or evaluation, but proposers should seek supervisory approval for the time commitment needed. Previous success stories include detector and instrument concepts and related technology that enabled new fields of astronomical research, planetary exploration, heliophysics, and Earth science. Past proposal topics ranged from particles and chemistry to navigation and additive manufacturing. Other proposal topics could include machine learning, artificial intelligence, quantum investigations, the Artemis Program, or advances in constellation management. A list of previously awarded GFIC topics and awardees can be found at https://seniorfellows.gsfc.nasa.gov/gfic-selections.html.
Funding is limited, but the allocated funds can cover both procurement and full-time equivalents (FTEs), as needed, to support the proposed innovation. Requests should be well-justified for both the procurement and FTE aspects. The work must be completed in fiscal year 2021. The fiscal year 2020 award success rate was ~28%.
The proposal submission and evaluation system can be found at https://seniorfellows.gsfc.nasa.gov/. Proposals should be one to two pages in length with supporting material (required FTEs, procurement, duration, team diversity, etc.) entered into the proposal portal system. The anticipated program schedule is as follows:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov 16, 2020 (Mon) | Proposals portal opens, see https://seniorfellows.gsfc.nasa.gov |
| Dec 14, 2020 (Mon) | Proposals due by 11:59 p.m. via portal |
| Jan 07, 2021 (Thurs) | First round of evaluations by Goddard Senior Fellows complete |
| Jan 21, 2021 (TBD) | Oral presentations of proposals (Pending conference room) |
| Jan 28, 2021 | Senior Fellows recommendations presented to Center Director |
| Feb 01, 2021 | Announcement of selections |
| Feb 01, 2021 (TBD) | Funding authorized |
| Sept 30, 2021 | Presentation at end of Fiscal year |
| Nov 15, 2021 (TBD) | Participate in new technology poster session |
Primary selection criteria will include the degree of innovation, the importance of the idea’s potential applications, growth paths for gaining additional support, proposed metrics of success, scientific and technical merit, questions to be addressed, feasibility of the work plan, and qualifications of the proposing team. Additional criteria should include relevance to Goddard’s special capabilities and potential to nurture Goddard’s diverse talent pool. Proposers must be civil servants.
Proposers should bear in mind possible pandemic-related Goddard or NASA restrictions as they develop their proposals, recognizing, for instance, that laboratory access and procurements may be limited.
The Senior Fellows take a special interest in the success of the selected proposals and offer themselves as mentors and advisers to the proposers, if needed. See https://seniorfellows.gsfc.nasa.gov/ for a current list of Senior Fellows and their areas of expertise.
Questions can be addressed to David Folta (Chair) at david.c.folta@nasa.gov and Moses Adoko, Coordinator moses.adoko-1@nasa.gov.