NASA SMD Research Programs Update – Astrobiology News

Esteemed Colleagues,As you may be aware, the new Administration has issued Executive Orders (EOs) and implemented policy and guidance that may affect grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. SMD, consistent with agency direction, is working diligently to comply with the requirements of the new policy and guidance, as well as court orders resulting from litigation related to EOs and guidance. SMD currently oversees approximately 6,000 grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, interagency transfers, and internal NASA transfers; thus, as you can imagine, the process of implementing the new policy and guidance is taking some time and the turnaround time on actions will be longer than normal. We ask for your patience. Please also realize that we are in a highly dynamic environment with multiple lawsuits being adjudicated each with the potential to impact policy and guidance affecting grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts.SMD would like to provide the following brief updates:1.    Unfortunately, Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) 2025 was not released on Valentine’s Day as it has been in past years. There are multiple reasons for this related to the increased workload on the SMD R&A Lead as well as everyone who works with Notices of Funding Opportunities. SMD is working diligently on ROSES-2025 and hope to release it soon.2.    The Grants and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM) is being revised to ensure compliance with new Executive Orders, policy, and guidance. We hope to have the revised GCAM released soon.3.    The proposal creation function for the Topical Workshops, Symposiums, and Conferences (TWSC-2024) in Space and Earth Sciences and Technology solicitation, NNH24ZDA002N, is disabled on the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES). Previously submitted proposals will still be reviewed and selection decisions will be made. This pause in accepting new proposals is needed to update the TWSC solicitation to be compliant with Executive Orders as well as to adapt it to the recent revision of the “Uniform Guidance” (2 CFR 200) that governs all grants and cooperative agreements. The timeframe for when TWSC will be revised/replaced and open for new proposals cannot be predicted at this time. For more about TWSC visit: https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/funding-for-events/.4.    Some websites that NASA hosts and supports may have been taken offline so that NASA can ensure the sites meet the policy and guidance of the new Administration. We hope to have the websites, with any appropriate modifications, back online as soon as possible.5.    In late January, NASA senior leadership decided to postpone the upcoming meeting of the NASA Advisory Committee (NAC), which had been scheduled for early February. As the Science Committee reports to the NAC, SMD chose to mirror the direction to the NAC and pause the work of the Science Committee. For consistency and given that the chairs of the six independent division-level advisory committees (DACs) serve on the Science Committee, this pause applies to the DACs as well.For guidance from NASA’s Office of Procurement (OP), please visit https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-global-contractor-and-grantee-community-memos/. For Grants and cooperative agreements ONLY, the section of the Grants Policy and Compliance webpage that provides updates on NASA’s implementation of recent Executive Orders that impact the Agency’s Federal financial assistance applicants and recipients is https://www.nasa.gov/grants-policy-and-compliance-team/#Regulations. You may also seek guidance from SMD’s Program Officers; a list of program officers may be found at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list/. Finally, you may always send questions to the Senior Advisors for Research and Analysis (SARA) Team at [email protected].Dr. Michael H. NewDeputy Associate Administrator for ResearchScience Mission DirectorateNASA HeadquartersAstrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science,Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻2025 © Reston Communications. All rights reserved.

Source: https://astrobiology.com/2025/03/nasa-smd-research-programs-update.html