The NASA Astrobiology Institute is pleased to announce the selection of 18 proposals for support through the 2008 NAI Director’s Discretionary Fund. These awards allocate more than $1.4M toward strategic investments that advance the science of astrobiology, demonstrate impact to NASA’s space flight programs or its broader science activities, and/or contribute to NASA’s role as a federal R&D agency. The members of the Institute, in collaboration with members of the larger astrobiology community, responded to this year’s DDF Call for Proposals with a bold, interdisciplinary, and focused set of proposals.
In making selections, priority was given to proposals that are characterized by one or more of the following:
- Directly support flight programs, particularly through instrument development
- Expand the scope of NAI research (and the NAI community) in innovative ways, accepting some risk in return for high pay-off potential
- Respond in a timely way to new scientific results or programmatic opportunities
- Use funding particularly effectively, for example through leveraging or building on past investments
For more information and to view the list of selected proposals: http://astrobiology.com.nasa.gov/nai/funding/the-nai-directors-discretionary-fund/ [Source: NAI Newsletter]
