Special Programs
The South Dakota Space Grant is one of 52 state-based
consortia authorized by Congress and supported by NASA’s Office of STEM
Education with the goal of maintaining the nation’s leadership in aeronautics
and space exploration. Established in
1991, the vision of the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium (SDSGC) is “to
expand opportunities for all South Dakotans through education, research, and
public service in the fields of aerospace, earth science, and supporting
disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).” Major SDSGC programs include: (1) fellowships
for college students in STEM degrees, (2) internships at NASA centers and
aerospace industry, (3) college robotics and interdisciplinary engineering
design teams, (4) seed grants for innovative research and education projects,
and (5) K-12 teacher grants and student/classroom opportunities including
precollege robotics.
NASA EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research) provides seed funding to jurisdictions that have traditionally been
underrepresented in federal funding for research and development in aerospace
and related fields. The South Dakota
NASA EPSCoR program leverages these NASA funds in order to improve research
capacity in science and engineering fields that are critical to NASA’s mission
and to promote science- and technology-based economic development in the state. NASA EPSCoR funding to states has two
separate components: (1) Research Infrastructure Development (RID) awards
provide base funding of $200,000 per year and promote research collaborations
through seed grants and travel to NASA Centers.
RID funding also supports research collaborations between tribal
universities and the state’s public and private universities. (2) Nationally competitive major Research
Awards of $750,000 for a three-year period support specific research projects
that align with state and NASA priorities.