Federal Grant Award Summary

The Pennsylvania State University received a $269,516 Project Grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Science Mission Directorate under the Science program (CFDA 43.001) on March 10, 2026, with a completion date of March 9, 2028. The award supports the execution of a balanced science program aligned with discipline-specific guidance from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, as well as administration priorities and congressional direction. Research activities will be conducted at Penn State's University Park, Pennsylvania facility and are expected to contribute to NASA's strategic objective of expanding human knowledge through new scientific discoveries across the Science Mission Directorate's portfolio of research initiatives in astrophysics, biological and physical sciences, Earth science, heliophysics, and planetary science.

The grant enables Penn State to conduct scientific research that advances NASA's mission priorities while leveraging the university's established expertise in research and technical services. As a major public land-grant research institution with extensive federal contracting and grant experience, Penn State will deliver research outcomes that demonstrate scientific quality, technical merit, and alignment with NASA's strategic objectives, as evaluated under the program's standard criteria of intrinsic merit, relevance, and cost reasonableness.