GSDO FIRST Grant

NASA Ground Systems Development and Operations Program FIRST Robotics Grant Opportunities
and Requirements for the 2016-2017 Competition Season

The NASA Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program is excited to announce a funding opportunity for teams participating in the 2016 FIRST® LEGO League (FLL), FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) Season! The primary objective of the GSDO grant is to motivate, educate and inform students of the importance and application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is also GSDO’s goal to inspire students, teachers, and the general public about NASA, the GSDO Program and how the world benefits from United States space exploration activities. Details for the following grant opportunities are described below:

The following grant requirements apply to all of the sponsorship opportunities. Additional requirements are specified within the grant specific sections. All teams selected by NASA GSDO must agree to all grant requirements. Teams not complying with all grant requirements may be required to provide reimbursement of funds applied toward their team during the competition year and will not be considered for future NASA GSDO grants.

1. Teams must be located within Brevard County, Florida to be eligible for NASA GSDO Grants. A team is considered to be located within Brevard if:

a. The school or organization (public, private or homeschool) that the team is affiliated with is within the county boundaries.

b. The location of the primary meeting place for the team is within the county boundaries and the team is not affiliated with a school.

3. Teams must work directly with FIRST on any and all questions related to registration, applying for tournaments, account issues or working within the FIRST system. GSDO has no access to these systems and will not be able to forward on inquiries to FIRST. FIRST POCs are in place within the existing structure to answer questions.

4. Each team must be registered as a team on the US FIRST website prior to submitting an application. Teams that are not registered will not be awarded a grant. This includes having your assigned FIRST team number and your final team name upon the submittal of your grant application. No grants will be awarded without the registered number.

5. Each FLL team must be registered for their qualifying tournament by 9/30/16. On October 1, 2016 a query of all scheduled qualifying tournaments will be pulled by FIRST. At this time if your team is not registered, a grant will not be awarded to pay for the qualifying fee. Pre-qualifiers are not paid for by the NASA GSDO grant.

6. The NASA GSDO logo must be displayed in locations where sponsor logos are normally displayed (e.g., robots, pits, fliers, websites, etc.). It is understood that FLL teams cannot put stickers on their robots. NASA GSDO will provide electronic versions of the logos. NASA GSDO will also make available banners by request.

7. Teams must compete with a completed robot at a minimum of one official FIRST competition. If the sponsorship is associated with a specific event, the team must attend all days of the specific event for which the sponsorship was awarded.

9. Teams who have already paid for their registration fees or competition fees will not be reimbursed.

10. Teams may keep any funds not used during the 2016 season and use them during the following year. If a team disbands prior to using the sponsored money, the team must return the grant funds to GSDO.

11. If the team is affiliated with a Brevard County School all property purchased using GSDO grant funds are now property of the school. If a team disbands or decides not to compete for any reason the school must provide clear rationale for keeping the property for future FIRST use OR reimburse funds or property to GSDO for use with other teams.

12. Teams that are tax exempt must provide tax-exempt certificates to GSDO upon notification of selection. GSDO will request the form when teams are notified of award.

13. Applications for FLL Registrations Grants and FLL Competitive Edge grants are due by June 15, 2016 . The Brevard Champion’s Grant applications will be available on September 30, 2016 for travel outside of the State of Florida. Applications received at a later date will not be considered. GSDO Brevard Champions Grant Applications must be received as soon as possible after the team has won a bid to the next level of game play and no later than one week prior to the event.

Sponsorship opportunities are described below. Additional, grant specific, requirements are included in the descriptions.

Note: All grant opportunities are contingent upon the availability of Congressionally appropriated funds.

The Rookie Team Grant is intended to promote the growth of FLL teams in Brevard County by furnishing new teams with some of the required equipment and by covering registration fees. A team is considered a rookie team if it is entering FLL for the first time. If there is any question about rookie status, GSDO will default to the criterion provided by FIRST.

Ordering Change from Previous GSDO Grants: The grant will be paid to the team via a check by FIRST. Each team will be responsible for purchasing the kit and field setup with the allotted funds. Teams are required to send an email (to the GSDO email – NOT FIRST) of the equipment purchased for verification that funds were used for their intended purpose. If teams order additional equipment over the allotted amount GSDO will not provide additional funds.

Additionally, FLL Rookie Team Grant winners will receive the FLL Registration Grant as outlined below.

The Rookie Team Grant is available to all new FLL teams in Brevard County. Teams applying for Rookie Team Grant may also apply for the FLL Florida Champions Grant. Rookie teams do not need to apply for the FLL Registration grant as these fees are included in the Rookie Grant sponsorship.

The FLL Registration Grant is intended to support local team participation in FIRST events by lowering the financial burden of competing. The grant will cover the US FIRST team registration fee and the registration fee for one Qualifying Tournament. The Tournament fees will be paid as explained in Item #5 above.

The grant will provide funds directly to FIRST for the US FIRST registration fee.

Teams receiving a Rockwell Collins grant for registration are not eligible for the US FIRST registration fee portion of the GSDO FLL Registration Grant.

The Registration Grant is available to all FLL teams in Brevard County. Teams applying for the FLL Registration Grant may also apply for the FLL Florida Champions Grant and/or FLL Competitive Edge Grant.

The Brevard Champions Grant is intended to enable local FLL teams to participate in competitions beyond FLL Qualifying tournaments. Teams may apply to the FLL Brevard Champions Grant for such fees as event registration and travel expenses for eligible events.

The Brevard Champions Grant applications will be considered for the following events:

Registration fees will be paid directly to the organization hosting the event. Teams may apply for the FLL Brevard Champions Grant each time they win a bid to the next level of game play. For example, if an FLL team makes it to Regionals and World Championships; they may apply for the FLL Brevard Champions Grant twice.

In addition to registration fees, the FLL Brevard Champions Grant is set up to potentially provide teams that win their way into a World Championships with additional grant money to help offset travel costs. Teams should not rely on the Brevard Champions Grant as the sole funding source for travel expenses. Travel expenses include airfare, hotel rooms, gasoline for team vehicles (e.g., school vans, personal vehicles used for towing team equipment), charter buses, shipping for team equipment, etc. Contact GSDO if there are any questions about eligibility of expenses.

The Brevard Champions Grant is available to all FLL teams within Brevard County. Teams may apply for the FLL Brevard Champions Grant regardless of whether or not they have applied for the FLL Rookie Team Grant, FLL Registration Grant, and/or FLL Competitive Edge Grant.

Competition is the perfect construct for cultivating a desire to excel. Competition using robotics motivates students to excel in science, technology, engineering and math which will provide the next generation of innovators and leaders with the tools that are required to face the world's challenges. The FLL Competitive Edge Grant is intended to promote a high degree of competitiveness from teams coming from Brevard County at the regional, state and national levels. The Competitive Edge Grant aims to achieve this by ensuring that FLL teams have access to the equipment and resources needed to field a competitive team.

The FLL Competitive Edge Grant provides teams with an opportunity to inform GSDO of the equipment and resource that the team needs. Teams must propose specific items, including cost, which would benefit their teams the most. Justification for why the equipment is necessary and how it will enable competitiveness is mandatory for this grant which will be used to select grant winners and award amounts. Teams must propose a single award amount for their specific needs.

Specific examples of equipment that might be proposed include but are not limited to:

o                   Robotics kits
o                   Replacement parts
o                   Software
o                   Computers
o                   Organizational equipment
o                   Office Supplies
o                   Nonleague competition fees

Teams are encouraged to participate in other fundraising activities and propose shared costs between the team and GSDO. For example, an FLL team may want a new EV3 Core Set and they have fundraised $150. The team could propose that GSDO cover the remaining $200. Teams must have their share of the funds prior to proposing cost sharing arrangements.

GSDO will be looking to award teams that will get the most benefit for the least amount. This is a chance to inform GSDO of what you really need and why you need it.

Teams must provide GSDO (NOT FIRST) with a detailed account of how GSDO grant money was spent no later than May 31, 2017. The detailed account must include purchased item names, expense amounts, purchase dates and copies of receipts.

The FLL Competitive Edge Grant is available to all FLL teams within Brevard County. Teams may apply for the FLL Competitive Edge Grant regardless of whether or not they have applied for FLL Registration Grant and/or FLL Brevard Champions Grant, but not if they have applied for the FLL Rookie Team Grant.

Application and Related Documents

Download pdf version prior to applying to assist in drafting your application

Grant Application -- apply online now

Commitment Letter (required to be signed and uploaded with the application)

Competitive Edge Proposal (required to be uploaded only for Competitive Edge Grants)