# Science (43.001)

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/programs/43-001-science/  
Publisher: Well Told Grants. Data: USAspending.gov and Grants.gov, updated November 7, 2026.

Science is run by National Aeronautics and Space Administration. From fiscal 2021 to 2025 it awarded $4.8 billion in 10,291 grants, about $463,636 per award.

## Objectives

NASA’s FY 2026 Annual Performance Plan and Evaluation Plan (APPEP) located at URL https://www.nasa.gov/ocfo/performance-report/ describes the Agency’s Performance Goals, including the underlying milestone targets, consistent with the FY 2025 Operating Plan and FY 2026 President’s Budget Request. As noted on page 2 of the APPEP, “NASA will develop a new mission statement and make more significant changes to its performance framework as part of the forthcoming 2026 NASA Strategic Plan.” Historically, The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) pursues NASA's strategic objectives, particularly Strategic Goal 1: “Expand Human Knowledge through new Scientific Discoveries”, using aircraft, balloon, and spaceflight programs to enable the execution of both remote-sensing and in-situ investigations. Investigations in Earth orbit, as well as to or even beyond objects in the Solar System, and through ground-based research activities that directly support these space missions. SMD also supports basic and applied research and technology in order to understand naturally occurring space and Earth phenomena, human-induced changes in the Earth system, and to develop Earth and space science-related technologies. In March 2022 NASA released a new Strategic Plan. Per that 2022 plan
SMD’s Assistance Listing aligns to this Goal Statement: “NASA’s enduring purpose is scientific discovery and exploration for the benefit of the United States and all of humanity. NASA seeks to discover the secrets of the universe, search for life elsewhere, and protect and improve life on Earth and in space. Finding answers to these profound science questions requires support for national priorities in science and exploration, enhancing new opportunities for cross-disciplinary science, and expanding the societal benefits of our science programs. It also requires continued progress on the scientific priorities, including those identified by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine through their decadal surveys.”
SMD uses NASA's Strategic Goals and Objectives and the high-level objectives that flow from them as the performance component to its research grant program notices of funding opportunity. The high-level objectives are derived from “Decadal Surveys” created by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) every ten years and reviewed every five years. NASEM reports summarize the state of the performance for SMD’s science awards. Decadal Surveys inform the NASA’s strategic and SMD science plan and allow grant programs to be kept up to date rather than be completely reliant on agency produced program goals and objectives and performance measures. SMD’s research awardees individually set appropriate, NASA-relevant project level objectives, goals and measures.

## Funding by fiscal year

| Year | Amount | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $848 million | 3,941 |
| 2022 | $944 million | 4,082 |
| 2023 | $901 million | 3,818 |
| 2024 | $909 million | 3,892 |
| 2025 | $1.2 billion | 3,830 |

## Largest recipients

| Recipient | State | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| University of Maryland, College Park | Maryland | $227 million |
| The Regents of the University of Colorado | Colorado | $182 million |
| The Johns Hopkins University | Maryland | $162 million |
| University of Maryland Baltimore County | Maryland | $146 million |
| Southwest Research Institute | Texas | $137 million |
| The University of Alabama in Huntsville Research and Technology Corporation | Alabama | $134 million |
| University of Arizona | Arizona | $132 million |
| Bay Area Environmental Research Institute | California | $112 million |
| California Institute of Technology | California | $107 million |
| Catholic University of America (the) | District of Columbia | $101 million |
| Universities Space Research Association | Maryland | $86.8 million |
| The Regents of the University of California | California | $80.1 million |
| Smithsonian Institution | Massachusetts | $79.9 million |
| The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | $79.7 million |
| Arizona State University | Arizona | $78.3 million |
| University of Hawaii | Hawaii | $77.6 million |
| University Corporation for Atmospheric Research | Colorado | $76.9 million |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts | $70.5 million |
| University of California, Los Angeles | California | $68.8 million |
| University of Washington | Washington | $64.2 million |

## Open opportunities

- [ROSES25: C.4 Planetary Science Enabling Facilities](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-psef-roses25-c-4-planetary-science-enabling-facilities/), closes November 10, 2026
- [ROSES 2025: C.2 Solar System Science](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-scubed-roses-2025-c-2-solar-system-science/), closes November 12, 2026
- [ROSES25: A.14 Atmosphere](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-atmos-roses25-a-14-atmosphere/), closes December 2, 2026
- [ROSES 2025: D.4 Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-tcan-roses-2025-d-4-theoretical-and-computational-astrophysics/), closes December 3, 2026
- [Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute Cooperative Agreement Notice-5 (SSERVI CAN-5)](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh26zda016c-solar-system-exploration-research-virtual-institute/), closes December 4, 2026
- [ROSES 2025: A.16 Cryosphere](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-cryo-roses-2025-a-16-cryosphere/), closes December 4, 2026
- [ROSES 2025: A.4 Rapid Response and Novel Research in Earth Science](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-rrnes-roses-2025-a-4-rapid-response-and-novel/), closes December 31, 2026
- [ROSES 2025: A.18 Geosphere](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-geo-roses-2025-a-18-geosphere/), closes January 15, 2027
- [ROSES 2025: A.17 Hydrosphere](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-hydro-roses-2025-a-17-hydrosphere/), closes January 28, 2027
- [ROSES 2025: D.10 Astrophysics Theory](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-atp-roses-2025-d-10-astrophysics-theory/), closes February 3, 2027
- [ROSES 2025: B.8 Heliophysics Spaceflight Science Foundations](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-ssf-roses-2025-b-8-heliophysics-spaceflight-science-foundations/), closes February 5, 2027
- [ROSES 2025: B.7 The Heliophysics Low-Cost Access to Space](https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/nnh25zda001n-lcas-roses-2025-b-7-the-heliophysics-low-cost/), closes March 16, 2027