Opportunity Background
Current Closing Date for Applications
Feb 17, 2021 12:00:00 AM EST
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Summary:
The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications for funding to arrange a twoto three-day space-themed hackathon for young space experts and university students interested in pursuing space-related careers. You should incorporate established space experts from the United States and participating countries as mentors. You should plan to include participants from the United States, Ukraine, and at least ten other European countries. You will coordinate with the U.S.
Embassies in these countries, as well as their host-country governments, academia, and civil society. You will be responsible for building into your program prehackathon and follow-on activities to harness and maintain the momentum of this program. Cost-shares are highly encouraged. Please carefully follow all instructions below.
Detailed Description:
The European Regional Space Hackathon is a unique opportunity to crowdsource innovative technological solutions to space-related issues, develop the next generation of American and European space experts, and promote U.S.-Europe cooperation in this sector. Space exploration and security have become increasingly important in recent years, and it is paramount that the United States and Europe work in tandem to ensure a safe future for global space endeavors.
Thus, it is also critical that the next generation of American and European space experts learn to think innovatively, collaboratively, and strategically to address these ever-evolving challenges.
This program seeks to facilitate such innovation and collaboration through a twoday workshop and two-to-three-day hackathon in partnership with the U.S.
Embassy in Ukraine; other U.S. embassies in Europe; and key academic, government, private sector, and non-profit stakeholders throughout Europe and the United States. The workshop and hackathon should bring together university students, software and technology professionals, entrepreneurs, scientists, and space enthusiasts from the United States, Ukraine, and at least ten other European countries, which the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine will determine in consultation with other U.S. government stakeholders. Registrations, event communications, project submissions, and judging for this hackathon will happen virtually on a central online platform, which the grantee will be responsible for generating.
Throughout the two-day workshop and two-to-three-day competition, participants in inter-country teams will tackle one of several “problem statements” linked to space exploration or security. These themes could address, for instance, cybersecurity in space exploration and research, rocket manufacturing (including through 3D-printing), Moon or Mars exploration and development, space law, atmospheric monitoring, space debris, space robotics, satellite construction and launching, etc. The grantee will be responsible for proposing the final problem statements in consultation with space experts and participating U.S. embassies.
The two-day workshop should introduce the participants to one another, introduce the participants to the “problem statements,” walk participants through what makes successful hackathon projects, train participants in how to pitch projects, and divide participants into the inter-country teams in which they will compete during the hackathon. During the subsequent two-to-three-day hackathon, these teams will compete to generate the most practical and innovative technological solutions to whatever problem statement they choose to address. At the end of the competition, the teams will present their solutions to an international panel of experts. The grantee will be responsible for developing concrete incentives for the winning teams, for instance, mentorships, internships, technological know-how or capacity building, software or hardware, gift cards, travel, receptions, etc.
To implement this program effectively, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv seeks partners with technology or space expertise and the capacity to mobilize hackathon participants and contributors to cover the below criteria. Successful applicants should have strong, multi-country organizational capacity. Your responsibilities will include:
Before the event:
- Developing “problem statements” relevant to space exploration and security
- Establishing an online platform for the hackathon (should be ready for advertising, recruitment, registration, hackathon itself)
- Promoting the event and recruiting participants (e.g., from universities, coding communities, IT companies, etc.)
- Communicating with registered participant teams about event rules, expectations, etc.
- Recruiting mentors to advise participants during the event
- Recruiting judges and evaluators to help select winners
- Securing prizes
- Note: The best prize ideas will help the winners realize their technological solution or develop professionally.
- Developing pre-program events to generate excitement about the hackathon, such as at least 2-3 of the following:
- Public expert lectures related to the hackathon themes
- Networking events for those registered
- Space or technology skills-building workshops for those registered
During the event:
- Monitoring the program
- Ensuring space mentors are on-hand to provide advice to the teams
- Facilitating interventions, programming
- Troubleshooting participant access to the hackathon platform
- Reminding participants and mentors of rules and expectations
After the event:
- Facilitating access to prizes
- Coordinating after-event publicity and outreach (including a strong multinational media component)
- Organizing follow-on events, such as at least 2-3 of the following:
- An in-person alumni conference should travel restrictions lift. It would be preferable for the grantee to cover these costs, either via the grant money or via cost-share.
- Virtual alumni networking events with each other and guest speakers.
- A space speaker series or mentorship opportunities exclusively for program alumni.
- Educational travel for top teams in Europe or the United States.
- Opportunities for the winning teams to mentor younger space enthusiasts.
Applicants must demonstrate their capacity for conducting virtual events, providing expertise on space or technology topics, reaching youth audiences, and working in a multi-stakeholder environment with Ukrainian, other European, and U.S. partners. The award recipient will be responsible for the oversight and management of performance of all sub-award recipients under the award. Note: If working with a sub-awardee, the sub-awardee cannot receive more than $25,000 total.
U.S. Embassy Kyiv reserves the right to reduce, revise, or increase proposal project configurations, budgets, participating countries and regions, and participant numbers in accordance with the needs of the program and the availability of funds.
All events will be conducted in English. Please incorporate locally sourced interpretation and translation costs for at least Ukrainian and Russian.
Sample timeline:
- February 2021 – Awardee announced
- February – April 2021 – Planning/coordination
- April 12, 2021 OR May 7, 2021– Program launch (timed with International Day of Human Space Flight OR Space Day)
- April/May – June/July 2021 – Registration period, hype/publicity events • September 2021 – Hackathon
- September/October 2021 – Pitching
- October 4-10, 2021 – Follow-on activities during Space Week
- November – December 2021 – Evaluation of program, close out of grant
Participants and Audiences:
This program targets university students, software and technology professionals, entrepreneurs, scientists, and space enthusiasts from the United States, Ukraine, and at least ten other European countries. The program also seeks to engage the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine; other U.S. embassies in Europe; and key academic, government, and private, and non-profit stakeholders throughout Europe and the United States to spur innovation, raise awareness, and ensure sustainability.
Opportunity Structure
FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION
This notice is subject to availability of funding.
Funding Instrument Type:
Cooperative agreement. The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine will be substantially involved in grant implementation by, for example, approving or suggesting local partners, approving “problem statements,” approving speakers and participants, approving the communications strategy, judging proposals, and co-coordinating follow-on activities.
Program Performance Period:
Proposed programs should be completed in 18 months or less.
Competitive Scope
ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION
Eligible Applicants
The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- U.S. and European not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations
Note: For-profit and commercial entities are not eligible.
Cost Sharing or Matching
Cost-share is strongly recommended and will be considered favorably during the review process. Although the Review Committee will not assign additional points to applicants who offer cost sharing, the Review Committee will use cost sharing to break ties among applications with equivalent scores after evaluation against all other factors.
Other Eligibility Requirements
In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a unique entity identifier (Data Universal Numbering System/DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet), as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 for information on how to obtain these registrations. Individuals are not required to have a unique entity identifier or be registered in SAM.gov.
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.
FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS
- If you have any questions about the grant application process, please contact: [email protected].
- Please indicate in your email where (vacanciesinukraine.com) you saw this grant notice.