NASA Logo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Science Office for Mission Assessments - SOMA

Science Office for Mission Assessments - SOMA

Information for Principal Investigators

New Principal Investigator (PI) Resources (Step 1)

NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) provides extensive resources for new Principal Investigators who plan to propose to a NASA Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for a flight mission or Mission of Opportunity (MO). These provide prospective mission Principal Investigators with resources that may be useful as they develop their mission concepts, as well as information on developmental opportunities to prepare future mission leaders.

New Principal Investigator (PI) Resources

NASA held PI Launchpad workshops in 2019, 2021, and 2023 for prospective Principal Investigators. These workshops are focused on supporting prospective Step-1 proposals. Materials from these workshops are archived at this link.

PI Launchpad Workshops

SMD Associate Administrator Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen gave a 2019 colloquium entitled “Writing Successful Proposals: Observations from NASA.” His talk detailed the process to develop and submit a mission proposal, and relevant stakeholders along the way. The talk highlighted characteristics of proposals submitted during the last 20 years to share lessons learned about what makes a proposal successful, common mistakes, and experiences from the point of view from both proposers and the NASA selection official. These materials are focused on supporting prospective Step-1 proposals.

Writing Successful Proposals: Observations from NASA

- Archived talk on YouTube

- Presentation slides

Principal Investigator Team Masters Forums (Step 2)

The purpose of these Forums is to enable engagement, sharing, and learning from colleagues in relevant science missions through stories, shared experiences, and lessons learned as a means to enhance the probability of executing a mission successfully after down-selection in Step 2.

These Forums reflect the importance that NASA places on providing a context for knowledge that can contribute to a successful mission.

Among the many benefits of participation, it is meant to help gain an understanding of program/project management, systems engineering, and science mission design best practices and lessons learned; to cultivate reflective practitioners within the team; and to help solidify cross-organizational relationships in support of the project.

In addition to thought-provoking presentations and dynamic group discussions, the Forum offers the chance to build relationships with peers and meet face-to-face with key leaders in this community. Former Forum participants have stated that the opportunity to network with colleagues from across NASA, other government agencies, universities, and private industry is one of the Forum's most valuable features.

The hope is that these Forums will provide an enhanced perspective and be useful in helping to conduct studies, investigations, and missions.