Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) is Next Gen STEM’s congressionally authorized competitive award program that enables non-profit museums, planetariums, libraries, and youth-serving organizations to propose NASA mission-inspired STEM projects for K-12 students and their learning support systems of families and educators. TEAM II is designed to enhance the ability of informal education institutions and partners to deliver and participate in NASA-based activities, and to increase the capacity of institutions to utilize NASA resources and to provide students with the opportunity to contribute to NASA’s mission.

Solicitation Opportunities

Opportunities to Propose

• Notice of Funding Opportunities are anticipated to be released in Fiscal Year 2026 Q3 for STEM Innovators.

• Potential proposers are advised to start early on the registration process for the System for Award Management (sam.gov) and the NASA Solicitation and Proposal integrated Review and Evaluation System (nspires.nasaprs.com).  Those with prior registration are advised to confirm that their registrations are still valid.

Levels of Opportunities:

• Community Anchor Awards position awarded institutions as a community resource for NASA Informal Education, with support for 1-2 year grant awards and maximum of $50,000 funding.

• STEM Innovator Awards (Formerly TEAM II Full Awards) support institutions serving as a regional resource, and that are working to enhance innovative practices in STEM informal education. Projects are awarded as cooperative agreements for 2-3 years and up to $400,000 funding.
• National Connector Awards support more expansive projects that require NASA involvement, partnerships with regional or national networks to magnify and maximize the project’s reach, and independent evaluation. Projects are awarded as cooperative agreements for 2-4 years and up to $900,000 funding.

Grant Forecasting

NASA cannot guarantee that the final solicitations will be released or that they will be released by the planning date. Also, NASA has not formally approved the release of any of the planned solicitations listed.

By offering this information to prospective proposers at this time (prior to formal approval and release by NASA), the agency is under no obligation to issue the solicitation or request for proposals. Any costs incurred by prospective proposers in preparing submissions in response to this information will be incurred completely at the submitters’ own risk. The ability of the government to issue any planned solicitation is contingent upon the expectation of sufficient appropriated funds, and the ability of the government to make awards is contingent upon the availability of sufficient appropriated funds. For question(s) about this schedule and for general inquiries, please contact TEAMii@nasaprs.com.

Program Description

TEAM II is Next Gen STEM’s congressionally authorized competitive award program that enables non-profit museums, planetariums, libraries, and youth-serving organizations to propose NASA mission-inspired STEM projects for K-12 students and their learning support systems of families and educators. TEAM II is designed to enhance the ability of informal education institutions and partners to deliver and participate in NASA-based activities, and to increase the capacity of institutions to utilize NASA resources and to provide students with the opportunity to contribute to NASA’s mission.