A cohort intervention to boost space health grant funding success for researchers from historically minoritized groups: 2022–2023

Diversity leads to greater creativity and innovation, yet diverse individuals are less successful within organizations¹. This is particularly problematic for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, where innovation can drive major advances. In 2011, Ginther and colleagues² reported that Black applicants were 13% less likely to receive National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding than white applicants. There is an even larger gap for women of color³. This funding gap still persists⁴. A similar disparity is seen with other agencies as well, including those that fund space biomedical research. The sponsor of this research surveyed scientists within and outside of the space biomedical field; in that survey minoritized scientists identified the following barriers to space health research funding success: (1) lack of understanding of sponsor research priorities; (2) lack of access to resources/content knowledge, and (3) lack of inclusive mentorship/reviewers. Here, we describe and report on a targeted program to reach these individuals and to provide programming to increase their likelihood of submitting competitive space research grant proposals.

The sponsor survey findings reflect a lack of equity in the field. Equity recognizes that different individuals start in different places, and to provide access to opportunity to all requires different resources for different people⁵. Providing equity requires a critical assessment of the barriers to a space, and an acknowledgment of who is most affected by those barriers and to what extent. Equity programming in STEM is often directed at education—filling the educational gaps created by biases across institutions, systems, and communities⁶ to create a more diverse STEM workforce. However, STEM faculty and scientists also benefit from programs and initiatives aimed at providing equity⁷. For minoritized groups in STEM, equity can take many forms, including access to collaboration⁸, mentorship⁹, education¹⁰, and financial resources¹¹.

Thus, building on these needs, we developed a mentorship program entitled B-SURE: Boosting Spaceflight Underrepresented Researcher Equity, to address the existing barriers that diverse individuals face within the space health research community. We chose to implement a cohort model, as cohort faculty hiring practices have shown to improve retention of faculty of color¹². Our original one-year program intervention ran through portions of 2022–2023 and comprised four program elements designed to address the specific barriers to funding identified by the sponsor (see Fig. 1): (1) recruitment, which aimed to bring new underrepresented researchers to the space health field; (2) education, which aimed to inform the recruited underrepresented researchers about space health research priorities and opportunities; (3) connection, which aimed to facilitate and enhance collaborations between those recruited and the space health research community; and (4) mentorship, which served to provide support and resources to those recruited by established experts in the field. These elements were executed through targeted recruitment and a series of educational workshops, networking events, grant proposal reviews, and other activities focused on fostering mentee-mentor collaborations. Throughout the program, we measured outcomes of each element along with the overall program. The program was successful, with mentees submitting multiple grant proposals to relevant sponsors, and reporting increases in knowledge and networks.

Full size image

Overview of the cohort intervention elements.

The sponsor aimed to increase innovative research proposals and funding for researchers from groups not traditionally supported by NASA. We report data on both grant submissions and awards that occurred both throughout the B-SURE program as well as in the subsequent months following program completion. Following this, we offer outcomes from our specific program elements that served as the drivers of this aim.

One month after the program’s end, 16 mentee respondents reported submitting a total of 113 unique proposals, totaling more than $89 million in funding to various agencies. Out of these 113 proposals, 57 were proposal submissions to relevant space health sponsors. Seven of these have been funded as of March 31, 2024. Ten of the total number of proposals included collaborations with at least one mentor, and 11 proposals had other B-SURE mentee collaborators on them. In a follow-up data request in September 2025, six of the 16 mentees reported submitting an additional 47 unique proposals totaling $21 million in funding requests. As of September 2025, of the 153 unique proposals submitted, 42 were awarded, totaling over $39 million in funding. A total of 23 awards were from space-related research funders, translating to over $12 million in funding.

Effectiveness of Recruitment

With our goal to recruit a diverse cohort of mentees in the B-SURE program, purposeful recruitment at a grass roots level was sufficient to identify and recruit outstanding, multicultural, and underrepresented scholars. The mentee group came from a wide range of demographic backgrounds, identifying themselves as underrepresented across a wide range of diversity forms, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, disability status, and veteran status. Given the small cohort size of 46 mentees (39 in the original cohort and 7 added after the first 12 months), we have chosen not to quantify the number of individuals in each of these categories, to respect the privacy of those who may not want to be identified. As a cohort, the mentee group also came from interdisciplinary research backgrounds, with focused research interests spanning from basic biology and physiology, to device and technology innovation; their ongoing work made them well-poised to advance research in space health. In addition, the cohort represented all professional career stages from post-doctoral scholars to full professors in academia and entrepreneurs who have start-up companies. While recruitment of a diverse cohort can be challenging, if it is intentional towards this goal, our program has shown that this is indeed possible.

Effectiveness of Education

Results of our pre-program survey showed that our mentees felt similarly to the investigators who participated in the sponsor’s internal survey¹³. A total of 80.6% of our mentees were unaware of the review process for space biomedical research grants, and many qualitatively expressed similar barriers to applying for and obtaining funding: lack of mentorship; insufficient knowledge about expectations, priorities, and processes; and inability to find collaborators.

Our efforts to provide educational resources surrounding relevant sponsor funding opportunities, priorities, and the mechanics of proposal submissions were rooted in the two workshops held during our programming. The results of our two post-workshop surveys are reported in Table 1 (Foundations of Funding (FoF) Workshop) and Table 2 (Writing Opportunity Workshop (WOW)). Notably, 88.2% of respondents from the FoF Workshop and 85.7% of respondents from WOW indicated they were likely or very likely to collaborate with another mentor or mentee that they met at the workshop. The two workshops differed somewhat from each other, with the second one focusing more on writing; we had a professional grant writer consult with participants, and participants gave each other peer feedback in small groups.

This educational effort was continuous throughout the duration of the program. Additional elements included several online meetings to discuss upcoming space health funding opportunities, grant mechanisms, and best practices for specific opportunities. This platform also provided an opportunity for the study team to be available for questions and answers on open topics. In addition, the mentees also received grant solicitations and open funding opportunity announcements to keep them informed and up to date. The complete 9-item pre/post B-SURE survey results are included in the appendix, with selected items (showing statistically significant change throughout the program) illustrated in Fig. 2 (full results are presented in Supplementary Table 1).

Full size image

Selected results from the 9-item questionnaire from 15 individuals (n = 15) before and after their participation in the initial 12-month B-SURE program (see Supplemental Table 1 for full survey results). Response options followed a Likert scale ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”). The four items shown here improved significantly from pre to post program participation, including connecting with a mentor, collaborators, and finding resources (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.05). Gray circles indicate individual data and bars indicate the average ± standard deviation.

Effectiveness of Connection Building

From an outsider perspective, engaging new researchers may seem to consist primarily of increasing their awareness of useful information including where funding opportunities are posted, which are the best conferences to attend, and which scientific journals to read. From our experience, however, we knew that it can be difficult for junior faculty or postdoctoral fellows to obtain the resources needed to travel to workshops and conferences in a scientific field outside of their area of expertise, especially for faculty or fellows that come from lower resource universities or that do not already have grant funding, such as the mentees targeted here. Therefore, we supported travel for our mentee cohort to attend high-quality space biology and biomedical research conferences that would present them with greater networking and collaboration opportunities than if they had participated virtually.

We funded a total of nine mentees to attend the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) in 2022. For several mentees, this conference was their first space health-related conference and thus, B-SURE facilitated their introduction to the larger space health community. In addition, we funded 23 mentees to attend the 2023 NASA Human Research Program Investigator’s Workshop (HRP IWS). During this conference, a total of 12 mentees also presented their work at an oral session. For several mentees, this was also their first space health-related conference. In addition, after our networking event, many B-SURE mentees reported that they found a new collaborator at the event. Lastly, we funded a total of 17 mentees to attend the 2023 ASGSR. Our networking event at this conference was attended by a total of 58 mentees and mentors.

Our efforts to ensure the mentee cohort connected to the broader space health community was an ongoing process that took place throughout all our events. Additional professional connections were made directly by mentors to their mentees. One of our goals was to help and support the mentees finding collaborators to further their research objectives. Another goal was to increase the mentees’ visibility within the field, which would lead to greater opportunities. Three workshop attendees were asked to present their work in front of a NASA Human Risk Board in the weeks following the first workshop (FoF). Following presentations during an oral session at the 2023 HRP IWS, a program officer contacted one mentee about their research, and another sponsor representative met with an additional two mentees to connect them to other program officers.

Connections were also made within the B-SURE mentee cohort themselves. To facilitate additional support within the group, the mentees utilize an online messaging app to stay in touch, answer each other’s questions, and share grants, writing tips, proposals, and funding opportunities. This group chat is also used to celebrate each other’s accomplishments, support each other through rejections, announce new papers or grant successes, find collaborators, and build new connections. Essentially, the B-SURE mentee cohort created a community built upon their common interests in space health research. Within this community, the mentees engage in peer-to-peer mentoring.

Participants’ perception of space health as a welcoming environment for diverse groups of individuals significantly increased after their participation in the B-SURE program, as shown in Fig. 3. Their agreement that mentees were able to identify with others also rose significantly. We believe that this change was driven, in large part, by the formation of the mentee support network.

Full size image

Selected results from the 9-item questionnaire from 15 individuals (n = 15) before and after their participation in the initial 12-month B-SURE program (see Supplementary Table 1 for full survey results). Response options followed a Likert scale ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”). The two items shown here improved significantly from pre to post program participation, including feeling that the research community is welcoming and finding others with whom they identify (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.05). Gray circles indicate individual data and bars indicate the average ± standard deviation.

Effectiveness of Mentorship

More than 50 subject matter expert mentors were recruited across the program elements. The role of the B-SURE mentors was to share knowledge and expertise about the space health research field and the relevant funding landscapes, to foster connections to others in the field, to increase the visibility of their mentee(s), and to support the mentees’ goal to launch a space health funded research program. Anecdotally, the mentors reported enjoying the B-SURE program elements and generally they were excited about the program elements hosted by B-SURE. Many reported wishing they themselves had had such an introduction to relevant sponsor funding, and all viewed the program as worthwhile and important. Moreover, many mentors were able to establish new, active collaborations with some of the mentees and other mentors that resulted in manuscripts and grant proposal submissions.

Our survey of mentees’ proposal submissions revealed that mentees submitted a total of 13 Step 1 NASA Omnibus Proposals for the January 2023 cycle. Eleven of these proposals were invited to a Step-2 submission, and one proposal was funded. Four mentees also received NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) awards.

The sponsor’s aim in the creation of this partnership was to provide access and opportunities to increase the number of funded underrepresented researchers in the field of space health. The number of proposals submitted and projects awarded in just a year’s time reflect this program’s success in meeting this goal. In addition, there were also a few unintended positive outcomes of this program. First, we hoped that the educational offerings and networking would increase mentees’ sense of inclusion and sense of belonging in the field. Individuals in any workplace are most likely to thrive when they feel respected and valued^14,15. However, we did not anticipate that the mentees would form their own community of support and collaboration that continues beyond the program’s end. This community seems to be a driver for their sustained sense of belonging, which will hopefully have lasting effects for this cohort. This incidental outcome reinforces the strength of cohort model interventions.

We also expected mentees to benefit from both networking with mentors and the educational components of the program, and our results reflected this expectation. Additionally, the benefit experienced by the mentors highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the field as a driver of scientific discovery and innovation¹. Like the funding agencies, the mentors recognized that innovative ideas are necessary to solve the complex and interdisciplinary problems in human spaceflight. This program also demonstrates that the mentors did not view the space research community as a competitive environment in which they would be disadvantaged by sharing their expertise with newcomers but rather were invigorated by the fresh ideas from the mentee cohort and were eager to form new collaborations, thereby developing mutually beneficial research. Examples include sample tissue-sharing from a mentor to a mentee and assisting a mentee with performing a parabolic flight experiment.

The B-SURE program sought to provide resources and access to a group of mentees, who were largely new to the field of space health research, over an extended period. Research has shown that a cohort model can be highly effective for promoting inclusion and a sense of belonging in a space, particularly for groups who are traditionally excluded¹⁵. Our results showed that our cohort model was successful. Key findings include that ~40 mentees found our FoF Workshop highly informative, demystifying grant submission websites and other sponsor resources online. The FoF Workshop also provided a means for many of them to find collaborators, not only with the mentors participating in the program, but also with other mentees (~50% reported finding new collaborations). In addition, their perceived ability to access sponsor resources increased. We have continued to track mentee grant submissions and awards both to relevant sponsors and other agencies. While our results exceeded our expectations, we acknowledge that a program supporting such a small cohort can only produce incremental progress and may not independently drive the sustainable change required. Nevertheless, when considered as a proof-of-concept or pilot initiative, these findings provide justification and motivation for future programmatic investment.

Our project has several limitations, primarily related to the self-reported nature of data collection. Participants were invited to complete surveys and to share information about grant proposals that they submitted and those that were selected for funding. However, not all mentees responded despite multiple reminders, which may have introduced response bias. In addition, benchmarking our findings is challenging because no control group was included. Although we obtained baseline data on mentees’ beliefs and attitudes, we cannot determine how many proposals they would have submitted had they not participated in the program. Finally, selection bias is likely, as participants self-selected into the program in response to recruitment materials. Individuals already intending to submit research grant proposals in the future would be more inclined to participate in mentored grant-writing programs.

Given the complexities of space health and its evolving risks and priorities, this model could be scaled to achieve even greater impact by fostering communities dedicated to specific themes, challenges, or mission priorities. Moreover, key elements of this program could be readily adapated to other STEM disciplines. The National Institutes of Health has implemented a similar cohort-based approach to enhancing the success of underrepresented scientists through the Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC). This program leveraged the mentoring and advising capacities of scientific societies, providing one potential framework for scaling up our approach to support a larger number of researchers. Notably, the MOSAIC program enrolled more than three times its target number of scholars before being terminated in 2025¹⁶.

It behooves funding agencies to allocate resources that enable scientists to share their expertise with individuals who are underrepresented in terms of funding rates or who are new to the proposal submission process. Established, funded investigators are uniquely positioned to guide others through this process. Programs such as ours could be expanded by organizing mentor-mentee “pods” that interact at annual conferences to exchange advice and workshop proposals prior to submission.

In contrast to recent claims regarding the limited effectiveness of diversity initiatives in higher education and research-focused institutions¹⁷, the outcomes of the B-SURE program demonstrate the efficacy of equity-centered approaches. Our program provided researchers from underrepresented groups with both resources and domain-specific knowledge to help them navigate the complexities of space health research priorities and the often opaque funding process. The resulting funding successes, which have introduced more diverse and innovative perspectives¹, are poised to meaningfully advance the overall quality and breadth of science in the field of space health and biology.

Participants

The authors of this manuscript, CW, AD-A, JBA, and RDS, constitute the principal investigator (PI) leadership team for this project. Collectively, the PI team are subject matter experts (SMEs) in space health, are well connected within the space biology and space human health research communities, and are actively engaged in ongoing investigations in these areas. The team also has expertise in program evaluation and assessment methodologies. This work was made possible by leveraging sponsor resources as well as professional networks of the PI leadership team within the space health research community.

The B-SURE program recruited mentee participants who attended at least one program element, including workshops, networking events, online meetings, conferences. Mentees completed a series of questionnaires before the program began and again after 12 months, although the program was later extended to 18 months. Additional feedback was collected after each major program events, as described in the following paragraphs. The six-month program extension allowed for the recruitment of new mentees and the delivery of additional workshops, networking events, and grant proposal review sessions. This project was determined exempt by the University of Florida’s Institutional Review Board.

The B-SURE program engaged mentors who were established SMEs in space health research, representing multiple sectors, including academia, industry, and government. Mentor engagement varied, encompassing one-on-one mentorship, workshop participation and presentations, contributions as content expert in educational programing, networking and community building with mentees, grant proposal review and feedback prior to submission, and general availability for collaboration or guidance. Mentorship was viewed as a critical component of the program^9,18,and mentors were invited based on their commitment to the program’s goals. Collectively, their expertise spanned all facets of human health and performance in space.

B-SURE Program elements

In this section, we describe the B-SURE program elements that were implemented during the span of the project.

B-SURE mentee participants were recruited to the program through grass roots methods, such as “word of mouth”, application invitations on social media shared broadly and targeted to specific affinity groups, and direct recruitment from investigators in space health research. To enhance the diversity of our cohort, the leadership team leveraged existing connections with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority and Hispanic Serving Institutions, The National Society of Black Engineers, and other relevant institutions. Interested individuals applied to the program and selection was made by the leadership team. Selection criterion to participate in the B-SURE program was quite broad and only required the participants to be self-identified as an underrepresented minority, which was defined broadly to include race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexuality, and veterans’ status. Additional selection criteria included individuals who were new to the space health research field. Recruitment was ongoing with mentees joining the cohort at various times throughout the program.

It is important that programs supporting new researchers incorporate a cohort model for their mentees¹². This approach has been highlighted as a critical element across various scientific fields and is also noted anecdotally within the space community, including through NASA STAR (Spaceflight Technology, Applications and Research) and SHINE (Space Health Impacts for the NASA Experience) programs.

The B-SURE program hosted two educational workshops designed to familiarize participants with relevant research priorities and funding opportunities, demystifying the proposal submission process, facilitating connections with attending mentors, and offering formal and informal networking opportunities. The A survey conducted by the sponsor among underrepresented scientists¹³ identified all of these elements as common barriers to submitting space health grant applications. As our results demonstrate, mentees in the B-SURE program faced similar challenges prior to participation.

Figure 4 illustrate the timeline of program events over the duration of the award. The first event, the Foundations of Funding Workshop (FoF), was held over 2 ½ days in October 2022 and attended by 24 of the 39 original B-SURE mentees, along with 12 recruited mentors. A few months later, the Writing Opportunities Workshop (WOW) was conducted over 2 ½ days in July/August 2023, with the goal of providing focused proposal preparation, grant writing and feedback sessions, and fostering collaborations within the cohort. The WOW included a writing expert who presented best practices for successful proposal writing, mentor and mentee research talks, dedicated writing time, and group proposal/concept reviews. This workshop was attended by 17 original B-SURE mentees and seven newly recruited mentees.

Full size image

Overview of B-SURE partnership timeline of activities.

A primary goal of these workshops was to demystify high-level programmatic solicitations and research priority announcements, “translating” them into language accessible to researchers who may not be familiar with the space health field. By decoding the extensive jargon and acronyms used in the space health community, the workshops helped the mentee cohort better understand sponsor-specific research funding goals.

The B-SURE program also offered networking events at three conferences: The 2022 American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), the 2023 Human Research Program Investigator Workshop (HRP IWS), and the 2023 ASGSR. Travel and registration costs for B-SURE mentees were fully funded for each event. At the 2022 ASGSR, a networking reception brought together mentees, mentors, and program officers, with a sponsor representative providing brief overview of specific space health-related funding areas. During the 2023 HRP IWS, mentees had the opportunity to present their research in an oral session. An additional networking event at the 2023 ASGSR included mentees who were unable to attend in 2022. Collectively, these networking events were designed to foster informal interactions among the B-SURE cohort, promote research discussions and collaboration, facilitate introductions, and connect mentees with leaders in the field.

A key component of the B-SURE program was ensuring that each mentee received active and engaged mentorship from at least one established individual familiar with their space health research field. Mentors were recruited from academia, industry, and relevant sponsoring organizations. Mentorship was designed to include ongoing education about funding opportunities, facilitation of connections and collaborations, network building, grant proposal review assistance, and serving as a resource or sounding board as mentees launched their space health research careers. Although no specific frequency of engagement was mandated, most mentors interacted with their mentees regularly, including during B-SURE program elements where in-person engagement occurred multiple times. Mentors were invited to participate in all program events hosted by the B-SURE team.

A unique feature of the program was the opportunity for mentors to review draft proposals from mentees prior to submission. Constructive feedback from seasoned investigators allowed mentees to improve their submission and gain insight into aspects that program officers and external reviewers consider important and relevant. As a result of these mentee-mentor interactions facilitated by the B-SURE program, mentees continue to engage with their mentors, applying the knowledge gained to future opportunities.

Throughout the program, mentees benefited from mentor matching, monthly zoom calls to discuss upcoming funding opportunities and grant applications, and grant “pre-reviews” to receive feedback prior to submission. Additional activities were designed to immerse mentees in the space health research field, including a hosted trip to Kennedy Space Center during the 2022 FoF Workshop and a tour to Texas A&M University space laboratories in 2023. The PI leadership team maintained both formal and informal engagement with the mentee cohort, a relationship that continues even after the program’s conclusion.

Outcome Data Collection and Analyses

Data collection began during the application process, where applicants provided information on their research interest, prior sponsor funding, and demographic characteristics, including gender, race/ethnicity, and LBGTQ+ identification. Applicants also submitted a statement of interest describing how participation in the program would help them overcome barriers to funding.

Mentees completed a 9-item questionnaire before and after 12 months of participation (original program end-date) to assess their knowledge of the funding process and their ability to identify collaborators and mentors. Some survey items were adapted from the sponsor’s original survey on funding success of women and minoritized individuals in space health research. Questions addressed mentees’ understanding of sponsor review processes and perceptions of diversity and cultural competence within recruiting efforts. Fifteen mentees completed both pre- and post-program surveys, which also included statements on confidence in obtaining funding (e.g., “How confident are you in your ability to secure sponsor funding as a PI?”), and connection to the field of space health (e.g., “I know how to access the resources and support that the sponsor offers” or “The field of Space Health is welcoming to diverse groups of people”). Responses were recorded on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”). The complete set of questions are included in the supplemental table. Pre- and post-program responses were compared using the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples (two-tailed), as the data were not normally distributed. Significance was set at α = 0.05.

Mentees were also asked after each program event (including workshops and networking events) to assess how informative they found each of the program elements (using a 1-7 Likert scale). They were also asked whether or not they had found a collaborator and/or mentor at each event. A list of items asked can be found in Tables 1 and 2. Mentees were also given the opportunity to offer open-ended suggestions for future programming, which allowed the PI team to tweak the programming throughout the course of the funding period. For example, the first networking event at ASGSR included formal introductions by several program officers but was otherwise unstructured. After the event, mentees asked for more structured networking time, which was built into our next event.

All surveys were administered online via Qualtrics. Pre-program surveys were required prior to the Foundations of Funding Workshop. Mentees were given two weeks to respond after an event and at the conclusion of the program. Mentees’ grant submissions were tracked in a shared document, capturing details on collaborators, funding amounts, and outcomes as notifications were received.