1 NAI Organization and Membership

 NAI Concept, Mission, Goals
 NAI Organizational Structure
 NAI Membership
 NAI Central
 The Executive Council
 NAI General Meetings and the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon)

1.1 NAI Concept, Mission, Goals

The NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) is a virtual organization that represents a partnership between NASA and competitively selected NAI Teams . The NAI and its member investigators work together to achieve the goals of the NASA Astrobiology Roadmap by implementing the NAI Mission . While no two NAI Teams are alike, it is generally expected that each Team will make some contribution in each of these five areas.

NAI Team selection is based on proposals that include both planned research programs and institutional commitments to astrobiology. NAI Teams involve researchers from multiple disciplines, and they usually include team members from a variety of geographically distributed institutions. Members collaborate with one another, both in person and virtually, in part using communication and collaboration tools supplied by NAI. NAI Teams are supported by NASA through 5-year Cooperative Agreements with Ames Research Center. The funding vehicle of NASA Cooperative Agreements anticipates that each NAI Team and their institutions will work together with NASA and with the other NAI Teams to foster a climate of cooperation.

1.2 NAI Organizational Structure

The NAI Teams are supported for five years through cooperative agreements with NASA Ames Research Center. Each NAI Team is led by a Principal Investigator (PI) who organizes the activities within the team and represents the team to the NAI Director, NAI Executive Council, and NAI Central. PIs also generally designate a Deputy Team Leader to act on behalf of the PI when the PI is not available.

The PIs are responsible for the accomplishment of their team's collaborative and interdisciplinary research and for the conduct of their Education and Public Outreach projects. They are accountable for the cohesion of their team, for the communication of NAI business to their team's members, for the productivity of exchanges between their team and other participating teams, and for interactions between their team and NAI Central. They are fiscally accountable for their team's activities, including addressing any issues that may arise with recipients of subcontracts or grants issued through their home institution in the conduct of their NAI research.

During the period of performance of their award, the PIs comprise the Executive Council of the NAI, together with the NAI Director and Deputy Director.

The administrative management of the NAI is carried out through the office called " NAI Central " located at NASA Ames. The NAI Director and other administrative staff are co-located at NAI Central. The NAI Executive Council, made up of the NAI Team PIs, interacts with the NAI Director as described in the Executive Council section of this handbook. International Associate and Affiliate Teams also participate with the NAI in a variety of ways and are invited to attend meetings of the Executive Council as well as participate in scientific meetings and Focus Groups; however, the international partners receive no NASA funds, and do not provide any formal reporting to the NAI (although they are invited to contribute to the NAI Annual Reports).

1.3 NAI Membership

The NAI strives to have open boundaries, as the virtual institute concept is based on a collaborative research approach, encouraging open participation. The membership is defined by NAI Teams, through their annual reports to NAI Central. Each project report provides a list of the people involved in the research (whether or not they receive NAI funding).

There are constraints, imposed by budget, that limit the number of Teams and projects that can be directly funded by the NAI. However, the NAI community is broadened beyond these constraints by encouraging participation based on scientific interaction.

1.3.1 How NAI membership is defined

NAI membership is defined in the following ways:

• By the NAI Teams , in their Annual Reports to NAI Central. Each person listed in a Project Report or Additional People Report is considered an NAI Member. This includes:
  • Team PI's - who receive NAI funding directly from NASA;
  • Co-I's, other collaborators, educators, engineers, admin or technical staff, - who receive funding from PI's or are employed by PI's;
  • Co-I's, other collaborators, educators, students, engineers, admin or technical staff who do not receive funding from NASA or from PI's. This is because some teams provide significant "in kind" contributions of researchers and/or other staff as part of their institutional commitments to the NAI.
• The Director and NAI Central staff are members.

There are outcomes and expectations that result from becoming a member of the NAI. NAI members are:

• Included in the NAI database and online directory;
• Listed in the NAI Annual Report within the team and project reports;
• Automatically included on the mailing list for NAI newsletters and announcements;
• Given access to NAI Collaborative Tools, such as videoconferencing equipment, WebEx, and the NAI online directory and e-mailer;
• Expected to acknowledge NAI in research publications funded by NAI;

NAI members are expected to support the NAI mission, including:

• Multi-disciplinary astrobiology research;
• NASA mission involvement;
• Use of collaborative research tools and IT infrastructure;
• Training of the next generation;
• Education and Public Outreach.

1.3.2 NAI Focus Group Membership

The NAI focus Groups are one of the ways that NAI provides an opportunity for the larger community to participate in NAI. Focus Group membership is defined by the Focus Group chairs, in the annual reports submitted to NAI Central.

Focus Group members are:

• Automatically included on the mailing list for NAI newsletters and announcements (self-subscription to the newsletter is publicly available);
• Given access to NAI collaborative tools, such as the NAI Online Directory, e-mailer, and WebEx.

Focus Group members are not included in the NAI online Directory unless they are also NAI Members as defined above.

1.3.3 International Associate and Affiliate members

The Director and members of each Associate/Affiliate Member group are invited to

• Join the mailing list for NAI newsletters and announcements;
• Use NAI Collaborative tools for NAI collaborations
• Attend NAI General Meetings

The Director of the Associate and Affiliate organizations are invited to submit an Executive Summary for inclusion in NAI's Annual Report.

1.4 NAI Central

The organization of the administrative arm of the NAI is colloquially referred to as ìNAI Central.î NAI Central is involved in projects that range from administration of the cooperative agreements with the NAI Teams to support for additional collaborations and initiatives of the NAI Director . NAI Central's projects often support or extend the efforts of the NAI Teams as well as reach out into the broader astrobiology community and help support the maintenance of the organization as a whole.

1.5 The Executive Council

The PIs, together with the NAI Director and Deputy Director, comprise the Executive Council of the NAI during the period of performance of their awards.

The Executive Council is charged with the following specific roles:

1. raise, discuss, and provide insight into issues such as Institute-wide research objectives, astrobiology mission opportunities, and priorities for technology development;
2. consider and analyze proposals to form NAI Focus Groups and other similar bodies;
3. consider and comment on proposals for external partnerships (e.g., international, interagency, or corporate);
4. comment on the conduct of the Institute and discuss possible metrics and evaluative approaches aimed at assessing the progress of the NAI; and
5. consider and provide perspective on other astrobiology issues at the request of the Director.

The EC meets monthly by videoconference. Videotapes of the meetings are archived and available. In-person EC meetings are held periodically, normally at one of the NAI Team sites. The schedule for these meetings will be set annually for the next calendar year at the last meeting of the year. It has been customary to hold a 60-minute private meeting of the PIs (the 'in camera' session) during the in-person meetings. There is no monthly videoconference for the month in which an attended meeting is held.

For more information, visit the NAI Executive Council Website.

1.6 NAI General Meetings and the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon)

Two of the major professional meetings in the United States that are devoted entirely to astrobiology are the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) and the NAI General Meeting. Historically, these have been held in alternate years: AbSciCon in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006; NAI General Meeting in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005. The next AbSciCon is planned for April 15-17, 2008.

Historically, NAI General Meetings have been hosted by NAI Teams at or near their home institutions (e.g.,Carnegie Institution of Washington in 2001, Arizona State University in 2003, and University of Colorado Boulder in 2005). The NAI chose not to hold an NAI General Meeting in 2007, organizing instead a strategic planning workshop held in January of that year. Time and location for the next NAI General Meeting have not been set.