NASA has selected 10 new citizen science proposals for funding in 2025. These selections provide a preview of what’s coming next for NASA citizen science. Note that these investigations are research grants: some of them will result in new opportunities for the public, while others will analyze or build on results from earlier citizen science projects.
Citizen Science Seed Funding Program (CSSFP)
The CSSFP aims to support scientists and other experts to develop citizen science projects and expand the pool of scientists who use citizen science techniques in their science investigations. Four divisions of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate are participating in the CSSFP: the Astrophysics Division, the Biological and Physical Sciences Division, the Heliophysics Division, and the Planetary Science Division. Seven new investigations were recently selected through this program:
Astrophysics Division
Cosmic Cataclysms and Citizen Science: Rapidly Observing High-Energy Phenomena with a Global Telescope Network, PI: Thomas Esposito, SETI Institute. Follow up gamma-ray bursts (GRB), compact object mergers, supernovae, and cataclysmic variables using your backyard telescope.
Spiral Graph: Cluster Buster – A Participatory Science Project to Improve the Identification of Spiral Arms from All-Sky Survey Galaxy Images, PI Patrick Treuthardt, North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences. Help measure the spiral arms of galaxies to reveal the masses of their central black holes!
Planetary Science Division
Rubin Comet Catchers: Discovering the Comets of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) with Citizen Science, PI Colin Chandler, University of Washington. Join the hunt for come …