About $1.41M to the West Virginia University Research Corporation — the recipient is not the university itself but a separate corporation, handing satellite operators the uncertainty in space weather
An award building a framework that assesses and conveys the risk severe space weather poses to satellites, uncertainty included. The recipient is recorded not as the university itself but as the separate corporation that handles its research. The title marks it as collaborative research, one part of an award split across institutions.
Grant overview (primary data)
- Award amount$1,413,065
- RecipientWest Virginia University Research Corporation (West Virginia)
- ProgramSpceWthrInvtn-LinkgSciResilnce
- Period2026-10-01 〜 2030-09-30
- FunderU.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) / NSF
Key points
- The recipient is recorded not as the university itself but as the separate corporation that handles its research.
- The title is marked Collaborative Research, a plan funded across several institutions.
- The roughly $1,413,065 here is not the size of the whole plan; the other institutions appear as separate records.
- The framework translates the uncertainty in space weather forecasts and hands it to satellite operators rather than chasing the forecast itself.
- The obligated amount matches the estimated total, over a four-year period from 2026-10-01 to 2030-09-30.
- Neither cutting the spread nor handing it over untouched is usable, so the forecast uncertainty is translated into what an operator needs.
1The recipient is not the university itself
The name in the record is not the university but a university research corporation. In the United States, arrangements under which a body separate from the university receives the contracts and awards attached to its research are widely used.
Truncating the name loses whether the university itself or the corporation handling its research received the award. Aggregation and entity resolution have to judge the party with the full name. The 120 NSF awards this site holds as of 2026-09-01 span 93 institutions, and the way institution names are written varies.
2Collaborative research as a form
The title carries Collaborative Research, marking a research plan funded across several institutions. Each receives money under its own award number, and together they make one plan.
The roughly $1,413,065 appearing in this record is therefore not the size of the whole plan. What went to the other institutions exists as separate records. Judging the scale of the research from this amount alone understates it.
3A design built on handing over uncertainty
What the abstract describes is not chasing the forecast itself but translating the uncertainty in a forecast and handing it to satellite operators, which it calls the first end-to-end framework of its kind.
A forecast always carries a range. Cutting the range away and handing over a single number leaves the recipient no room to judge. Handing over the raw range does not work in operations either. Designing what sits between them is the subject. The obligated amount of about $1,413,065 matches the estimated total, over a four-year period from 2026-10-01 to 2030-09-30.
4How to hand over the spread
What the abstract describes is not an attempt to get the space-weather forecast right, but a framework that translates the uncertainty of a forecast and hands it to satellite operators. It is described as the first such end-to-end framework.
- 1A forecast always carries a spreadHowever far accuracy improves, it does not become one settled future
- 2Cut the spread and the room for judgement goesHanded a single number, an operator cannot decide how far to prepare
- 3Hand over the spread untouched and it is unusableA probability distribution does not translate into how to move a satellite
- 4Translate, then hand it overConvert it into the form an operational decision needs
The title carries the collaborative research label: one research plan awarded across several institutions, each receiving funds under its own award number. The roughly $1,413,065 in this record is therefore not the scale of the whole plan, and the portions at other institutions exist as separate records.
That the recipient is named as a university research corporation rather than the university is a further reason to judge the entity by the full name when aggregating.
Why it matters
For anyone using a forecast, what shapes a decision is less whether it proves right than how much of the possible range is shown. Translating uncertainty before handing it over is a problem common to any setting where prediction is built into operations. That the recipient is a corporation separate from the university is also a caution when counting institutions in public data.
FAQ
Why a research corporation rather than the university?
What is collaborative research?
Is the amount the size of the whole plan?
Sources (primary)
Source: NSF Award Search (U.S. National Science Foundation, public domain). Amounts are the obligated amount. For privacy, we do not handle principal investigator names.
- NSF Award (original, official)
- NSF Award ID: 2629143