Applications Available for NASA Opportunities for Graduate and Postdoctoral Students

NASA Ames Summer 2009 Graduate Student Internship Programs

The Systems Teaching Institute is offering a 10- to 12-week summer research program for graduate students in fields relevant to the research done at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. Selected students will gain hands-on experience working with cutting-edge research and development teams, an increased understanding of the NASA mission, and mentoring in research management skills. Besides working closely with Ames scientists and engineers, students will have the opportunity to attend seminars tailored to their level of expertise, career development workshops, and an end-of-summer symposium where they can share their results with other student interns. Awards (in the form of travel support to a national conference) will be given for the best symposium poster presentations.

To be eligible, students must be enrolled in (or accepted into) a master’s or doctoral program. Students must demonstrate their potential to contribute to Ames research via enrollment in a highly relevant degree program (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) and/or articulation of:

–Acquired skills that might be of special interest.
–Prior educational background that shows interdisciplinary knowledge.
–Specialized career goals directly related to NASA’s mission.

Underrepresented and underserved students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Starting and ending dates are flexible to allow for varying institutional academic calendars. However, students are expected to work a minimum of 10 weeks between May 1 and Sept. 30, 2009.

All application materials should be postmarked on or before Jan. 31, 2009. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted for the Jan. 31 deadline. However, official transcripts must be received by March 31, 2009. The Systems Teaching Institute will make selections and send out notification letters to all applicants on or before April 30, 2009.

For further information about this opportunity, visit http://uarc.ucsc.edu/sti/grad_09.shtml. Questions regarding this opportunity may be submitted by e-mail to Dr. Natalie Batalha at nbatalha@science.sjsu.edu or Amy Gilbert at amy.gilbert@adm.ucsc.edu.

2009 NASA Postdoctoral Program Accepting Applications

The NASA Postdoctoral Program provides talented postdoctoral scientists and engineers with valuable opportunities to engage in ongoing NASA research projects. The Postdoctoral Program serves as a source of talent to ensure the continued quality of the NASA research workforce. These one- to three-year fellowship appointments are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems and astrobiology.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. or an equivalent doctorate degree before beginning the fellowship. Applicants must have U.S. citizenship, Lawful Permanent Resident status, Employment Authorization Document with pending LPR status, or J-1 Visa status as a Research Scholar before beginning the fellowship. An H-1B Visa status is not acceptable because the NPP is not an employment program.

Stipend rates for Postdoctoral Fellows start at $50,000 per year. Moderate supplements are given for Ph.D. degrees in certain specialized fields, such as engineering, computer science, clinical space-biomedical science, etc., and for high cost-of-living areas. Funds are available for relocation expenses. Fellows also receive $8,000 per appointment year to support travel to conferences, meetings and other activities (i.e., travel to field sites or observatories to collect data or for required training) that directly support their research projects.

Applications for this opportunity are due on March 1, 2009.

For further information about this opportunity and to apply online, visit http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc/description/index.htm. Questions regarding this opportunity may be submitted by e-mail to nasapostdoc@orau.org.