Grants & Scholarships | Research & Training Opportunities
Academic Programs and Courses
Academic Programs
American Military University Master of Science in Space Studies The
Space Studies Department at AMU focuses on political, economic,
commercial, and operational issues associated with space. The Space Studies major will ground the student in the fundamental
scientific knowledge that the study of space demands.
Arizona State University Astrobiology Program The Astrobiology Program
at ASU, which is a NASA Astrobiology Institute Partner, is an
interdisciplinary program of study and research that offers
opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students. Students
complete the course requirements and earn a concentration in
Astrobiology that may be attached to degrees from one or more of the
participating departments.
International Space University's Masters Programs ISU offers Masters
degrees in Space Sciences (focused on technical aspects of space
research) and Space Management (focused on policy and management). The
programs include one academic year of study and a twelve-week summer
internship with ISU. Students are based at the ISU campus in Stasbourg,
France.
International Space University's Summer Session Program This is a
nine-week, interdisciplinary course that covers many fields in the space
sciences, both technical and non-technical, with an emphasis on
international cooperation. Each session is hosted in a different
international setting: the next takes place in Adelaide, Australia.
Pennsylvania State University PSU has established an intercollege
Undergraduate Minor in Astrobiology; the proposal to create the
Dual-Title Ph.D. Degree Program in Astrobiology is currently under
review by the Faculty Senate. Other educational programs include the
Astrobiology Summer Program (ASP) at Penn State and Satellite Courses.
PSU's Astrobiology Research Center is a member of the NASA Astrobiology
Institute.
Space Foundation Master's Degrees in Space Studies The Space Foundation offers two graduate programs in Space Studies in conjunction with the Colorado University at Colorado Springs and Regis Univeristy. One program has an emphasis in science education/space studies, and the other has an emphasis on space studies leadership. The Space Foundation also offers space discovery graduate courses, hands-on professional development courses for K-12 educators.
University of Colorado (CU) Center for Astrobiology The Graduate
Certificate Program in Astrobiology offered at CU trains students in the
entire breadth of the discipline. There is currently no undergraduate
program in Astrobiology, but students are encouraged to take courses in
the various subjects that astrobiology comprises. The University of
Colorado at Boulder is a member institution of the NASA Astrobiology
Institute.
University of North Dakota's School of Aerospace Studies, Space Studies Program
UND's Space Studies Department offers both Masters of Science
and minors in Space Studies. The M.S. is designed to prepare students
for jobs in the government or commercial sectors of space exploration
and development. The program also offers a distance learning degree.
University of Rhode Island Astrobiology As a member of the NASA
Astrobiology Institute, URI provides opportunities for undergraduate and
graduate students. The URI Astrobiology Team provides summer
undergraduate research fellowships, opportunities for academic-term
employment, and academic courses in astrobiology and related topics. The
summer fellowships are internationally competed.
University of Texas Graduate Training in the Space Life Sciences The University of Texas-Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences provides students in the Ph.D. Program an option to receive training in Space Life Sciences. Research opportunities address questions relating to how space affects human function, health risks for long-term space missions, and the habitation and technological exploitation of space.
University of Washington Astrobiology Graduate Certificate Program
University of Washington, a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute,
offers an interdisciplinary astrobiology graduate certificate program
for students admitted to a participating graduate department at UW. The
program is designed to give students an interdepartmental background
needed for careers in the field.
Woods Hole Astrobiology Program The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL),
Woods Hole, MA, currently provides educational opportunities for
advanced students, researchers, secondary school teachers and science
writers in areas related to the Astrobiology Institute initiative.
Courses and fellowships available include the Workshop on Molecular
Evolution, the NASA Planetary Biology Internship, the Living in the
Microbial World Teacher Enhancement Workshop, and the MBL Science
Journalism Program.
Courses
NASA/USRA Basic Biology for Engineers A Web-based workbook for a NASA/Universities Space Research Association course designed to bring the principles of biology to engineers. The course emphasizes space biology and aspects of biology related to space life sciences.
NASA Space Radiation Summer School This three-week course will help provide a "pipeline" of researchers to tackle the challenges of radiation as a critical safety concern for long-term space travel. The course will present upper-level students and faculty with an integrated curriculum of physics, chemistry, and radiation biology, culminating in hands-on accelerator-based experiments using the synchrotron facility at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Moscow International Summer School in Space Biology and Medicine This summer course, offered jointly by the Faculty of Basic Medicine of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Contemporary Educational Programmes, provides 40 academic hours of lectures and training, covering the problems associated with human function in space.
North Carolina Statue University Space Biology Distance Education This
online course provides an overview of the biology of plants, animals and
humans in the space environment, including gravitational biology,
aerospace medicine, search for extraterrestrial life, terraforming, and
life support.
Spelman College Human Body in Space This course addresses the historic science challenges of space flight, knowledge of the space environment, and understanding of biological adaptations related to weightlessness.
University of California, Berkeley Introduction to Bioastronautics
This course focuses on space science related research including
bioastronautics and high altitude human physiology. Topics covered
include history of manned space flight, the space environment, Mars and
lunar environments, space flight and life support systems, space suit
technology, human physiological responses to space flight,
countermeasures to space deconditioning, and space medicine. The current URL directs users to the description
for the Spring 2004 semester. Additional information is available at the
Space Science Outreach and Research Web site on the outreach>undergraduate section of the site.
University College London Space Medicine and Extreme Environment Physiology This course provides students an understanding of the physiological effects of the space environment on the human body and the biomedical problems associated with human space flight. The physiological effects of exposure to terrestrial high altitude environments are also covered. The site for the course provides a syllabus and extensive materials for download including lecture notes, presentations, and papers.
University of Colorado at Boulder Space Life Sciences This course is
primarily intended to familiarize engineering students with factors
affecting living organisms (ranging from single cells to humans) in the
reduced-gravity environment of space flight. The course provides a unique engineering insight regarding design requirements for advanced life support
systems, space habitats and space biotechnology payloads. The course is
also available for remote students.
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs/Space Foundation Extended Studies Program The Extended Studies
Program offers space studies courses covering space history, astronomy,
living in space, biological and physical research, and space
technologies. The current URL lists courses that were available for
Summer 2003.
Grants & Scholarships
American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship
Program The program awards 30 scholarships of $2000 to $2500 to college
sophomores, juniors, and seniors each year who are planning on entering
some field of science or engineering related to the AIAA.
Florida Space Grant Consortium This consortium supports the
expansion and diversification of Florida's space industry, by providing
grants, scholarships, and fellowships to students and educators from
Florida's public and private institutes of higher heducation. FSGC works
closely with Kennedy Space Center and offers grants to faculty,
graduate, and undergraduate students.
Harriet G. Jenkins Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Program (JFPF) The
program supports full-time graduate students belonging to groups that
have been underrepresented in science, technology, and engineering.
Students must be U.S. citizens attending accredited U.S. colleges and
universities. The program provides financial support for a
research-based education leading to a doctoral degree in a NASA-related
discipline. Each three-year fellowship includes an annual, hands-on
research experience.
International Space University Summer Session ScholarshipsThe firm
CRESTech offers International Space University summer session
scholarships to Canadian students.
Minority University Research and Education Programs (MUREP)
Adminstered through NASA's Office of Education, MUREP focuses primarily
on expanding and advancing NASA's science and technological base through
Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority
Universities, including Hispanic Serving Institutions and Tribal
Colleges and Universities. MUREP fosters the research and development
capabilities of Minority Institutions (MIs). Scholarship and internship
opportunities are available through the individual MI grant award.
NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Student Visions of the Future ProgramUndergraduate university students are invited to submit an advanced concept description of a revolutionary idea for an architecture or system that can expand on the vision of NASA's long-range plans. Students selected by NIAC for a poster presentation will be invited with their mentor to the NIAC Annual Meeting, with all expenses paid.
NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program This program awards
fellowships to Masters or PhD students pursuing degrees in science,
mathematics, and engineering related to NASA research and development.
NASA Resident Research Associateship Program (RRAP)
Scientists and engineers at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels are selected in a national competition to become guest investigators at NASA Field
Centers. Scholarly research is conducted on a problem of the associate's
choosing. Awards may be renewed annually for periods of up to two years.
This opportunity offers competitive stipends, and it is available to
U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens.
NASA Space Station Engineering Scholars Program (S2ESP) Students
attending one of five select institutions and nominated by the
university's NASA liaison are eligible for the program. Students must be
undergraduates majoring in engineering with at least a 3.0 GPA and be
U.S. citizens in need of financial assistance.
National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in
Engineering and Science, Inc. (GEM)The consortium is a network of
universities, companies, government agencies, alumni, and faculty, in
which NASA participates. Through a program of paid summer internships
and graduate financial assistance, GEM assists underrepresented minority
students in obtaining M.S. degrees in engineering and Ph.D. degrees in
engineering and the natural and physical sciences.
National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) Space
Grant funds research, education, and public service programs in a
consortium of participating universities found throughout the U.S. and
in Puerto Rico. Fellowships and scholarships are awarded by the
individual consortia. Most awards involve mentored research with
consortia faculty or NASA personnel, and some offer summer and academic
year internships.
University of Houston Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellows Program (Science
and Engineering) The program provides postdoctoral scientists and
engineers with research opportunities of interest to them, to NASA
Johnson Space Center (JSC), and the University of Houston. The program
is located only at JSC in partnership with members of the University of
Houston system. Participants work at JSC in space sciences, life
sciences, engineering, safety/reliability, computer science, and other
areas.
Research & Training Opportunities
ESA Student Parabolic Flight
CampaignThis program sponsors teams of European and Canadian
students, ages 18-27, to fly experiments on ESA parabolic flights on a
special airplane designed to provide periods of weightlessness.
Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) Summer Intern Program in Education & TrainingThe summer internship program provides undergraduates the opportunity to experience cutting-edge research in the planetary sciences. Student interns complete a research project of current interest in planetary science, working one-on-one with a scientist at the LPI or at Johnson Space Center. This is a 10-week program which usually begins in early June. Interns receive a weekly stipend.
Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program
The program is the first ever to study the effects of Martian gravity on mammals. A future mission will send a small population of mice to low Earth orbit onboard a biosatellite that will create artificial gravity identical to that experienced on Mars. The program has internship opportunities for individuals of all ages and experience levels.
NASA/AAAS Achieving Competency in Careers in Engineering and
Space Science (ACCESS) This on-site summer work program for
undergraduates and graduate students with disabilities majoring in
engineering, science, mathematics or computer science. A joint venture
of NASA and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS), ACCESS provides a 10-week, paid experience.
NASA Cooperative Education Program This
program is designed to allow students to combine their academic studies
with on-the-job experience at one of NASA's flight centers. Programs
vary with the flight centers. This Web page has links to the Cooperative
Education Programs at the various flight centers.
NASA Faculty
Fellowship Program (NFFP)The program offers summer research
opportunities to faculty who are U.S. citizens employed full-time at
U.S. colleges and universities. Fellows work with NASA scientists and
engineers at a NASA Field Center for ten weeks. Competitive stipends and
relocation expenses are offered to fellows.
NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities
ProgramUndergraduate students are encouraged to propose,
design, fabricate, fly, and evaluate a reduced-gravity experiment of
their choice over the course of six months. The overall experience
includes scientific research, hands-on experimental design, test
operations and educational/public outreach activities.
NASA Spaceflight and Life
Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) This is an intensive,
six-week summer program at Kennedy Space Center for undergraduates
interested in learning how to design and construct life sciences
research and operations in space, and how to assess the environmental
effects of launch sites. Students are assigned to one of three groups
that emphasize Controlled Biological Systems, Ecological Programs, and
Flight Engineering and Management.
NASA
Undergraduate Student Research ProgramThis program offers
undergraduate juniors and seniors research opportunities at ten
participating NASA centers. Students must be majoring in engineering,
mathematics, or computer, life, or physical sciences. Both summer and
fall sessions are available.
National Space Society (NSS) InternshipNSS
offers internships to students year-round for at least eight weeks in areas
of Public Policy, Public Outreach, and Journalism. The program is open
to students who have completed at least one year of an undergraduate
program with at least a 3.0 GPA and is not limited to a particular
major.
NIAC Student Fellows Competition
The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts seeks to identify creative and innovative undergraduate students who possess an extraordinary potential for developing advanced concepts in the fields of aeronautics, space and the sciences.
Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers' Opportunity to Enchance Outstanding Researchers in Engineering and Science (SHPE/HONORES)This paid scholarship/internship program gives students the opportunity to intern at a NASA center. It is open only to Hispanic students pursuing studies in the fields of engineering, mathematics, and life, environmental, and physical sciences at Hispanic Serving Institutions.