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 Scholarships
The 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 Program
Undergraduate 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 Campaign
This 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 & Training
The 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 Program
Undergraduate 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 Program
This 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) Internship
NSS 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.