NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF) 2011

NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) seeks to sponsor U.S. citizen and permanent resident graduate student researchers who show significant potential to contribute to NASA’s strategic goals and missions.

This call for graduate fellowship proposals, entitled NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF) – Fall 2011 Fellowship Start, solicits applications from accredited U.S. Universities on behalf of individuals pursuing or planning to pursue Master’s (e.g., M.S.) or Doctoral (e.g., Ph.D.) degrees in relevant space technology disciplines at their respective institutions. This call is open to students pursuing advanced degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The goal of NSTRF is to provide the nation with a pipeline of highly skilled engineers and technologists to improve America's technological competitiveness. NASA Space Technology Fellows will perform innovative space technology research while building the skills necessary to become future technological leaders.

Selected candidates will perform graduate student research both on their respective campuses and at NASA Centers and, in the future, also at nonprofit U.S. Research and Development (R&D) laboratories. Subsequent calls will provide a list of all labs with which NASA has negotiated agreements. In addition to his or her academic advisor, each student will be matched with a technically relevant and community engaged researcher who will serve as the student’s professional mentor. Through this experience, students will advance their STEM education, gain relevant research experience, and learn the research process.

Awards resulting from this competitive selection will be made in the form of training grants to the respective universities. If the student is planning to embark on a new degree program (e.g., M.S. or Ph.D.) at an academic institution different from his/her current academic institution, he/she is encouraged to work with faculty at the prospective university, or universities, in assembling and submitting packages to this fellowship call.

The financial and programmatic support for NSTRF will come from the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist. NSTRF has its basis with the Graduate Student Research Program in the Office of Education and will continue NASA’s rich history of supporting students via the Office of Education and the Mission Directorates. Awards are planned to coincide with the start of the 2011 academic year and are subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Important Dates:

Proposals due- February 23, 2011 at 11:59 PM ET
Announcement of new fellowships - May 18, 2011 (target)
Fellowship acceptance deadline - May 27, 2011 (target)
Start date of fellowships - August 1, 2011 (target)

Please visit http://nspires.nasaprs.com and click "Solicitations" for more information.