Programs for students

These one-year Fellowships will be awarded competitively to graduate students at a member institution of the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium (WVSGC) as well as undergraduate seniors who have been admitted to a graduate program in a STEM field at one of the academic affiliates of WVSGC who will be engaged in a research project either during the academic year and/or in the summer. Brief semi-annual progress reports and a final report will be required. Applicants for these fellowships must be full-time students of U.S. citizenship.

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed – this means all required parts, including letter of endorsement, must be submitted on time. Do not wait until the last minute to submit as no one will be available to help you after business hours. Applications that exceed page limits will not be reviewed.

Proposal due date: Monday March 3, 2025, by 11:59 PM (EST)

Mentor Endorsement due Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (11:59 p.m. EST)

Award announcement date: Early-May 2025

Anticipated project start date: May 16, 2025

We strongly encourage applications from all affiliate institutions. This is a limited submission opportunity. Faculty mentors may only endorse up to three students per year. If you are in a lab that has more than three students who want to apply, your lab will have to have an internal submission process to pre-select the three applications that will move forward. This is similar to what federal agencies do with what are termed “limited submissions”.

NOTE: Graduate student applicants must complete the online application here.

Mission Directorate Alignment:  To be considered for funding, you must identify one of the NASA Mission Directorates that your work fits under, fully explaining the connection between your proposed research and the directorate’s aims. The full list of NASA Mission Directorates and Center Alignment can be found here.

In 250 words or less, list how your proposal relates to this specific Missions Directorate. Also include a direct link to that specific program area.

Budget (one page):

Each award will be up to $15,000. You may not pay yourself a greater amount than the 12 month pay is for a GRA in your dept. These awards must be supplemented by a 1:1 cost share by the applicant’s home institution, and budget should cover the grant funding and cost share amount. Graduate tuition waiver by the college/university documented against the NASA research stipend, and documented time spent by the faculty to mentor the student may be counted toward fulfillment of the cost share requirement. Most of the NASA funding should be used to support the student stipend and the student’s department should provide the supplies needed for research activities. NASA funds may not be used for the purchase of equipment or foreign travel. Include a budget and justification, 1 page limit for both together.

Stipend: Rate of pay is at least $20 an hour, but you may use the prevailing rate in your department if it is higher. It is acceptable to have all funds in stipend. Pay can be for summer only or can include summer and academic year.

Travel funds (if requested): identify an actual or potential conference to attend (virtually or in- person) and it can be local, regional, or national. Provide a breakdown of your travel costs to include airfare or car (mileage or rental car), per diem, and hotel costs. Student must provide a copy of presentation/venue information to the Space Grant office and verify travel costs as part of their final report.

Supplies: Identify what supplies you will need to purchase for your project from the grant or if you are using funds supplied by your mentor as cost share; if the supplies are not being used as cost share, do not list them and simply note “no materials budget needed”. In the case of no materials budget needed, it is assumed and expected that the faculty mentor’s lab will furnish all needed supplies and supplies are not being used to meet cost share. Example level of detail: $500 for consumables and reagents that are necessary for quantification of soil enzymes associated with the cycling and storage of C, N and P; $1000 is requested for reagents associated with molecular sample preparations (e.g., DNA extraction, purification, and quantification, PCR amplification – research advisor funding as cost share).

Below is an example of a previously approved budget.

Stipend: $14,000 requested for full-time student salary for 20 weeks (starting with Summer 2024 with 35 hours of work per week), at a rate of $20 per hour ($20 per hour x 35 hours per week x 20 weeks = $14,000).

Research Supplies: $700 requested for consumables and necessary reagents for performing DNA extraction and analysis of telomere length. Research advisor funding as cost share will be provided for materials to grow Arabidopsis plants, including soil, sand, pots, and pot trays.

Travel: $300 requested to attend and present data at the annual Mid-Atlantic Section (MAS) Plant Symposium co-organized by the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), and the University of Maryland (UMD). $200 allotted for a hotel stay of two nights, $100 for conference registration (meals included). PI will cover transportation to the conference and other expenses.

Total NASA: $15,000

Cost share: Cost share: The cost share of $15,000 will be fulfilled through a portion of the in-state graduate tuition waiver ($5,454 per semester) as well as by my research mentor, Dr. X, time in the amount of $4,092 from mentoring documented from their state-funded salary, ensuring this effort is directly related to the project objectives and is not already charged to another funded grant.

Total CS: $15,000

Essay:  The applicant will also be required to submit a short essay. In 600 words or less the applicant should address the following items:

• Applicant’s research experience and career interests
• Applicant’s plans for sharing research findings through participation in professional conferences and/or publication
• If there is anything you want the committee to know about your GPA or academic progress, include it here

Education History and Resume: Does not count towards proposal page limit. The applicant should also upload a one-page resume.

The Consortium will award these grants based on the following criteria:

• Category #1: Technical and Scientific Merit (75%)
  1. The research topic and goals are appropriate and worthy of support. (15)
  2. The hypotheses [goals/objectives] are explicit, and the proposal is well (25)
  3. Specific endpoints or application in the research have been (10)
  4. There is enough attention given to related research by (10)
  5. Relationship to NASA research areas and alignment with Mission Directorate (s). (15)

  Category #2: Student’s Academic and Extracurricular Achievements (10%)

  1. The applicant is a highly qualified Graduate Student with outstanding academic achievements. (5)
  2. The applicant has demonstrated leadership qualities that would enhance his/her chances of success in a future scientific and academic (5)

  Category #3: Budget and Dissemination of the Results (15%)

  1. The budget is realistic for the work proposed and plans for dissemination / publicizing the research are defined. (5)
  2. The budget justification is sufficiently detailed and specific tasks are clearly related to personnel, time, and budget. (10)

   

Proposals must be submitted online only. Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered. Any submission missing required sections, will not be reviewed.

Graduate student applicants must complete the online application here.