Programs for students

These one-year scholarships will be awarded competitively to Undergraduate students in a space-related field as defined by NASA who desire to participate in a research project during the academic year  [Field related to space means any academic discipline or field of study (including the physical, natural and biological sciences, and engineering, space technology, education, economics, sociology, communications, planning, law, international affairs and public administration) which is concerned with or likely to improve the understanding, assessment, development and utilization of space.] A faculty member from the applicant’s institution must agree to serve as a mentor and research advisor for the described project. Applicants for these scholarships must be full-time undergraduate students of U.S. citizenship. A brief midterm progress report and a final report will be required.

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 date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (11:59 p.m. EST)

Award announcement date: Early-May 2025

Anticipated project start date: May 16, 2025

Apply/Submit:

Undergraduate student applicants must complete the online application here.

Research Plan (two pages)

Please upload a well-written (easy to understand, with limited jargon and no grammatical or spelling errors) maximum two-page summary of the research plan in your own words, including a statement of the problem, previous research, methodology, expected results, and proposed timeline. References, appendices, and budget do not count towards the two-page limit. The document must be in PDF format and single-spaced using Times New Roman (TNR) font size 12, 1″ margin on all sides. This research plan must be reviewed and approved by the applicant’s faculty mentor. Please be aware that reviewers of the proposal may not be experts within your field of study, and the proposal should be written accordingly. Mentors may provide editorial and revision assistance for student proposals, but they must be primarily the work of student applicants.

Mission Directorate Alignment (250 words) Will be entered directly on the application:  Please note that all proposals must align with one of the NASA Mission Directorates. To read about the latest programs and current interests for the Mission Directorates, please click here. Failure to clearly indicate the alignment with a NASA Mission Directorate will result in disqualification of the proposal and it not being forwarded to the reviewers.

In 250 words or less, you must list how your proposal relates to this specific Missions Directorate and include a link.

Budget and Justification (one page) Does not count towards proposal page limit:

The amount of these awards is $5,000.

Student stipend must be between $3500 and $4500, $500 for travel to present research should be included, and you can include a maximum of $1000 towards supplies. There are no points taken away or given depending on stipend vs supplies, so if you are able to spend the entire amount on stipend, you should.

NOTE: total NASA budget must add to $5,000.  As examples:

1. $3,500 student stipend, $1,000 for supplies and $500 travel to present
2. $4,000 student stipend, $500 for supplies and $500 travel to present
3. $4,500 student stipend, $500 travel to present research.

In preparing your budget, you should have a section each for stipend, travel, and supplies.

• Stipend: Rate of pay is $15 an hour, so if you are requesting $4500, this is 300 hours; $4000 is 266; $3500 is 233.
• Travel funds: identify a potential conference to attend (virtually or in- person) and it can be local, regional, or national. Student must provide a copy of presentation/venue information to the Space Grant office before release of travel
• Supplies: Identify what supplies you will need to purchase for your project from the grant, g., $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). $1000 for Procurement of surgical consumables for dissection and specimen preparation; 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.

Essay (600 words) Will be entered directly on application:

The applicant is required to submit a statement of no more than 600 words including:

• Applicant’s motivation for completing the proposed research project
• Applicant’s academic achievements, leadership qualities, extracurricular activities, and/or work activities
• Applicant’s research experience (in and/or out of class), career interests, and professional goals
• If there is anything you want the committee to know about your GPA or academic progress, address that here

Education History and Resume (one-page).  Does not count towards proposal page limit:

The applicant will also upload their one-page resume and an unofficial copy of your transcript(s).

Evaluation:

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

• Soundness and technical merit of the proposed research (50 points)
• Student’s essay (50 points)

Apply/Submit:

Undergraduate student applicants must complete the online application here.