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College & University Student Opportunities
NASA offers numerous opportunities for college and university students. For a full listing of these opportunities visit their website at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/postsecondary/learning/index.html
NASA Nebraska Space Grant may be able to offer funding support for some of these programs. Please let our office know if you are pursuing any of these opportunities.
The Voyager Journey to the Edge of Interstellar Space
Launched in 1977 on a journey to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the two Voyager spacecraft are now over nine billion miles from Earth. Professor Edward Stone of the California Institute of Technology will discuss the epic journey taken by the Voyager spacecraft as they approach interstellar space.
The lecture will take place on April 16, 2013, at 8 p.m. Come early to see a free film and to meet the lecturer.
For more information, visit http://airandspace.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=4978.
Reduced Gravity Education Flight Opportunity for Students at Minority Serving Institutions
Audience: Higher Education Educators & Students
Proposal Deadline: April 17, 2013
NASA is offering undergraduate students from minority serving institutions an opportunity to test experiments in microgravity aboard NASA's reduced gravity aircraft.
This opportunity is a partnership between the Minority University Research and Education Program and NASA's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program, which gives aspiring explorers a chance to propose, design and fabricate a reduced-gravity experiment. Selected teams will test and evaluate their experiments aboard NASA's reduced-gravity airplane. The aircraft flies about 30 roller-coaster-like climbs and dips during experiment flights to produce periods of weightlessness and hypergravity ranging from 0 gravity, or g, to 2 g.
Proposals are due April 17, 2013.
All applicants must be full-time undergraduate students, U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old.
To learn more about this opportunity, visit https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/murep/.
Questions about this opportunity should be emailed to Suzanne Foxworth at jsc-reducedgravity@nasa.gov.
International Space Apps Challenge
Audience: All Educators and 9-Higher Education Students
Event Dates: April 20-21, 2013
NASA and government agencies worldwide will host the second International Space Apps Challenge April 20-21, 2013, with events across all seven continents and in space.
Participants are encouraged to develop mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualization and platform solutions that could contribute to space exploration missions and help improve life on Earth.
The two-day event will provide an opportunity for government to harness the expertise and entrepreneurial spirit of citizen explorers to help address global challenges. During the event, representatives of NASA and other international space agencies will gather with scientists and participants to use publicly released open data to create solutions for 50 software, hardware and visualization challenges, including robotics, citizen science platforms and applications of remote sensing data.
Twelve locations in the United States will host an International Space Apps Challenge event: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Cleveland; Detroit; Easton, Md.; New York; Philadelphia; Reno, Nev.; Rochester, N.Y.; San Francisco; and Syracuse, N.Y. Thirty-eight other events will be held in 30 other countries: Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Poland, Macedonia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda and United Kingdom. Also participating will be McMurdo Station in Antarctica and astronauts aboard the International Space Station
Registration for citizen participation is now open.
To learn more about the International Space Apps Challenge, get the latest updates and register to attend an event, visit http://spaceappschallenge.org/.
If you have questions about the challenge, please visit http://spaceappschallenge.org/about/contact/.
RockOn 2013 University Rocket Science Workshop
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Registration Deadline: May 1, 2013
Workshop Dates: June 15-20, 2013
U.S. university and community college faculty and students are invited to a weeklong workshop to learn how to build and launch a scientific experiment into space. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is hosting the RockOn 2013 workshop June 15-20, 2013, in partnership with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia. Workshop participants must be U.S. citizens. The registration deadline for the workshop is May 1, 2013.
The hands-on workshop teaches participants to build experiments that fly on sounding rockets. During the week, participants will work together in teams of three to construct and integrate a sounding rocket payload from a kit. On the fifth day of the workshop, the experiments will fly on a sounding rocket expected to reach an altitude of more than 70 miles.
Each experiment will provide valuable scientific data, analyzed as part of the student-led science and engineering research. The program engages faculty and students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills critical to NASA's future engineering, scientific and technical missions.
For more information about RockOn and to register online, visit http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/national-programs/rockon-2013-home.
Questions about the workshop or the registration process should be directed to Chris Koehler by email at koehler@colorado.edu or by telephone at 303-492-3141.
2014 eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Proposal Due Date: May 1, 2013
In a continuing effort to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and provide a real-world challenge, exposing students to the engineering and design processes, the Advanced Exploration Systems Habitation Systems Deep Space Habitat Project team has begun accepting applications for the 2014 eXploration Habitat, or X-Hab Challenge.
Post-secondary students, engaged in a variety of curricula, will work together to create a solution to a need for living and working in space or on another celestial body. The winners of the challenge will receive between $10,000 and $20,000 to design and produce functional products of interest to the Deep Space Habitat project.
Proposals are due May 1, 2013, and awardees should expect to deliver their product to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in May of 2014.
Proposals will be accepted from university faculty who are U.S. citizens and currently teach an ABET-accredited engineering senior or graduate design, industrial design, or architecture curriculum at an accredited university in the U.S.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and other minority serving educational institutions are particularly encouraged to apply. Proposals from women, members of underrepresented minorities groups, and persons with disabilities also are highly encouraged.
For more information about the challenge, visit http://spacegrant.org/xhab/.
If you have any questions about the X-Hab Challenge, please email xhab@spacegrant.org.
Vesta in the Light of Dawn
Before starting its journey to the dwarf planet Ceres, the Dawn spacecraft spent a year exploring the asteroid Vesta. Principal Scientist Carol Raymond will lead attendees on a tour of the ancient world of Vesta and what it can teach us about the early days of the solar system.
The lecture will take place on May 7, 2013, at 8 p.m. Come early to see a free film and to meet the lecturer session.
For more information, visit http://airandspace.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=4979.
Pre-Service Teacher Institutes at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Audience: Higher Education Students
Application Deadline: May 10, 2013
Institute Dates: July 12-24, 2013
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has partnered with Oakwood University to offer a two-week Pre-Service Teacher Institute taking place July 12-24, 2013, in Huntsville, Ala. This residential session is for education majors preparing to teach grades K-8.
Participants will engage in hands-on learning experiences designed to develop their skills for teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics using NASA-developed curriculum resources. Full-time rising junior or senior undergraduate and graduate students at minority institutions are invited to apply. Housing, meals, travel assistance and a stipend will be provided.
Applications must be postmarked by May 10, 2013.
For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/msfc/psti.
Please email any questions about this opportunity to Marilyn Lewis at marilyn.h.lewis@nasa.gov.
NASA Seeks Universities for Early Stage Innovation Tech Proposals
Audience: Accredited U.S. Universities
Notice of Intent Deadline: April 29, 2013
Proposal Deadline: May 21, 2013
NASA is seeking innovative, early-stage space technology proposals from accredited U.S. universities that will enable NASA's future missions and America's leadership in space.
Proposals are sought for science instruments, cryogenic propellant storage for long-duration space exploration, optical coatings for astrophysical pursuits, oxygen recovery for life support systems, and to improve our understanding of and protection from near-Earth asteroids.
Each of these space technology areas requires dramatic improvements over existing capabilities. New early stage, or low technology readiness-level, technologies could mature into tools that solve the hard challenges facing NASA's future scientific and human spaceflight missions. Researchers should propose unique, transformational space technologies that address specific topics found in this solicitation.
This solicitation requests proposals on five topic areas. The first topic area seeks new instrument technologies for the exploration of planetary bodies within our solar system. Innovative technology advances are needed to support the instruments that scientists will need to better understand the history, climates, evidence of past life and future potential habitability of planets and moons within the solar system.
Spaceflight architectures for future human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit will require technologies and capabilities not available today, such as long duration storage of cryogenic propellants in a zero gravity environment. Under a second topic area for this solicitation, NASA is particularly interested in proposals regarding how to mature fundamental experimental and computational solutions to address the challenges of cryogenic storage of liquid hydrogen.
Through a third topic area for this solicitation, NASA is seeking advances in optics technologies to enable the challenging science measurements that may contribute to the understanding of the first moments of the universe, the characterization of galaxy evolution over time and the characterization of newly found exoplanets.
As future exploration missions extend beyond low-Earth orbit, vehicles and extraterrestrial surface habitats housing astronauts will need to be highly reliable and self-sufficient; the opportunity for resupply of consumables diminishes the farther from home you go. The fourth topic area of this solicitation seeks novel technologies that will help close the atmosphere revitalization loop aboard spaceships and surface habitats during long duration space missions. New technologies must have the potential to significantly increase the oxygen recovery rate beyond the current state of the art.
Under a final topic area, NASA is seeking proposals for new technologies to better understand and protect our planet from near-Earth asteroids. Early stage technologies that will help with characterizing, understanding, and planning how to mitigate the threat of near-Earth asteroids are of great interest. These efforts are important for the sustainability and future of our home planet.
NASA expects to make approximately 10 awards this fall, based on the merit of proposals received. Each award will be made for one year with an additional year of research possible. The typical annual award value is expected to be approximately $250,000. Second-year funding will be contingent on the availability of appropriated funds and technical progress. Only accredited U.S. universities may submit proposals to this solicitation. Notices of intent are due by April 29, 2013, with proposals due May 21, 2013.
To view the Early Stage Innovation NASA Research Announcement and information for submitting proposals, visit http://go.usa.gov/25De.
The solicitation is a part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in NASA's future missions. For more information about NASA's investment in space technology, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech.
Questions about this opportunity should be emailed to Claudia Meyer at claudia.m.meyer@nasa.gov.
NASA Seeks Academic Partners for SmallSat Technology Collaboration
Audience: U.S. Colleges and Universities
Proposal Deadline: June 5, 2013
NASA is seeking small spacecraft technology project proposals from U.S. colleges and universities that would like to collaborate with agency researchers.
Small spacecraft, or smallsats, represent a growing field of space research and operations in which universities often have led the way in technology development. Smallsats, some of which are as small as a four-inch cube, are not expected to replace conventional spacecraft, but sometimes can provide an alternative to larger, more costly spacecraft. Smallsats can serve as platforms for rapid technology testing or specialized scientific research and exploration not otherwise possible. Smallsats also can be developed relatively quickly and inexpensively, and can share a ride to orbit with larger spacecraft.
NASA expects to competitively select approximately 10 proposals. Each team will form proposal partnerships with researchers from any of NASA's field centers. Awards for each project will include as much as $100,000 ($150,000 for teams of more than one school). Proposals submitted in response to this NASA cooperative agreement notice are due June 5, 2013.
In addition, NASA will fund the time for NASA employees to work with each selected team. Project funding is for one year with the potential to continue for a second year. Proposed projects could include anything from laboratory work to advance a particular spacecraft technology to flight testing of a new smallsat. For example, projects might focus on a technology area such as propulsion, power or communications, or on a smallsat capability, such as formation flight or satellite rendezvous.
Details of the opportunity and instructions for submitting proposals are provided in a Cooperative Agreement Notice that is available online at http://tinyurl.com/cb3mqdw.
For additional information on the Small Spacecraft Technology Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/smallsats.
The Small Spacecraft Technology Program is part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in NASA's future missions. For more information about NASA's investment in space technology, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech.
Questions about this opportunity should be directed to Rachel Khattab at rachel.khattab@nasa.gov.
50 Years of Solar System Exploration: New Worlds, New Discoveries
Through the decades of planetary explorations, a wide variety of spacecraft (orbiters, landers, rovers and more) have revealed an amazing diversity of worlds, each with its own story to tell. Join James L. Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters, as he guides attendees through the 50-year voyage of discovery.
The lecture will take place on June 13, 2013, at 8 p.m. Come early to see a free film and to meet the lecturer.
For more information, visit http://airandspace.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=4980.
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