New York NASA Space Grant Consortium

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Undergraduate Opportunities

NASA International Year of Astronomy Student Ambassadors Program

NASA International Year of Astronomy (IYA) Student Ambassadors Program is intended to encourage student participation in NASA’s IYA activities and to help generate excitement about NASA's scientific discoveries in astrophysics, planetary science and solar physics. Student ambassadors will serve as role models to others in their communities.

Quick facts:

52 students, one from each Space Grant consortium, will be selected.
Up to $2,700 will be awarded to each ambassador for a one-year period ($2,000 stipend and $700 for reimbursement of materials, supplies, and travel expenses).
Two NASA IYA Ambassadors will be selected to participate in the IYA Opening Ceremony in Paris, France in January 2009. Each will receive a $5,000 travel allowance. Only undergraduate students are eligible for this component.

For more details and the online application, see the prorgram website:
http://www.spacegrant.org/niya/
Application deadline is September 29, 2008
[Click for a preview of application form in PDF format]

Program is administered by the National Space Grant Foundation. For more information on IYA, see http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/ and http://www.astronomy2009.us/.

The New York Space Grant Program supports undergraduate research opportunities in space-related fields with various programs. Each year, undergraduates have the opportunity to participate in research during the summer and/or throughout the year in on-going projects sponsored by NASA. Summer internships and programs are offered at Cornell and other institutions including Barnard College, Clarkson University, Colgate University, Columbia University, and Syracuse University.

Under the guidance of leading experts in their fields, undergraduates conduct research in a variety of science and engineering disciplines. The following programs are accepting applications for summer 2008 opportunities (click links below to view more detailed information):

Opportunities funded by the New York Space Grant Consortium

Summer internships at NASA centers
NASA-ESMD summer internships
NASA Academies
NASA/New York Space Grant Undergraduate Summer Research Program at Cornell University

Other undergraduate research opportunities (links will open in new window)

Summer 2008 Internships: International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight [funded by ISPCS]
Summer internships at the National Center for Atmospheric Research [funded by Univ Corp for Atmospheric Research]
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) summer program [funded by STScI -- open to US & other students]
NASA Ames Education Associates Program [funded by NASA]
LPI Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science [funded by NASA]
NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program (NASA-USRP) [funded by NASA]
Lewis' Educational and Research Collaborative Internship Program (LERCIP) [funded by NASA GRC and Ohio Aerospace Inst.]
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Cornell University [funded by the National Science Foundation]
search for undergrad summer research opportunities across the U.S. [funded by various organizations]

Other opportunities for undergraduate students (links will open in new window)

Summer internships at NASA centers

The New York Space Grant Consortium will provide $5,000 stipends and $1,000 travel/relocation allowances for 10-week undergraduate student internships at the following NASA centers:

NASA Center	Program Dates	Fields of Study	Additional Eligibility
Jet Propulsion Lab Pasadena, CA	Jun 18 - Aug 22	Engineering, Science Abstracts of summer 2007 interns' research Summer 2008 internship opportunities	º Rising juniors, seniors, or entering first-year graduate students º GPA of 3.0 or better
Kennedy Cape Canaveral, FL	TBA (usually Jun - Aug)	Engineering	º Rising sophomores, juniors, seniors, or entering first-year graduate students
Langley Hampton, VA	Jun 2 - Aug 8	Engineering, Science (see LARSS web page for more details)	º Rising juniors, seniors, or entering first-year graduate students º GPA of 3.0 or better
Marshall Huntsville, AL	Jun 2 - Aug 8 (tentative)	Engineering, Science (including Earth Science)	º Rising sophomores, juniors, seniors, or entering first-year graduate students

Eligibility:
To receive NY Space Grant funding, full-time student must (1) be a United States citizen, and (2) be a New York state resident or attend a New York college/university. Additional eligibility details for each center's internship opportunity are listed in the table above.

Application:
In order to receive funding, students must apply directly to the NY Space Grant using the application linked below. Students will be chosen on a competitive basis for forwarding to the NASA centers' internship/program directors for further selection and placement.

NOTE: For Langley, students should apply directly to the LARSS program using their on-line application process. However, in order to be considered for the NY Space Grant funding, you must also complete and submit the NYSG application form below.

>>Download the NYSG's NASA internship application form (PDF file) [click here to download Adobe Reader software]

Deadlines and Notification:
January 28, 2008 is the deadline for receipt of all applications and supporting materials in the NY Space Grant office.
Students chosen for forwarding to NASA centers will be notified in mid-February.

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NASA-ESMD Summer Internships

Funding from the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) allows the New York Space Grant Consortium to provide $5,000 stipends and $1,000 travel/relocation allowances for 10-week summer internships at various NASA centers. Students will engage in projects that specifically address the ESMD goal of creating new capabilities and technologies for human and robotic space exploration. Design, engineering, and research opportunities are available in the following areas: spacecraft, propulsion, lunar and planetary surface systems, and ground operations.

The ESMD internship opportunities are listed on this page: NASA-ESMD Space Grant Internships
Be sure to check the timeframe of the opportunities, as New York Space Grant support is for summer 2008 internships only.

Eligibility:
To receive NY Space Grant funding, full-time student must (1) be a United States citizen, and (2) be a New York state resident or attend a New York college/university. Additional eligibility requirements are listed in Section 5 of the ESMD Student Information Packet (PDF file).

Application:
Apply on-line following these instructions:

>>ESMD Internship Information Page

Deadlines and Notification:
January 28, 2008 is the direct application deadline.
Students chosen for this program will be notified in March 2008.

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NASA Academies

The New York Space Grant Consortium will provide $5,000 stipends and $1,000 travel/relocation allowances for up to 2 students selected to attend the prestigious NASA Academy during summer 2008. NASA Academy is a unique educational, training, and research experience for undergraduate and graduate students to hone their technical and leadership skills in aerospace. Besides conducting individual research and group projects, Academy students attend seminars and travel to various site visits.

For more information, see the NASA Academy program overview web page. Further information is available on each Academy's home page:

NASA Ames Academy - Moffett Field, CA
NASA Glenn Academy - Cleveland, OH
NASA Goddard Academy - Greenbelt, MD
NASA Marshall Academy - Huntsville, AL

Eligibility:
To receive NY Space Grant funding, full-time student must (1) be a United States citizen, and (2) be a New York state resident or attend a New York college/university, and (3) be a rising junior or senior undergraduate, or first-year graduate student.

Application:
Apply directly to the NASA Academy using the following link:

>>NASA Office of Education: Combined Intern Application

Deadlines and Notification:
January 15, 2008 is the direct application deadline.
Students chosen for this program will be notified in early March 2008.

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NASA/New York Space Grant Undergraduate Summer Research Program at Cornell University

The New York Space Grant Consortium will provide $5,000 stipends for undergraduate students to conduct science and engineering research for 10 weeks in the summer. World-class Cornell professors and researchers will mentor students in the following project areas:
[Project descriptions are PDF files -- click here to download Adobe Reader software]

Joseph Burns (Astronomy): "Images and Analysis of Saturn's Rings"
Mark Campbell (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering): "Robotic Systems for Planetary Exploration"
James Lloyd (Astronomy): "Planets Orbiting the Smallest Stars"
Matthew Pritchard (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences): "Measuring Ground Deformation from Space..."
Saul Teukolsky (Physics and Astronomy): "Computer Visualization of Black Holes from Supercomputer Simulations"
Charles Williamson (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering): Fluid Dynamics Research Projects

Eligibility:
To receive Space Grant funding, full-time undergraduate student must (1) be a United States citizen, and (2) be a New York state resident or attend a New York college/university, and (3) be a rising junior or senior undergraduate (outstanding rising sophomores may be considered).

Application:

>>Download the Cornell summer research application form (PDF file) [click here to download Adobe Reader software]

Deadlines and Notification:
February 13, 2008 is the deadline for receipt of all applications and supporting materials in the NY Space Grant office.
Students chosen for this program will be notified in March 2008.

Last updated: September 2008