NASA Graduate Fellowship Opportunity

Technology topic areas are listed in the RFP. Fellowships are awarded as training grants to the institution the student attends. Annual awards may not exceed a $36,000 stipend to the student, a $9,000 allowance to the faculty advisor, a $10,000 on-site NASA Center/R&D lab experience allowance, a $1,000 health insurance allowance, and a $12,000 tuition and fees allowance. Applicants must be citizens or permanent, have a bachelor’s degree prior to the 2013 fall term and be enrolled full-time in a master’s or doctoral program (awards may not be deferred). The application process is completed in two stages: First, the student submits his or her application package through NASA’s on-line NSPIRES system. Following the selection of Fellows, which is expected to occur around April 23, the graduate institutions of the selected Fellows submit a package providing information about the faculty advisor and a detailed training/fellowship budget. Students must submit their applications by December 4, 2012 at 6:00 Eastern Time; the target date for the second phase institutional submission is May 21.

http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument/cmdocumentid=340787/solicitationId=%7B67565659-36F8-8888-A19E-6DC271DA6ED5%7D/viewSolicitationDocument=1/NSTRF13%2010%2010%202012%20release.pdf

Pacific Northwest National Lab: Employment Opportunity

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Program provides unique hands-on experience to prepare exceptional graduate students to become next-generation leaders in global nuclear security. During the 12-month, full-time, salary-plus-benefits terms, Fellows work in policy or technical areas alongside NNSA experts in Washington, D.C. or other NNSA site locations.  Fellows receive specialized training and opportunities for career development and professional networking, while also directly supporting NNSA’s global nuclear security mission in placements that align with their backgrounds and interests.  Fellows with technical backgrounds interact with leading researchers in the field while helping shape the vision for future technologies related to detection of nuclear materials and the security of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. Applicants must be U.S. citizens eligible for a high-level security clearance, who are accepted into, enrolled in, or will be graduating from a master’s or Ph.D. program during the year of application. Desirable academic specializations for the policy track include international relations, security or nonproliferation studies, political science, public administration, and economics.  For the technical track, desirable academic specializations include nuclear science/ engineering, other engineering, radiation health physics, radiochemistry, chemical sciences, and physics. Some positions may also benefit from backgrounds in safety and health, infrastructure and operations management, or finance/accounting.   A combined policy and technical background is highly desirable, and a foreign language is a plus.  Applications typically are accepted beginning in the late summer through mid-fall. Fellowship terms begin the following summer. Visit http://ngp.pnnl.gov  to learn more and apply.    

  
National Science Foundation Awards $600,000 to UTEP Engineering

The University of Texas at El Paso’s College of Engineering, in collaboration with the Graduate School, has received a $600,000 grant to create a program to give outstanding undergraduate engineering and computer science students greater access to doctoral degrees.

The National Science Foundation awarded the grant in June to the college to implement a Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) project. The initiative was expected to increase the number of senior engineering and computer science students — particularly Hispanics — and motivate them to pursue doctoral degrees at UTEP and to do so in a shorter timeframe.

S-STEM students will have more opportunities to be advised and mentored, which will help them to transition into Ph.D. programs. They also will have access to professional development, providing them with tools for a successful career.

The college systematically will track the students’ progress toward degree completion. Students with outstanding grade point averages and co-curricular records can receive their doctoral degrees in 4 years instead of 6, said Benjamin C. Flores, Ph.D., acting dean of the Graduate School and the grant’s principal investigator.

A team of staff, faculty and administrators will develop the project’s goals and provide students and faculty with a set timeline for degree completion.

“The College of Engineering has a great track record in promoting first-generation college student success,” Flores said. “This new scholarship program builds on our record by rewarding outstanding senior engineering and computer students and encouraging them to pursue doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines.”

The project has potential to become a model for broader participation by increasing the number of degrees awarded to Hispanic students in a short period of time, Flores said. It also could give emerging research institutions with significant under-represented minority student populations an approach to resolve issues of recruitment, retention and graduation at the graduate level.

“This grant will help us to recruit outstanding students, who would otherwise consider working for the industry or joining graduate programs at other universities, into our doctoral programs,” said Carlos Ferregut, Ph.D., associate dean of research and graduate studies at UTEP. “The funds will be used to support at least 21 students during the grant period.”