NASA Internships and Fellowships for students
Students (high school to graduate level) interested in working at NASA Ames can explore the different internship and fellowship opportunities and apply to different NASA programs (and also centers) with only one application at intern.nasa.gov.
Resources for students and postdocs
The “Learn Science” webpage contains a selection of opportunities for students (high school to graduate level), post-doctoral fellows, early career researchers, and their mentors. The list includes summer programs and scholarships for undergraduates and graduate students, post-doctoral fellowships, special programs for early career researchers, faculty members, and senior scientists. Some of these programs occur only at NASA centers, but others support students or scientists at universities. Some are funded through NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, but many are sponsored either by other directorates within NASA, the NASA Office of Education, or non-NASA organizations. Programs that cater to more than one group are listed in both relevant sections.
NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Space Science and Astrobiology Division has a long and successful history of stewarding promising young scientists through their post-doctoral experience. A post-doctoral fellowship at NASA Ames provides not only a creative and stimulating research environment but also the opportunity to interact with ongoing and future missions, and to interface with the diverse scientific and technological expertise at Ames. The high standing of Ames scientists in their fields has allowed them to serve as valuable mentors and to provide contacts leading Fellows to productive careers as next-generation leaders in Space and Earth science disciplines, both within NASA and in the academic community.
The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) supports NASA’s goal to expand scientific understanding of the Earth, the Solar System, and the universe in which we live. Selected by a competitive peer-review process, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellows complete one- to three-year Fellowship appointments that advance NASA’s missions in many fields of research.
The NPP fellowship (and the National Research Council (NRC) fellowship before that) offers an opportunity for NASA to lure in the “best of the best.” This is exemplified by the myriad past graduates from these post-doctoral programs at Ames who have since become NASA civil servant space scientists, both at NASA Ames and at other Centers. Such Ames alumni include Chris McKay, Louis Allamandola, Scott Sandford, Farid Salama, Jeff Cuzzi, Dave Des Marais, Robert Haberle, Kevin Zahnle, Tom Greene, Tony Colaprete, Jeff Hollingsworth, Andy Mattioda, Melinda Kahre, Ella Sciamma-O’Brien, Naseem Rangwala, Amanda Brecht, and many more.
In addition, past Ames postdocs have become eminent academic community leaders in institutions such as USRA, Stanford, Penn State, Carnegie, Univ. Colorado, Cornell, Princeton and UCSC, to name a few. Several past Ames postdocs have also been awarded prestigious awards. Our connections with nearby universities (Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, San Jose State, and Santa Clara University) will continue to provide an important additional benefit to Ames NPP Fellows.
The Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames will continue its tradition of using the Fellowships as an important educational experience and a training ground to provide future leaders for NASA and the academic community.
NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP)
The NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) supports promising postdoctoral scientists to pursue independent research which contributes to NASA Astrophysics, using theory, observation, experimentation, or instrument development.
Once selected, fellows are assigned to one of three sub-categories corresponding to NASA’s “big questions”:
How Does the Universe Work? – Einstein Fellows
How Did We Get Here? – Hubble Fellows
Are We Alone? – Sagan Fellows
More information can be found here.
Jobs
- Careers at NASA (civil service)
- Ames Contractor Council (list of contract companies who hire people to work at Ames – NOT a government website)
- Astronaut selection
Quick Links to Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships at NASA
- NASA Postdoctoral Program
- NASA Internships
- NASA Fellowships and Scholarships
- Pathways Intern Program (for US citizens — pipeline to civil servant position)
- NASA International Internship Project for students
- Information for non-U.S. citizen students