The CRESST II Graduate Student Interaction Day is an annual event that brings together NASA scientists and graduate students to discuss opportunities to collaborate. Under normal conditions, the event would be held at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and include presentations about current NASA research projects and a poster session to allow students and scientists to talk one-on-one about specific research opportunities. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has made an in-person event no longer feasible, CRESST II has collaborated with NASA scientists to organize several research opportunities available to highly-talented and skilled graduate students looking to gain research experience or contribute to their thesis/dissertation research.
Available opportunities span a variety of research areas and are described in more detail below. Each opportunity description includes the NASA scientist who will serve as the mentor, the sponsor’s areas of expertise, details about the work the graduate student would be performing, skills required for the position, and the general timeframe when a graduate student could start. Preliminarily, work may start virtually but could transition to more onsite work at NASA/GSFC based on each mentors needs and the status of the GSFC campus. Funding is available for most of the opportunities and will be discussed during the offer process.
Currently Available Opportunities:
High Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy – Tim Livengood
X-ray Observations of Accreting Neutron Stars – Peter Bult
High-energy Astrophysical Processes in the Crab Nebula – Elizabeth Hays
Gamma-ray Astrophysics and/or Cubesats – Jeremy Perkins
Analysis of X-ray and Gamma-ray Binaries – Robin Corbet
X-ray Studies of Normal Galaxies – Ann Hornschemeier
Cosmology and Submillimeter Astrophysics – Alan Kogut
Application Details: If you are interested in applying to any of the opportunities listed below, complete and submit the official application form along with the following documents: curriculum vitae, essay, college transcript, and the contact information for two references.
Applications should be sent via email to the CRESST II Program Associate, Katherine McKee (katherine.s.mckee@nasa.gov), and are due by May 15th. After May 15th, mentors will review all applications and then contact a shortlist of candidates to discuss the opportunity in more detail. Offers will be made on a rolling basis at the mentors discretion. Any questions should be directed to the CRESST II Program Associate.
Deadline: The Deadline to apply for the program is May 31, 2020
For more information regarding this opportunity, as well as detailed descriptions of the opportunities, please visit the posting’s webpage.