Applications are now open on a rolling basis through December 31st, 2026, for the new Presidential Space Exploration Research Fellowships Program. The program will provide up to $450,000 in cost-share funding to support graduate students working on externally funded research projects related to space exploration.
Designed to help propel innovative research across disciplines, the fellowship program supports graduate student researchers and the faculty mentors guiding discoveries that could shape the future of space science and technology.
Award Amounts: Individual awards are expected to be $10,000 per year in stipend support for each graduate student supported. Awards cannot be used for tuition.
Additional Funding Requirement: Each award must be matched by $25,000 per year per student for stipend support in the budget of the PI’s external proposal. Tuition costs must be met by the external sponsor or university.
Project Period: Up to 3 years from the date of award.
Principal Investigators: Must be UC faculty members with at least an 80% FTE appointment. The PI’s primary appointment must be at UC, not at one of UC’s affiliate institutions.
Graduate Students: Must be enrolled and in good academic standing with a GPA of at least 3.6 at UC at the time of award.
Research must be broadly related to space exploration!