Coordinated Organic Geo- and Cosmochemical studies of Planetary Materials

Organization
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Reference Code
0020-NPP-JUL25-JSC-PlanetSci
How to Apply

All applications must be submitted in Zintellect

Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program (orau.org)

A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:

Research proposal

Three letters of recommendation

Official doctoral transcript documents

Application Deadline
7/1/2025 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

About the NASA Postdoctoral Program

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

Description:

The emergence of life on Earth (and elsewhere) relied heavily on the inventory of available organics and the environs in which they were found.  This research opportunity focuses on the relationships between organic materials and their mineralogical hosts; bridging the gap between observed organics and the processes that affected them. The relationship between organic molecules and mineral hosts informs the formation and evolution of amino acids and peptides on asteroidal, cometary, and planetary bodies, as well as the emergence of homochirality on Earth. 

Coordinated analyses are performed on extraterrestrial samples, terrestrial analogs, and experimental products using the wide array of instrumentation available in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division at JSC, including liquid and gas chromatography mass spectrometers, scanning electron microscopes, and transmission electron microscopes. General chemistry, experimental impact, and petrology laboratories are used to simulate processes affecting organic molecules.         

By exploring the relationship between organic components of astromaterials and their mineralogical hosts and environments, we can place more robust constraints on the histories of our samples. 

Field of Science: Planetary Science
Advisors:

Eve Berger
eve.l.berger@nasa.gov
(281) 244-6723

 

Eligibility is currently open to: 

• U.S. Citizens; 

• U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);  

• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and, 

• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status 

Questions about this opportunity? Please email npp@orau.org

Point of Contact
Mikeala
Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Doctoral Degree.

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