Student Internship Funding Opportunity Description For OSGC Member Faculty

Spring 2023 Call for Proposals

Please Click Here for Submission Form

1. Introduction

The Oregon Internship Opportunity Network (OrION) is a database for Oregon-based student internship opportunities submitted by OSGC affiliate members and hosted on location at the affiliate institution. OrION serves as a connection to internship opportunities for students attending OSGC member institutions. Internships are designed to provide students access to experiential learning opportunities, working directly with a faculty mentor on an academic research or educational project in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or STEM education that goes beyond what is taught in the classroom.

As a participant of the NASA National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) in NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM), OSGC is dedicated to building, sustaining, and deploying a skilled, high-performing, and diverse workforce to meet the current and emerging needs of NASA and the nation. A critical point in the student education pathway is access to faculty who are engaged with research and offer education efforts that align with NASA’s workforce needs and OSTEM initiatives.

Traditionally, faculty have engaged students with hands-on research experiences by serving as a Principal Investigator of a NASA research award, providing limited-scope research projects to be conducted by undergraduate or graduate students. Alternatively, students seek NASA center internships to gain valuable experience contributing to a NASA project and working directly with a NASA mentor. However, more recently, due to a number of factors beyond our control including the pandemic, fewer NASA center internships have been awarded to Oregon students.

To expand the opportunities for both faculty and students, OSGC is offering in-state student internships at affiliate member institutions, where students will work with a mentor on research projects that are not required to be part of a NASA research award. This is also an opportunity to broaden the range of disciplines associated with NASA research and has the potential to sustain and increase the involvement of OSGC-affiliated faculty who recruit and educate STEM undergraduates. Such efforts help build student academic work resumes and develop internship-ready OSGC students for a NASA education pathway.

In addition to providing opportunities for students, OrION creates opportunities to engage new faculty at OSGC member institutions. A goal of the network, is to act as a conduit to prepare early-career faculty to leverage the assistance OSGC provides for non-NASA awards into a potential full-scale NASA research award. 

1.1 Internship Opportunity Submissions 

Well-thought-out internship projects and dedicated mentorship are critical to internship success. Internship opportunities should have a STEM or STEM education focus and can be either virtual or in person. Project opportunities are submitted via OrION, and will be reviewed, ranked, and approved by OSGC. If an opportunity is accepted for funding, it will be opened to students from OSGC member institutions for application. Members who are submitting opportunities will review student applications and make selections for student placements. Selections should be competitive and considerate of OSGC’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) efforts.

The OSGC Cooperative Agreement stipulates no human subject work can be conducted under the award. Hence, Human Subject Research is prohibited from inclusion in this or any OSGC program.

1.2 Eligibility
Those submitting internship opportunities must be currently employed by any of the OSGC member institutions. See the membership page on the OSGC website. 

1.3 Availability of Funds and Period of Performance
Oregon Space Grant Consortium’s ability to make awards is contingent upon the availability of awarded funds from the NASA Office of STEM Engagement. Awards are for $7,300 based on a ten week, full time award. All other awards are prorated based on FTE and internship term. 

Student Hour Requirements:  10 Week Internship Half-time: 200 hours

                                                10 Week Internship Full-time: 400 hours

                                                16 Week Internship Half-time: 320 hours

                                                16 Week Internship Full-time: 640 hours

1.4 Student Eligibility and Application Process

·        All students participating in an internship must be U.S. citizens.

·        To be eligible for a full time summer internship students must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours per term in an accredited 2 year college or 4 year university. Students who are enrolled less than the minimum requirement may provide supplemental information in support of their academic pursuits.

·        To be eligible for part-time internships students must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours per term in an accredited 2 year college or 4 year university.

·        Students must maintain good academic standing.

·        Participation of female, students from underserved and underrepresented communities in STEM and STEM education, and persons with disabilities is strongly encouraged. 

Students will submit a general application through the OSGC application system. Mentor's will be able to select students from the student application pool. Students will also have the ability to submit a cover letter for individual internship opportunities and these will be forwarded to the contact info for the PI on the proposal. The PI is responsible for the selection of the student and will inform OSGC of their decision. The PI is responsible for all actions required for student involvement to be compliant with their institution and department policies.

1.5 Dates and Deadlines

OrION submissions will be accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis; however, student awards will be made when NASA internship selections are complete for each session.

2. Internship Opportunity Submission Information

2.1 Content (required information)
Basic information
Principal Investigator contact information, (PI)/Institution and department, internship title, period of performance, number of internships requested, full or part time

Introduction
This section shall concisely describe the content and scope of the project and identify the objective(s), methodology, and intended results.

Academic Majors Sought
A list of academic STEM majors eligible for the position. Enter “Any” if a particular academic major is not required.

Student Selection Process

Describe the selection process for awarding a student internship.

Position Description
This section shall concisely describe the content and scope of the project and identify the objective(s) of the internship. If the internship provides an opportunity for a limited-scope research projects to be conducted by the student, summarize it here.

Position Responsibilities
This section shall describe the hours, roles and responsibilities, daily activities, and tasks the student will perform.

Required and Preferred Qualifications
Please list any required or preferred qualifications. For example, fields of study, driver’s license, student year, skills.

Compliance with NASA Directives

Demonstrate how the research project and activities provide:

See Appendix A. Strategic Framework for NASA and Appendix B. Research Priorities for NASA Mission Directorates in the Affiliate Faculty Research Incubator Program RFP for more information.

2.2 Submission Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by for compliance with this request for proposals. Award decisions are made by the OSGC Director. All sections of the proposal will be individually evaluated. Proposals will not be considered unless all solicitation requirements are met. The review will consider the following:

  1. Required elements are included in proposal (see Proposal Content section, Section 2.1)
  2. Proposal provides the basic resources needed to develop authentic hands-on student experiences in science and engineering disciplines
  3. Experiences are rooted in NASA-related STEM-focused questions and issues
  4. Demonstrates how problem-solving skills will be utilized in the proposed activities
  5. Proposed activities incorporate diversity and inclusion of female, and underserved and underrepresented students in STEM fields
  6. Alignment with NASA Mission Directorates and the agency’s top research priorities
  7. Diversity in fields of opportunity.

2.3 Deliverables if Awarded
Student Data
Students who are receive sponsored internships are longitudinally tracked to evaluate the effectiveness of OSGC’s higher education programs and are expected to present their research/experience at the OSGC Student Symposium. This will include a final report and a poster. OSGC staff will provide guidance to awardees on student data collection.

Progress Reports
The Principal Investigator shall provide a student evaluation report to the OSGC Director at the end of final term of the student internship. 

Articles and Publications
OSGC must be cited as a source of funding in all publications resulting from the work using the phrase “…supported in part through NASA and Oregon Space Grant Consortium, cooperative agreement 80NSSC20M0035”. The PI must contact OSGC should peer-reviewed journal articles or papers from conferences be published as a result of the work, so that publications can be made accessible to the public through NASA's PubSpace at https://www.nihms.nih.gov/db/sub.cgi. PubSpace provides free access to NASA-funded and archived scientific publications. Research papers will be available for download within one year of publication.

2.4 Proposal Submission Instructions
OrION submissions will be submitted via the form linked at the top of this page.

2.5 Inquiries
Inquiries regarding the submission of proposal materials should be addressed to:
Catherine Lanier
Director, Oregon Space Grant Consortium
[email protected]