In December 2021, GESTAR II partnered with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Earth Science Division to advance Earth science and Goddard’s leadership by providing a competitive environment to hire and retain high-quality scientists who are on track to be leaders at NASA, in academia and in industry. GESTAR II exemplifies the power of mentorship, embracing a career development strategy that only a university research center can provide. In GESTAR II, early-career researchers and students can build outstanding resumes, launching them to become the Earth science leaders of tomorrow.

GESTAR II has a strong commitment to supporting education and outreach, and fostering collaboration between GESTAR II scientists and students at partner universities. The GESTAR-II graduate fellowship is one of the most important components of GESTAR II’s education/outreach program. This webpage provides the basic information about the GESTAR-II graduate fellowship, including eligibility, application requirements, evaluation and selection process. Please note that the GESTAR-II graduate fellowship involves two parties: the host (GESTAR-II scientists) and applicants (graduate students and academic advisor). Please read the following information pertaining to your interest and role.

If you are a GESTAR-II scientist and are interested in mentoring/working with graduate students, you are welcome to

• Post a general research direction or a specific research task
• Work with potential applicants on proposal and provide recommendation letter
• If funded, work with the graduate student and academic advisor on the research
• Write final report with graduate student and academic advisor after the project is finished

If you are a graduate student or academic advisor at GESTAR II’s partner universities, and interested in working with a  GESTAR-II scientist on a funded research project, you should

• Identify a research direction/task that interests you
• Work with the host on proposal and submit the application package
• If funded, work with the host on the research project
• Write final report with the host after the project is finished

• Research proposal (up to 6 pages including figures, single-spaced, 12-point font)
• Recommendation letters
  • A recommendation letter from the student’s advisor.
  • A recommendation letter from the host.
  • A recommendation letter from the director of academics of each GESTAR II’s partner universities
• A CV/Resume to include any previous academic or professional experiences of noteworthy achievements
• The student’s transcripts (unofficial are fine)
• A one-page summary of achievements from previous GESTAR II fellowship, if applicable.

A GESTAR II committee will review and score the proposals, and select the recipient(s) based on

• Intellectual merits of the proposal (40%)
• strength of recommendation letter (40%),
• Student’s academic performance and professional training (20%)

Announcement of the selection(s) will be made in May-June. Fellowship will start in Fall semester and support the research for one academic year (e.g., Aug-July).

The fellowship is valued at a maximum of $45,000 for one year, which includes: in-state tuition for a maximum of ten (10) credits per semester (all other fees are the responsibility of the student), UMBC health insurance benefits and an annual stipend of $29,149 (MS Student)/$31,512 (PhD Candidate).  In addition, UMBC will fund limited travel to one professional conference pertinent to the student’s field of study and cover up to $2000 for publication fees.

The recipient(s) of the JCET fellowship are expected to:

• Attend the GESTAR II Seminar to update research progress
• Submit a final report of research achievements, publications and conference proceedings after the completion of the fellowship and present research achievements at the GESTAR II all-hand meeting,
• Acknowledge GESTAR II fellowship in all publications supported by the fellowship.

• Dominique
• Xiaowen Li
• Zhibo Zhang

ask Amy for more details