GESTAR II UMBC GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP 2026-2027
Due Date: 5:00 PM EST, April 15, 2026
GESTAR II is seeking proposals from graduate students at UMBC who plan to collaborate with GESTAR II faculty member(s).
UMBC seeks to strengthen its status as one of the best public research universities of its size, and the Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II (GESTAR II) cooperative agreement contributes to this vision by engaging faculty and students in research critical to understanding the Earth System. To this end, GESTAR II welcomes candidate applications for its UMBC Graduate Student Fellowship from relevant UMBC departments offering graduate degrees. One fellowship for the 2026-2027 Academic Year will be awarded to a qualified, full-time, degree-seeking graduate student in any of the Earth, biological, physical or computer sciences, mathematics or engineering programs, to work on a research project with a GESTAR II faculty member or NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist. The applicants must be enrolled full-time students and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
The fellowship is valued at a maximum of $63,000 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 $33,705 (MS Student)/$37,705 (PhD Candidate). In addition, GESTAR II will fund limited travel to one professional domestic conference pertinent to the student’s field of study and cover up to $2,000 for publication fees.
The GESTAR II fellowship applicant must submit the following to the GESTAR II Special Programs Administrator (dominique.n.footes@nasa.gov), with Subject Line: GESTAR II UMBC Fellowship):
- A one-page statement of interest from the student;
- A research proposal submitted by the student (up to 6 pages including figures, single-spaced, 12-point font) that supports a designated GESTAR II Project, which typically includes:
- Background/introduction
- Objectives
- Data/methodology
- Research activities/plan
- Timeline of the research
- List of references (*NOT included in the 6-page limit);
- A cover letter by the Graduate Program Director or Department Chair about the basic information and academic performance of the student (e.g., how many years into the Ph.D. study, cumulative GPA, whether the student has passed their qualifying exam and/or preliminary proposal defense);
- A recommendation from the GESTAR II or NASA GSFC faculty member who will be mentoring and/or collaborating with the student: The letter should include a paragraph explaining how the GESTAR II or NASA GSFC faculty member plans to engage, mentor, and support the graduate fellow (e.g., bi-weekly group meeting, support student at AMS/AGU conference);
- A recommendation letter from the student’s advisor (if not the same as Item 4 above);
- A list of previous GESTAR II fellowship award(s) and noteworthy achievements; and,
- The student’s transcript(s) (unofficial are fine) and updated CV/Resume’.
A GESTAR II committee will review and score the proposals and select the recipient based on academic performance (10%), strength of recommendation letters and personal statement (30%), and intellectual merit of the research plan (60%). The selection will be announced in late May 2026 and the fellowship will start in Fall 2026.
The recipient of the GESTAR II fellowship is expected to attend the GESTAR II Seminar Series to update research progress, submit a final report of research achievements, including a list of their publications and conference presentations after the completion of the fellowship, will present the highlights of their research achievements at a GESTAR II All-Hands Meeting, and will acknowledge the GESTAR II fellowship in all publications and presentations supported by the fellowship.
Point of Contact: Dominique Footes, Special Programs Administrator, GESTAR II/SURA