NASA awards $3 million in fellowships to support research at HSIs and MSIs

POSTED ON Jul 22, 2020

Several Hispanic-serving institutions are among a select group of universities that were awarded 17 fellowships this week.

According to the announcement, the awards made through the Minority University Research and Education Project begin this year, and total more than $3 million to support innovative graduate student research.

Research projects include the dynamics of Mars’ atmosphere, satellite communications, solar technologies, and other areas that have the potential to contribute to returning America to the Moon through the Artemis program.

The Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) is administered through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement.

MUREP provides financial assistance via awards to academic institutions, including Hispanic Serving Institutions, American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities, Native American-Serving Non tribal Institutions and others that recruit and retain under-served students, including women and girls, and persons with disabilities, into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Recipient institutions of MUREP-funded fellowships are:

New Mexico State University, in Las Cruces
University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque
University of California, Davis
Texas Tech University, in Lubbock
University of Central Florida, in Orlando (two awards)
Florida International University, in Miami (three awards)
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
San Diego State University, in California
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of California, Irvine (three awards)
University of California, Santa Barbara

An additional five fellowships were also made to other universities through mission directorate project funds.

The center-funded fellowships were provided by NASA’s Aeronautics Research, Science, Human Exploration and Operations, and Space Technology Mission Directorates.

The awards went to:

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (two awards)

University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York

Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee.