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Sagan Fellowship Guidelines

Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Guidelines

Applications for the 2013 Sagan Fellowships are due Nov. 1, 2012 at 4 pm PDT.

Oct. 28 Update Due to likely power disruptions associated with Hurricane Sandy, the deadline has been extended to Monday, Nov. 5 at 4 pm PST. In the event of very extended power outages or other problems, people unable to meet the November 5 deadline should submit their applications as soon as possible along with a statement documenting that a power outage or equivalent delayed them beyond Nov 5. Note that this deadline extension also applies to the Hubble and Einstein fellowship programs..



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Frequently Asked Questions for Applicants

Frequently Asked Questions for Awardees

Table of Contents

A. Postdoctoral Fellowships

A1. Eligibility

A2. Application Process

A3. Host Institution

A4. Selection Process

A5. Contracts and Budgets

A6. Early Termination of Tenure

A7. Change of Host Institution

A8. Performance Review for Continued Funding

B. Provisions Applicable to Awards

B1. Acknowledgement of Funding

B2. Employment during Tenure

B3. Annual Reports


The Sagan Fellowship Program aims to advance the scientific and technical goals of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program, namely the discovery and characterization of planetary systems and Earth-like planets around nearby stars, while at the same time broadening the research community that is actively involved in developing and applying these research techniques and technologies. The Sagan Fellowship is an annual series of fellowship awards to promising young researchers of any nationality who have earned their doctoral degrees in astronomy, physics, or related disciplines. The fellowships are tenable at U.S. host institutions of the fellows' choice, subject to a maximum of one new fellow per host institution per year. The duration of the fellowship is up to three years: an initial one-year appointment and two annual renewals contingent on satisfactory performance and availability of NASA funds.

The proposed research may be theoretical, observational, or instrumental. Proposals should directly relate to the discovery and characterization of planetary systems and Earth-like planets around nearby stars. Proposals relevant to the science or technology development of Exoplanet Exploration projects, both experimental and theoretical, will also be considered. Proposals not directly relevant to the goals of the Exoplanet Exploration program will be deemed non-responsive to this call, and will not be considered.

The program further sponsors a series of activities intended to increase and facilitate open exchange of information and ideas in the field through personal contacts of students, postdoctoral researchers, young faculty members and established researchers.

The Sagan Fellowship Program is administered for NASA and the Exoplanet Exploration Program by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Sagan Program Scientist is Dr. Dawn Gelino.

A. Postdoctoral Fellowships

The purpose of this fellowship is to enable recent PhD recipients to pursue independent research related to the discovery and characterization of planetary systems and Earth-like planets around nearby stars.

A1. Eligibility

Eligible applicants are those who have received a PhD in astronomy, space physics, or related disciplines within the last 3 years. Also eligible are current PhD students who will have fulfilled all requirements to receive a PhD before the start of the funding period, typically the beginning of September. The applicant must propose to conduct research at a university or research institution in the United States with an established program in the field of the proposed research. An established program shall be defined as at least one faculty member who is engaged in the proposed field through dedicated facilities or instruments, collaborations with existing projects or projects under development, or a record of significant contributions to the field. The intent of this requirement is to guarantee the student a rich and stimulating environment rather than restricting the field of eligible institutions. Eligible applications must include a letter of endorsement from the proposed institution.

A2. Application Process

To be considered for a Sagan fellowship, the applicant must submit an electronic version of their proposal to the Sagan Program Scientist before the application deadline. The applicant must also have electronic versions of three letters of reference and an institutional letter of endorsement submitted on their behalf to the Sagan Program Scientist before the application deadline.

The applicant’s proposal shall consist of:

The project description should detail how this research will relate to existing efforts at the proposed host institution(s). All pages must be either letter size (8.5 by 11 inch) or European A4 and have 1 inch margins and 12 point font size. All figures, tables and references must be included in the research summary and/or the project description pages. Material in excess of the page limits will not be considered for the selection process. The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory shall retain the right to publish the information on the application submission page (first bullet above) for funded proposals in electronic format and hardcopy within the context of promoting the fellowship program only.

No application shall be accepted without the timely receipt of an electronic submission through the designated application submission website.

The applicant must also arrange for three letters of reference and one letter of endorsement from each proposed host U.S. institution to be submitted electronically by the application deadline. The letters must not exceed 2 pages each.

All reference and endorsement letters must be received via the electronic submission website by the application deadline. PDF documents are required.

A3. Host Institution(s) and Endorsement Letters

In order to avoid a concentration of Fellows at any one institution, only one Fellow from each annual competition will be approved for any single institution. For this reason, applicants may propose up to two prospective Host Institutions, in order of preference. As part of the application procedure an endorsement letter from each proposed Host Institution is required.

Designating first and second-choice institutions provides the program with flexibility should there be more than one highly ranked application at any single institution. Barring this circumstance, it is expected that winners will use their Fellowships at their first-choice institutions.

The institutional endorsement letter(s) are necessary to ensure that adequate facilities will be provided for the Sagan Fellow. This endorsement letter should come from an authorizing official (typically the department chairperson) of each proposed host institution. The letter should state that the faculty member supports the proposed research, that the host institution will welcome the successful fellow and will provide support as required to complete the proposed research including access to required facilities. The letter may also give an assessment of the likelihood for success of the applicant in respect to the proposed research project. A example endorsement letter is:

Sagan Fellowship Program Office:

I am writing in regard to [applicant's name]'s application for a Sagan Fellowship. We have reviewed his/her research proposal entitled "[program title]" and are pleased to endorse it and to inform you that we will welcome him/her here and offer him/her support and facilities should a Fellowship be offered. Dr. [science contact's name] has agreed to serve as his/her Science Contact.

Sincerely yours,
Chairperson

All reference and endorsement letters must be received via the electronic submission website by the application deadline. PDF documents are required.

A4. Selection Process

The selection of the fellowship recipients will be made by the selecting official of the fellowship program (the NExScI Executive Director) based on the recommendation of an independent review panel. The review panel shall consist of at least five members where not more than one member shall be affiliated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or the California Institute of Technology. The Sagan Program Scientist shall convene and facilitate the meeting of the review panel but will not vote on the recommendation of the review panel.

A5. Contracts and Budgets

Following the selection, the California Institute of Technology shall write a subcontract with the host institution to support the successful applicant for the duration of the fellowship. The fellowship will cover initially one year of postdoctoral research with two additional years of funding contingent on satisfactory performance and availability of NASA funds. The guidelines here are intended to be functionally similar to those presented for the Hubble and Einstein Fellowships. The annual (12-month) stipend for the 2013-2014 academic year will be $65,500 for new Fellows.

A health-insurance program must be provided by the Host Institution for the Fellow or purchased separately, and may be provided for the Fellow's dependents, if any. Funds for this purpose should be requested in the submitted budget, up to the stated limits. Although Sagan Fellows receive stipends (rather than salaries), the Host Institution may apply its applicable negotiated Fringe Benefit rate to the stipend up to a limit of $18.000 per year, in order to fund the health insurance. Note, however, that the institution's Indirect Cost Rate may not be applied to either the Fellowship stipend or the Fringe Benefits. If the health insurance is not provided through the applicable Fringe Benefits rate, it may be purchased separately by the Institution or Fellow, up to a limit of $18,000 per year. Fringe Benefits must be in accordance with the Standard Policies and Practices related to handling postdocs at the Host Institution. For first-year Fellows, relocation costs must be in accordance with the Standard Policies and Practices of the Host Institution and should not exceed $7,500.

Further, the fellowship shall include an annual research budget not to exceed $16,000 per year to cover research related expenses such as but not limited to travel, page charges, small equipment, and computers. The research budget may be phased to cover the purchase of more expensive equipment at the beginning of the funding period as long as the total of the expenses does not exceed the sum of the annual allocations. With the approval of the Sagan Program Scientist personal computer and equipment that is considered to have reached the end of its useful lifetime at the end of the fellowship will not need to be returned to the funding agency. In general, equipment purchased in the last year of the fellowship will need to be returned.

It is expected that Fellows will devote their full-time effort to their research programs. No additional stipend, salary, or other remuneration may be accepted from another appointment, fellowship, or similar grant/contract during the period of the Fellowship.

A6. Early Termination of Tenure

Should the selected fellow leave the host institution and/or postdoctoral position prior to the end of the funding period, the fellowship funding shall end with that termination date. It is the responsibility of the host institution to notify NExScI and Caltech of the early termination of fellowship tenure, and arrange for the termination of the fellowship contract.

A7. Change of Host Institution

As the interaction of the fellow with the faculty member at the host institution is an integral part of the proposal evaluation, the fellowship shall not be transferable to another institution or faculty advisor except under extraordinary circumstances such as transfer, illness, or death of the faculty advisor. An exception shall be where more than one institution is named on the initial proposal. Should the fellow request to move to one of the other institutions named on the proposal this move should be approved with the concurrence of the initial faculty contact. If the new institution fulfills the selection requirements, with the approval of the Sagan Program Scientist, the California Institute of Technology shall write a new contract for the remaining funding period with the new host institution.

A8. Performance Review for Continued Funding

Two months before the end of the initial first year and second year funding periods, the fellow shall submit a report on the work accomplished to this point including a list of publications related to the research conducted. If the fellow requests continuing funding for one additional year at the end of the first two years, this request needs to be endorsed by the faculty contact at the host institution. Upon review of the report and the request for continued funding, the Sagan Program Scientist shall make a decision whether to grant the continuation no later than three months before the end of the initial two-year period. Continued funding shall only be denied if the success of the proposed research appears to be in serious jeopardy and no equivalently valuable alternative results have been achieved or are likely to be completed or if no report is submitted in time.

B. Provisions Applicable to Awards

B1. Acknowledgement of Funding

All publications that report on research results funded in part or completely under this fellowship program shall include the following acknowledgement: “This work was performed [in part] under contract with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) funded by NASA through the Sagan Fellowship Program executed by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute.

B2. Employment during Tenure

A fellow may not receive funds from another major fellowship, scholarship, assistantship, or similar award. However, fellows are permitted to solicit and accept support from any appropriate source for research expenses connected with their fellowship activities. The program is not concerned with gifts or loans of any kind that a fellow may receive.

During the tenure of the fellowship (except for scheduled short vacation periods) fellows are expected to devote full time to the advancement of their research project. Employment at an on- or off-campus site that does not jeopardize a fellow's full-time commitment to the research project and is consistent with policies of the host institution is usually permitted. However, before a fellow engages in such work, permission of the Sagan Program Scientist must be obtained. Requests for approval of employment during tenure are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Such requests should include the following information: nature of employment, relation to degree program or research project, number of hours per week or month, permission from the faculty contact or representative of the host institution.

B3. Annual Reports

Every fellow must provide a brief report once per year, and a final report at the end of the third year, on the accomplishments and experience during the previous year. This report will be requested by the Sagan Program Scientist and must be sent within 30 days of the request. All fellows are invited to send captioned photographs and information on noteworthy events or accomplishments at any time to the Program Scientist. The Program Scientist will make such material available to the public at her discretion. Also, comments and suggestions regarding the administration of the program are always welcome.

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