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NASA Postdoc Program

About the NASA Postdoctoral Program, Support Contractors, Key NASA Personnel

Application link for prospective fellows https://npp.orau.org/

For more than 17 years, the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters has collaborated with 1) other Mission Directorates (Aeronautics, Space Technology, etc.); 2) Headquarters’ Offices; 3) NASA Centers; 4) the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); and 5) beyond-NASA, non-federal organizations, to monitor contractors, i.e., Universities Space Research Association (USRA) or Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), who support the day-to-day operations for the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP).

NASA periodically competes NPP support, and the most recent Request for Proposals, Source Selection Statement, etc., for solicitation number: 80HQTR20R0013 entitled “Final RFP NASA Postdoctoral Program-2 (NPP-2)” may be downloaded from SAM.gov. The NPP contract provides: 1) Materials, facilities, supplies, administrative support, programmatic support, and expertise necessary to promote and administer the NASA Postdoctoral Research Program (NPRP) and the NASA Postdoctoral Management Program (NPMP); 2) Foreign National employment expertise; 3) Online Web services creation, improvement, and design; 4) Development and maintenance of online applications; 5) In depth participant tracking and accounting; and 6) Administration of an efficient, professional, and fair selection process.

As stated in the NPP-2’s Statement of Work, one goal of the NPP is to “identify and continue the career development of promising STEM researchers in disciplines of interest to NASA, so that a pool of highly skilled professionals is available to fill the future workforce needs of NASA government, industry, academia, and related not-for-profit institutions.” As a long-running public program, NPP also supports or reflects the focus of the NASA’s Strategic Plans (NSP). Like the NPP contract, NSPs periodically are refreshed. NASA released a 2022 Strategic Plan in March 2022 that aligns agency priorities and activities, including NPP, around these four themes:

  1. DISCOVER references NASA’s enduring purpose of scientific discovery.
  2. EXPLORE references NASA’s push to expand the boundaries of human presence in space.
  3. INNOVATE references NASA’s broad mandate to promote the technologies of tomorrow.
  4. ADVANCE references the capabilities, workforce, and facilities that allow NASA to achieve our Mission.

While NASA announced the selection of a new, i.e., NPP-2 contractor, the correct effective date for the new contract with ORAU is January 30, 2022. A transition period with the prior contractor (USRA), i.e., NPP-1, has ended. USRA no longer supports current and prospective Fellows. Please visit the NPP-2 website hosted by ORAU for details about program eligibility, future application deadlines, etc.

Emails for Key NASA Personnel NPP-2

Other Key NASA Points of Contact
Listed Alphabetically by Name of the Center, Host Site, Funding Program, or Mission Directorate

Centers, Host Sites#, Funding
Program or MD^

Representative Name
with Linked Email

Affiliate (if any)

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD)^

Karen Rugg

Ames Research Center (ARC)

Penelope J. Boston

Lawrence Lee

Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)

Vacant

Astrobiology Program^

Becky McCauley Rench

Melissa Kirven-Brooks

Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) ^Bette Siegel

Glenn Research Center (GRC)

Gerald Voltz

Goddard Space Flight Center (includes the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Wallops Flight Facility) (GSFC)

Blanche Meeson

Dale Clarke

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)#

Sophia Hong

Lupe Castaneda and Gloria Nguyen

Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Eve Berger

Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Jose Nunez

Langley Research Center (LaRC)

Tracy May

Allen Larar

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Jennie B. McCall

Elizabeth Blackwell and Marianne Hule

Science Mission Directorate @HQ (SMD)^

Paulette Woods

Mary F. Sladek

Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI)^

Sarah Noble

Kristina Gibbs

Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD)^Zudayyah Taylor

Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)^

Robert Yang

Stennis Space Center (SSC)

Vacant

A NPP Fellow is not an employee of any listed Mission Directorate, Center or other NASA-funder or Host Site. The NPP fellow is affiliated with, but not employed, by the NPP contractor. Affiliation with the NPP contractor enables the Fellow to serve as a research guest at a NASA site or at another site designated by a funding program, e.g. Astrobiology. The contractor provides Fellows, with stipend, health insurance, travel, and professional development opportunities.

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