NASA Postdoc Program
About the NASA Postdoctoral Program, Support Contractors, Key NASA Personnel
Application link for prospective fellows https://npp.orau.org/
For about 20 years, the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. has collaborated with 1) other Directorates, that is the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate and Research and Technology Mission Directorate; 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). During the 1970s through the early 2000s prior to NPP’s launch, NASA funded and hosted Fellows via the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP).
Between September 2023 and March 2024, SMD funded an Independent Study Team (IST) that conducted a NPP Prospective Review (NP3R). The IST’s report called A Descriptive Analysis of the Science Mission Directorate’s NASA Postdoctoral Program Investments: A Prospective Review Report does not necessarily represent the views of NASA nor SMD. In August 2026, SMD added the IST’s report to the Library (and useful links) page here.
On September 30, 2025, NASA issued a NASA Postdoctoral Program-3 Sources Sought Notice ID NNH26R95499 on SAM.gov.
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, including an authorization to operate; 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 Plan (NSP). Like the NPP contract, NSPs periodically are refreshed.
NASA’s FY 2026 Annual Performance Plan and Evaluation Plan (APPEP) at https://www.nasa.gov/ocfo/performance-report/ describes the Agency’s current Performance Goals, including the underlying milestone targets, consistent with the FY 2025 Operating Plan and FY 2026 President’s Budget Request. As noted on page 2 of the APPEP, “NASA will develop a new mission statement and make more significant changes to its performance framework as part of the forthcoming 2026 NASA Strategic Plan.” NASA’s FY 2027 Volume of Integrated Performance (VIPer) describes the Performance Goals, including the underlying milestone targets, consistent with the FY 2027 President’s Budget Request.
NPP adapts to support NASA’s newest and forthcoming performance goals and milestones and aligns to current Executive Orders (EO) and other Presidential actions. Examples of NPP relevant Executive Order 14303, Restoring Gold Standard Science and the National Space Policy.
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 three-month transition period with the prior contractor (USRA), i.e., NPP-1, ended in 2022. USRA no longer supports current and prospective NPP 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
- Program Manager: erica.j.alston@nasa.gov
- COR for NPP-2: laura.lorenzoni@nasa.gov
- CO for NPP-2: keisha.s.willingham@nasa.gov
Other Key NASA Points of Contact
Listed Alphabetically by Name of the Center, Host Site, Funding Program, or Mission Directorate
Centers, Host Sites#, Funding | Representative Name | Affiliate (if any) |
Ames Research Center (ARC) | ||
Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) | Vacant | |
Astrobiology Program^ | Becky McCauley Rench | |
Glenn Research Center (GRC) | Vacant | |
Goddard Space Flight Center (includes the Goddard Institute for Space Studies) (GSFC) | ||
| Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate (HSMD)^ (Combined the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and Space Operations Mission Directorate) | Zudayyah Taylor | |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)# | ||
Johnson Space Center (JSC) | Devin Schrader | Eve Berger |
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) | ||
Langley Research Center (LaRC) | Tracy May | |
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) | ||
| Research and Technology Mission Directorate^ (Combined the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and Space Technology Mission Directorate) | April Lanotte Robert Yang | |
Science Mission Directorate @HQ (SMD)^ | ||
Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI)^ | ||
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.
Please send any questions or comments about this page to hq-npp@mail.nasa.gov.
