GRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES

UNDERGRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES

ASTROBIOLOGY COURSES

POST-DOCTORAL OPPORTUNITIES

Graduate and undergraduate opportunities are available through our NASA-sponsored program at the University of Rhode Island, as well as through our Co-Investigators’ programs at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC – Chapel Hill) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Graduate Student Opportunities

Prospective graduate students interested in astrobiology at URI should apply to the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO). For an application and further information about graduate education at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), visit http://www.gso.uri.edu or contact:

For further information about graduate opportunities in astrobiology at URI, contact Steven D’Hondt (dhondt@gso.uri.edu), David C. Smith (dcsmith@gso.uri.edu), or Arthur Spivack (spivack@gso.uri.edu).

For information about graduate opportunities with our Co-Investigator at UNC – Chapel Hill, contact Andreas Teske (teske@email.unc.edu).

For further information about graduate opportunities with our Co-Investigator at WHOI, contact Kai-Uwe Hinrichs (khinrichs@whoi.edu).

Undergraduate Student Opportunities

The URI Astrobiology Team provides summer undergraduate research fellowships, opportunities for academic-term employment, and academic courses in astrobiology and related topics. The summer fellowships are internationally competed. The fellowship recipients spend an eleven-week summer doing laboratory and field research with URI Astrobiology Team investigators. Potential research topics include studies in microbiology, biogeochemistry, geology and geophysics. During the course of their fellowships, all participants are expected to regularly attend astrobiology and ocean-science seminars. At the end of the summer, each fellowship recipient is expected to present a written report on her or his summer research and an oral presentation of her or his report to the co-investigators and other fellowship participants. These summer projects frequently lead to joint presentations of summer student and sponsor at meetings and to joint publications.

The NAI-sponsored summer fellowship program at URI is run in conjunction with the NSF-sponsored Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Oceanography (SURFO) program at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO). For an application and information on the SURFO Program, visit http://espo.gso.uri.edu/~surfo/

For further information about undergraduate opportunities in astrobiology at URI, contact Steven D’Hondt (dhondt@gso.uri.edu), David C. Smith (dcsmith@gso.uri.edu), or Arthur Spivack (spivack@gso.uri.edu).

For further information about undergraduate opportunities with our Co-Investigator at UNC – Chapel Hill, contact Andreas Teske (teske@email.unc.edu).

For further information about undergraduate opportunities with our Co-Investigator at WHOI, contact Kai-Uwe Hinrichs (khinrichs@whoi.edu).

Astrobiology Courses

The URI Team’s astrobiology courses are interdisciplinary in nature. Consequently, many are co-taught by interdisciplinary combinations of two or three faculty members.

Recent astrobiology courses at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography include:

Professors Steven D’Hondt and James Miller, offered in cooperation with the URI Ocean Engineering Department

Professor Andreas Teske

Instructors Andreas Teske, John Waterbury, and Eric Webb

Most of these courses are open to both graduate students and well-prepared upper-class undergraduate students in science and engineering.

For further information about astrobiology courses at URI, contact Steven D’Hondt (dhondt@gso.uri.edu), David C. Smith (dcsmith@gso.uri.edu), or Arthur Spivack (spivack@gso.uri.edu).

For further information about astrobiology courses at UNC – Chapel Hill, contact Andreas Teske (teske@email.unc.edu).

Post-Doctoral Opportunities

The URI Team of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) is dedicated to providing significant opportunities for post-doctoral scholars. The highly technical nature of the team’s research requires the close daily engagement of multiple well-trained microbiologists, biogeochemists and other scientists at URI and collaborating institutions (UNC – Chapel Hill and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). Post-doctoral researchers serve a crucial role in that effort. They work with interdisciplinary groups of biologists, biogeochemists and physical scientists. Their research projects include field, laboratory and modeling studies. They interact with scientists and students throughout the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) and a wide range of collaborating institutions.

The NASA Astrobiology Institute offers internationally competed fellowships through the National Research Council Research Associateship Program. Each fellowship supports an individual early-career scientist to do post-doctoral work as a member of a specific NAI Team. Scientists interested in applying to join the URI Astrobiology Team through this fellowship program are strongly encouraged to contact one or more of the investigators listed below. For information regarding the NAI fellowships offered through the NRC program, visit http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/institute/fellowship/index.cfm or http://www4.nas.edu/PGA/rap.nsf/frmLabInfoSearchResults?ReadForm&44.15~NAI

For further information about post-doctoral opportunities in astrobiology at URI, contact Steven D’Hondt (dhondt@gso.uri.edu), David C. Smith (dcsmith@gso.uri.edu), or Arthur Spivack (spivack@gso.uri.edu).

For further information about post-doctoral opportunities with our Co-Investigator at UNC, contact Andreas Teske (teske@email.unc.edu).

For further information about post-doctoral opportunities with our Co-Investigator at WHOI, contact Kai-Uwe Hinrichs (khinrichs@whoi.edu).