Inspire - Engage - Launch
ASU/NASA Space Grant Program
ASU/NASA Space Grant provides opportunities for students to participate in NASA-related research through undergraduate internships. Our goal is to contribute to support education, research and public engagement projects and increase the participation of students in STEM. ASU/NASA Space Grant, led by Professor Thomas Sharp, is a member of the Arizona Space Grant Consortium.
The application window for 2026-27 academic year internship is now closed.
Inspire a diverse new generation of scientists and engineers through education and public outreach programs
Engage ASU STEM students in NASA-related science and engineering research to enhance their education
Launch student careers with opportunities in NASA-related research, engineering challenges and NASA missions
Space Grant Intern Jack Schulte
Jack Schulte was a recipient of multiple Space Grant awards at ASU from 2018 to 2020. As a result of his project he published his first first-author paper with mentor Dr. Maitrayee Bose, in The American Astronomical Society journal entitled “Three-dimensional Supernova Models Provide New Insights into the origins of Stardust” (DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/abcd41). He also has a second published work in CosmoElements magazine titled “Silicon Carbide Dust? The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind” (DOI: 10.2138/gselements.17.3.214). Both works were born from his research internship project with Space Grant. In addition, he has led or is a co-author to multiple conference abstracts (6 in total) both in meteoritics and lunar mapping. ASU awarded him with the President’s Scholarship granting $15,000 for travel to Antarctica in December 2020. Schulte is now a Ph.D. candidate in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Michigan State University working with Dr. Joey Rodriguez to confirm and characterize Hot Jupiters discovered by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Jack has continued his work with the Space Grant as he was awarded a graduate fellowship from the Michigan Space Grant Consortium.
Space Grant Intern Xeynab Mouti
Xeynab Mouti was a 2020-21 NASA Space Grant Intern working in Center for Meteorite Studies (CMS) at ASU . Her research in CMS focused on the study of a primitive group of meteorites, the Mighei-like carbonaceous (CM) chondrites, which remain relatively unaltered since they formed in the early Solar System ~4.5 billion years ago. As a result of her work, Xeynab was able to publish a first-author journal article in Meteoritics and Planetary Science entitled “Fine-grained chondrule rims in Mighei-like carbonaceous chondrites: Evidence for a nebular origin and modification by impacts and recurrent solar radiation heating” (doi: 10.1111/maps.14076). After leaving ASU, Xeynab enrolled at the University of Oxford in Environmental Change and Management.
Space Grant Intern Alumna Kayla Iocovino
While at ASU, Space Grant Intern Kayla Iocovino performed high-pressure experiments to understand eruption processes in volcanoes. From ASU, Kayla earned a PhD in volcanology and petrology from the University of Cambridge in 2014. After post doctoral positions at the USGS in Menlo Park and at ASU, she is now a Research Scientist at the NASA Johnson Space Center doing experimental volcanology and petrology. She has studied volcanoes around the world and has appeared in several documentaries on volcanology, including “Expedition Volcano”. Kayla was the keynote speaker at the 2021 ASU Space Grant Alumni Night event where she described how her undergraduate research helped launch her career. In February 2025, she was a SESE colloquium speaker presenting a talk entitled "Better, faster, stronger: A new era of volcanic gas modeling to empower science and society."
I cannot recommend the Space Grant program enough. It was such a great exposure to students that were so brilliant and passionate about their work, and it really gave me the chance to foster skills in writing and public communication that are invaluable to everyone, scientists or otherwise. Anyone who wants great experience, is passionate about learning, and loves being around some truly amazing people is the perfect fit for Space Grant.
Elinor Sauer
Announcements
The application window for the 2025-26 research internship awards is currently closed. An invitation to apply for the next round of applications will be announced Spring 2026.
Arizona Space Grant Consortium
Our mission is to expand opportunities for Americans to learn about and participate in NASA's programs by supporting and enhancing science and engineering education, research, and outreach and by delivering high-quality public education programs.
Our goal is to integrate research with education to help build a multi-faceted, scientifically literate citizenry and a well-prepared science, engineering and technology workforce.
Space Grant is a program that receives funding from NASA for the specific purpose of providing research internship opportunities for ASU students and to enhance STEM education through informal education and related activities. Internships are competitively awarded through an annual application process. We are not a grant funding agency.