Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
APPENDIX D
353
graduate student population. The Los Alamos National Laboratory’s post-baccalaureate program, 2 which
provides recent college graduates the opportunity to explore research experiences within solar and space
physics, is another model for recruiting graduate students.
Challenges of Educational Institutions
The studies described in detail below in this appendix show that while the Ph.D. production rate for
solar and space physics has increased over the past decade, the number of advertised positions in the field
has decreased. Indeed, the number of advertised faculty positions reached a decadal low in the last year
surveyed, 2010. Although, historically, many solar and space physics graduates find jobs in areas other
than academic research, the trend—an increasing number of students being trained versus a decreasing
number of faculty hires to train them—indicates the continued importance of the NSF Faculty Development in Space Science program. This program grew out of a recommendation by the 2003 decadal survey 3 and led to the creation of eight tenure-track faculty positions, most of whose awardees have already
become tenured. The program is widely viewed, along with CAREER awards, as an exemplary means of
sustaining space physics within the university and promoting the science and engineering workforce. In
order to increase the reach of this program and the diversity of students exposed to opportunities in solar
and space physics, eligibility for these awards could be expanded to include 4-year institutions, not just
Ph.D.-granting research universities.
Regardless of whether a student remains in the field, there are skills all students need in order to become
successful professionals. These skills include interpersonal and communication skills, career awareness,
leadership, grantsmanship, and laboratory management skills. The formal discipline training provided in
graduate school does not usually provide adequate mentoring and training opportunities for developing
such skills.
NASA ended the 30-year-old NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) in 2012. Providing
a research stipend and a set amount of fees, tuition, and travel, the program supported solar and space
physics graduate students working closely with NASA scientists as research mentors. It was cost-effective
because universities generally helped to subsidize the cost of tuition and stipend, which the GSRP did not
cover fully, thus enabling the NASA research dollar to go further. While another program, NASA’s Earth
and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program, will provide funding for graduate students, there was
concern expressed that the formal link between the student and a NASA center will disappear, and there
was a strong desire to see NESSF support for solar and space physics maintained at levels as high as those
the GSRP historically provided.
Vibrant university-based solar and space physics education and research programs that extensively
involve experimental science and engineering undergraduate and graduate students focused on instrument
development and space systems are vital to maintaining the health of the field. Hurdles to this include lack
of low-cost access to space, long development times for spacecraft missions, funding limitations, and the
inhibiting qualities of International Traffic in Arms Regulations. 4
2 See Los Alamos National Laboratory, About the LANL Undergraduate Student Program: Program Overview, available at http://
www.lanl.gov/education/undergrad/about.shtml.
3 National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics, The
National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
4 See Department of State, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, available at http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/
itar_official.html.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
APPENDIX D
353
graduate student population. The Los Alamos National Laboratory’s post-baccalaureate program, 2 which
provides recent college graduates the opportunity to explore research experiences within solar and space
physics, is another model for recruiting graduate students.
Challenges of Educational Institutions
The studies described in detail below in this appendix show that while the Ph.D. production rate for
solar and space physics has increased over the past decade, the number of advertised positions in the field
has decreased. Indeed, the number of advertised faculty positions reached a decadal low in the last year
surveyed, 2010. Although, historically, many solar and space physics graduates find jobs in areas other
than academic research, the trend—an increasing number of students being trained versus a decreasing
number of faculty hires to train them—indicates the continued importance of the NSF Faculty Development in Space Science program. This program grew out of a recommendation by the 2003 decadal survey 3 and led to the creation of eight tenure-track faculty positions, most of whose awardees have already
become tenured. The program is widely viewed, along with CAREER awards, as an exemplary means of
sustaining space physics within the university and promoting the science and engineering workforce. In
order to increase the reach of this program and the diversity of students exposed to opportunities in solar
and space physics, eligibility for these awards could be expanded to include 4-year institutions, not just
Ph.D.-granting research universities.
Regardless of whether a student remains in the field, there are skills all students need in order to become
successful professionals. These skills include interpersonal and communication skills, career awareness,
leadership, grantsmanship, and laboratory management skills. The formal discipline training provided in
graduate school does not usually provide adequate mentoring and training opportunities for developing
such skills.
NASA ended the 30-year-old NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) in 2012. Providing
a research stipend and a set amount of fees, tuition, and travel, the program supported solar and space
physics graduate students working closely with NASA scientists as research mentors. It was cost-effective
because universities generally helped to subsidize the cost of tuition and stipend, which the GSRP did not
cover fully, thus enabling the NASA research dollar to go further. While another program, NASA’s Earth
and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program, will provide funding for graduate students, there was
concern expressed that the formal link between the student and a NASA center will disappear, and there
was a strong desire to see NESSF support for solar and space physics maintained at levels as high as those
the GSRP historically provided.
Vibrant university-based solar and space physics education and research programs that extensively
involve experimental science and engineering undergraduate and graduate students focused on instrument
development and space systems are vital to maintaining the health of the field. Hurdles to this include lack
of low-cost access to space, long development times for spacecraft missions, funding limitations, and the
inhibiting qualities of International Traffic in Arms Regulations. 4
2 See Los Alamos National Laboratory, About the LANL Undergraduate Student Program: Program Overview, available at http://
www.lanl.gov/education/undergrad/about.shtml.
3 National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics, The
National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
4 See Department of State, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, available at http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/
itar_official.html.