Coordinated Organic Geo- and Cosmochemical studies of Planetary Materials

Organization

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

0020-NPP-NOV
26-JSC-Planet Sci

All applications must be submitted in Zintellect. Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements. A complete application includes a research proposal, three letters of recommendation, and official doctoral transcript documents.

11/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

The emergence of life on Earth (and elsewhere) relied heavily on the inventory of available organics and the environs in which they were found. This research opportunity focuses on the relationships between organic materials and their mineralogical hosts; bridging the gap between observed organics and the processes that affected them. The relationship between organic molecules and mineral hosts informs the formation and evolution of amino acids and peptides on asteroidal, cometary, and planetary bodies, as well as the emergence of homochirality on Earth.

Coordinated analyses are performed on extraterrestrial samples, terrestrial analogs, and experimental products using the wide array of instrumentation available in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division at JSC, including liquid and gas chromatography mass spectrometers, scanning electron microscopes, and transmission electron microscopes. General chemistry, experimental impact, and petrology laboratories are used to simulate processes affecting organic molecules.

By exploring the relationship between organic components of astromaterials and their mineralogical hosts and environments, we can place more robust constraints on the histories of our samples.

Planetary Science

Eve Berger
eve.l.berger

Eligibility is currently open to:

• U.S. Citizens;
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and,
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with
  1) a valid EAD card and
  2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status.

• Degree:
  Doctoral Degree.

Please email npp

Mikeala