Sagan Fellows to seek extrasolar planets
- 16 years ago
NASA has announced the new Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowships in Exoplanet Exploration, created to inspire the next generation of researchers seeking to learn more about planets, and possibly life, around other stars.
Planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, are being discovered at a staggering pace, with more than 300 currently known. Decades ago, long before any exoplanets had been found, the late Dr. Carl Sagan imagined such worlds, and pioneered the scientific pursuit of life that might exist on them.
NASA's new Sagan fellowships will allow talented young scientists to tread the path laid out by Sagan. The program will award stipends of approximately $60,000 per year, for a period of up to three years, to selected postdoctoral scientists.
"We are investing in our nation's best and brightest in an emerging field that is tremendously inspiring to the public," said Jon Morse, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The Sagan Fellowship will join NASA's new Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship in Physics of the Cosmos and the Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cosmic Origins.
Professor Carl Sagan, who passed away in 1996, was a noted American astronomer and world famous science popularizer. He was the author of the novel Contact, the basis for the Jodie Foster film.
Planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, are being discovered at a staggering pace, with more than 300 currently known. Decades ago, long before any exoplanets had been found, the late Dr. Carl Sagan imagined such worlds, and pioneered the scientific pursuit of life that might exist on them.
NASA's new Sagan fellowships will allow talented young scientists to tread the path laid out by Sagan. The program will award stipends of approximately $60,000 per year, for a period of up to three years, to selected postdoctoral scientists.
"We are investing in our nation's best and brightest in an emerging field that is tremendously inspiring to the public," said Jon Morse, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The Sagan Fellowship will join NASA's new Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship in Physics of the Cosmos and the Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cosmic Origins.
Professor Carl Sagan, who passed away in 1996, was a noted American astronomer and world famous science popularizer. He was the author of the novel Contact, the basis for the Jodie Foster film.