An Introduction to the ISSO Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship Program

The Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship Program is a qualitatively new type of partnering between the NASA-Johnson Space Center, University of Houston, University of Houston Clear Lake, and the State of Texas. The program is organized and directed by the Institute for Space Systems Operations. ISSO operates the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration for the University of Houston and the University of Houston Clear Lake. The Houston Partnership for Space Exploration is authorized and funded by a Legislative Line Item of the State of Texas.

Under this program, UH and UHCL Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellows conduct research at NASA-JSC and then work at the two universities where they transfer their research expertise and experiences to the academic community. Each research project is directed by a team consisting of at least one UH and/or UHCL faculty member and at least one senior research staff member of JSC. The fellows are funded by UH and UHCL. NASA-JSC funds the research. The program provides UH, UHCL, JSC and Texas the following advantages:

Access to federal resources to pursue R&D on a planned basis;
Very high leveraging, approximately 20 to 1, of Texas resources by Federal resources and personnel;
Participation in high visibility world-class aerospace R&D of national importance;
Long term teaming of federal R&D staff and faculty;
Expansion of the R&D and advanced program capabilities of NASA-JSC;
A context within which UH and UHCL can offer a qualitatively new graduate level aerospace-related curriculum that is unique on the state, national, and international levels; and
Development of a university and industry community associated with NASA-JSC similar to that created in Silicon Valley between Stanford University, NASA-Ames, and the many high technology companies.

A panel of senior researchers from JSC, UH, and UHCL, who were not members of any proposing team, reviewed the proposals. The proposals were ranked according to three major criteria.

The work should significantly advance the exploration and/or exploitation of space as related to the major missions of the NASA-Johnson Space Center.
The work is of high academic value at the post-doctoral level.
Projects with arguable commercial potential warranted special consideration.

Following selection of the projects, the fellowship opportunities are announced in major scientific, engineering, and academic publications and announcements placed on the World Wide Web. Each of these research projects is funded for two years, with a possibility for a third year of funding for especially productive projects.

The Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship Program creates new dimensions for growth of aerospace research, development, advanced education, and commercialization in Texas. A Post-Doctoral Fellowship project accesses approximately $1 million per year of NASA-JSC in-kind R&D resources. Thus, the State of Texas leverages its $50,000/yr for a fellowship project by approximately 20 to 1. The fellowship program will enable UH/UHCL faculty to organize far stronger proposals for external support through stand alone proposals and for proposals in association with NASA-JSC area organizations. In addition, the program will stimulate publications, new intellectual property, new graduate courses, and several graduate fellowships. The Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship program provides Texas with a fundamentally new method of deriving benefits from its largest federal installation.

The 1994-95 Texas Legislature enabled this new program between the State of Texas and the Federal government by significantly expanding the Line Item for the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration. The rapid response of the academic and government communities to this new opportunity indicates the wisdom of the Legislature's decision to develop this new approach to partnering between the State and Federal governments.

[Excerpts taken from the 1995-1996 ISSO Annual Report]

ISSO PDAF Projects