Issue 20-09, March 1, 2020

 

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1. MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR: NOMINATE YOUR COLLEAGUES FOR PRIZES … AND REMINDER ABOUT UPDATED DPS PRIZE DESCRIPTIONS
2. 2020 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS OPEN
3. PREVENTING HARASSMENT IN SCIENCE: BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE TOWARD MEANINGFUL CHANGE WORKSHOP
4. 2020 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL IN ASTROBIOLOGY: SEARCHING FOR LIFE ON MARS: TECHNIQUES AND CHALLENGES
5. NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE DIVISION PROGRAM SCIENTIST POSITION(S)

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR: NOMINATE YOUR COLLEAGUES FOR PRIZES ... 

AND REMINDER ABOUT UPDATED DPS PRIZE DESCRIPTIONS

 

All DPS members are strongly encouraged to submit prize nominations (due April 1)!

The community relies on YOU to submit nominations - please don’t expect that others

will take care of this important task. We would like to have a large, diverse pool of

nominees for each prize.

 

Just a reminder that the DPS Prize descriptions have been updated, as reported at the

DPS business meeting in September 2019 in Geneva.  The updated descriptions include 

the prize requirements that will be used by the DPS prize subcommittee and DPS

committee to award the prizes.  When preparing nomination letters, you are strongly 

encouraged to provide examples and evidence to support your statements for the nominee.

 

Since this is the first year that the new requirements are in place, we recognize that

the eligibility windows may have shifted for some individuals.  During this period 

of transition to the new (simpler) system, please email the DPS Prize subcommittee

at dpsprize@aas.org [1] if there are any mitigating circumstances concerning eligibility

for a given prize, and they will be taken into consideration as part of the transition

to the new prize requirements this year.  Also, any active prize nomination package 

can be updated if needed in light of the new requirements.

 

From the business meeting report in Geneva: The Prize description changes were

proposed by a DPS subcommittee, iterated with the full DPS committee and then

ratified.  Here is a brief summary of those changes:

 

1.  More consolidated information is now provided on the Nomination [2] Page, including: 

•       What is meant by ‘Planetary Science’ 

•       Expectation that a candidate for nomination follows the AAS Code of Ethics 

      and actively promotes AAS core values.

2.  A new page on Prize Subcommittee Procedures is added, which describes the selection 

procedure (https://dps.aas.org/prizes#Prize%20Rules%20and%20Procedures [3])

3.  The Harold C. Urey Prize [4] candidates now have NO age requirement and the time 

since PhD has increased from 6 to 8 years. Also, some text on criteria for consideration

was added.

4.  The Gerard P. Kuiper Prize [4]: A description of some criteria for consideration was added 

(innovative and creative nature of the work, leadership in the field, and collaboration).

5.  The Harold Masursky Award [5]: We removed: ‘The Masursky Award is generally

given for accomplishments outside of the normal work duties of the nominee’. This 

was not the original intention of the award.

6.  The Carl Sagan Medal [6]: No significant changes.

7.  The Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award [7]: No changes.

 

Detailed information about each DPS prize can be found at:  https://dps.aas.org/prizes/ [8]

 

Please remember to submit your DPS prize nominations by April 1st.  

 

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2020 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS OPEN

Now through March 30, 2020, NASA is accepting applications for its 32nd Annual 

Planetary Science Summer School. Offered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in

Pasadena, California, PSSS is a 3-month long early career development experience

to help prepare the next generation of planetary science and engineering mission leaders.  

Participants learn the process of developing a hypothesis-driven robotic

space mission in a concurrent engineering environment while getting an in-depth,

first-hand look at mission design, life cycle, costs, schedule and the trade-offs

inherent in each.

 

Science and engineering doctoral candidates, recent Ph.D.s, postdocs, junior faculty,

and certain master’s degree students, who are U.S. Citizens or legal permanent residents

(and a very limited number of Foreign Nationals from non-designated counties), are eligible.  

Applicants from diverse backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

Partial financial support is available for a limited number of individuals.

 

Session 1: Preparatory Sessions May 11-July 17.  Culminating Week at JPL July 20-24

Session 2: Preparatory Sessions May 11-July 31.  Culminating Week at JPL August 3-7

Roughly equivalent in workload to a rigorous 3-hour graduate-level course, participants

spend the first 10-11 weeks in preparatory webinars acting as a science mission team,

prior to spending the final culminating week at JPL being mentored by JPL’s Advance

Project Design Team, or “Team X” to refine their planetary science mission concept

design, then present it to a mock expert review board.

The deadline is March 30, 2020. To apply and learn more about the NASA Science 

Mission Design Schools:

http://go.nasa.gov/missiondesignschools [9]

 

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PREVENTING HARASSMENT IN SCIENCE: BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
TOWARD MEANINGFUL CHANGE WORKSHOP

 

We cordially invite you to participate in the Preventing Harassment in Science:

Building a Community of Practice Toward Meaningful Change. This 2.5-day

workshop will feature a variety of talks, panels and trainings on topics that range

from community surveys, grass roots efforts to improve culture, effective anti-

harassment training techniques, and discussion of how institutes react to harassment

claims. Confirmed speakers include researchers in the field of psychology and

social science, legal experts, and scientists who have created anti-harassment and

inclusive trainings, groups, and culture surveys. Additionally, this event includes

a half-day workshop by Dr. Kate Clancy, a noted anti-harassment researcher and

Professor of Anthropology, focusing on how to build an inclusive environment.

If you are interested in sharing your anti-harassment or inclusivity efforts and/or

research, you may submit an abstract to participate in a poster session here. 

 

Where: BLM National Training Center; Phoenix, AZ

When: March 31 - April 2, 2020

Website: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/anti-harassment2020/ [10]

 

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2020 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL IN ASTROBIOLOGY: SEARCHING FOR
LIFE ON MARS: TECHNIQUES AND CHALLENGES

 

June 15 - 19, 2020, Santander, Spain

 

2020 is the year when two Mars spacecraft, one from the USA and the other from

Europe, will launch towards Mars. Both are expected to significantly advance our

search for life on Mars. The NASA Mars 2020 Rover is the first step of Mars Sample

Return (MSR). Based on the Mars Curiosity design, Mars 2020 carries a Deep UV

Raman mapping spectrometer, named SHERLOC, that will be able to detect organic

molecules in spatial context. In addition, samples will be collected and cached for

future return to Earth where they can be analyzed in our laboratories. ESA’s Rosalind

Franklin rover carries a drill that can collect samples from depths of up to 2 m for

onboard analysis. The retrieved samples will be analyzed using a Raman spectrometer

(the RLS instrument) as well as analysis using a coupled Gas Chromatograph- Mass
Spectrometer (GCMS) of desorbed materials using the MOMA instrument. Although

their results alone cannot prove that biosignatures are present, they will be able to identify
carbon-containing compounds and the types of molecular frameworks and functional

groups that are present.

 

The 2020 summer school will review and assess the types of techniques that are

necessary for detection of biosignatures on Mars, including Raman spectroscopy,

the isotopic and chirality analyses that the ESA and MSL rovers will perform, and

the techniques that can analyze samples both in-situ and also on Earth-based laboratories

for follow-up analysis. The central question will be “how can we unequivocally

detect biosignatures on Mars?” and the discussions will involve in-situ rovers, optimal

sample collecting and return, laboratory analyses with returned samples here on Earth,

follow-on robotic exploration, and the experiments that future human explorers may

be able to perform. The lectures will be focused on instrumentation and techniques.

In addition to the lectures, during the week the students will participate in discussions

about the theme, participate in group projects, and take part in an excursion to a local

and relevant geological site near Santander.

 

The school is primarily aimed at graduate students in science or engineering, but is

open to anyone interested in the origin of life and astrobiology.

 

Applicants must be students affiliated with US institutions.

The deadline is March 16 and selections will be made by April 15.

 

To apply:

1) Fill out and submit an application form. [11]

2) Have your advisor submit a letter of recommendation. [12]

Questions can be directed to Melissa Kirven at Melissa.kirven@nasa.gov [13].

 

The participation of students from ESA Member States, Canada and Slovenia can be

funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). Furthermore, students enrolled in

Universities from European Union (as well as from other countries belonging to the

European Higher Education Area, EHEA: http://www.ehea.info/page-members [14]) could

also be directly funded by the UIMP (Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo).

Interested students please contact J. Miguel Mas-Hesse (mm@cab.inta-csic.es [15]) for

further details.

The application deadline is TBD.

 

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NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE DIVISION PROGRAM SCIENTIST POSITION(S)

 

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has an immediate need for one or more scientists

with expertise in planetary science to serve as Program Scientists in the Planetary Science
Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The Division is responsible for

the scientific exploration of our Solar System and for improving our understanding of

planets.  These opportunities are being made available under a standard detail arrangement

if you are a NASA civil servant, or under the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM)
Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA).

 

NASA Program Scientists tackle a wide variety of challenges. These include: developing,
operating, and maintaining Research & Analysis grants programs; serving as the Headquarters
scientific lead for one or more Planetary Science missions; and helping implement and
communicate the Planetary Science Division’s strategic goals. Program scientists can

have substantial influence on strategic planning and can help shape the long-term scientific
direction of missions and programs that they oversee.  

 

Under authority granted to NASA in the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-201,

118 Stat. 461 (5 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.)), the initial IPA appointment will be for up to two

years, with the possibility of reappointment up to a total of six years. The Intergovernmental
Personnel Act provides for the temporary assignment of personnel between the Federal
Government and state and local governments, colleges and universities, Indian tribal
governments, federally funded research and development centers, and other eligible organizations;
all applicants must be from an IPA-eligible organization.

 

This provides a unique opportunity for scientists to gain insight into Planetary Science

policy and programs, to better understand the proposal review process, and to run scientific
programs with multimillion-dollar budgets.

 

The time spent at NASA Headquarters allows visiting scientists excellent career growth:

some return to their home institutions to continue academic research, while others move

on to management and leadership positions in the Federal government, academia, at observatories,
or in the non-profit sector. Training and mentoring programs are available,

on both a formal and informal basis, which further enables our visiting scientists to advance

their careers. NASA also offers its visiting scientists regular travel back to their home institutions.

 

It is preferable for most Program Scientists in the Planetary Science Division have at

least 6 years of post-Ph.D. experience. The ideal candidate will be skilled at working

in a collaborative team environment; will be able to adapt to work simultaneously on

numerous programs and missions; and will be able to foster productive relationships

with staff working on the space missions they oversee, and with the US astrophysics

community at large. Disciplinary expertise in one or more areas of planetary science

is essential, but the ability to place this knowledge in the broader context of planetary

science is equally important for the success of the Division’s programs.

 

Applicant Eligibility

 

Not every employee of a non-Federal entity is eligible to participate in the IPA program.

The following lists indicate which employees of eligible non-Federal entities are eligible

and which are not eligible to participate in the IPA program:

 

Eligible:

·      Employees of non-Federal entities provided that they occupy a career position and

have been with the entity for at least 90 days.

·      If an employee changes from one non-Federal entity to another, he or she does not

have to begin a new 90-day period provided that both organizations are eligible to
participate in the IPA program.

·      Since non-Federal entities do not always use the precise terms that are used in the

Federal Government, it is important to examine the actual situation. For example,

a university professor may not be called permanent, but may have worked at an

institution for many years and is expected to continue working there. In such a

case, the individual would be eligible to participate.

 

Not Eligible:

Students employed at institutions of higher education in research, graduate, or teaching

assistant positions.

Elected officials of state and local governments.

 

Conflicts of interest

Duties and responsibilities to be performed for NASA must take into account possible

conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of the assignee’s continued employment at

his or her home institution. Before selection of an assignee, SMD will consider the particular
matters on which the assignee would work, the interest of the assignee's home institution

in those matters, and how the assignee's participation may affect the home institution's

interest. SMD will also consider whether the applicant is involved in any outside activities

that may create additional conflicts. These conflicts of interest arise as part of the Program
Scientist’s role in the proposal review process, flight project lifecycle reviews, and policy
implementations that may affect future procurements.

 

Additionally, assignees will not communicate on NASA's behalf with their home institution,
continue to work on matters for their home institution, or represent their home institution

or other third party to NASA or any other federal agency. Part-time IPAs may present unique
conflict and representational concerns given their continued work with their home institution.

 

As previously mentioned, these opportunities may also be filled by NASA employees on

detail from their Center. Individual research time while serving as a visiting scientist is negotiable.
Positions are available from June 2020, though the start date is flexible.

Applicants should email a curriculum vitae and cover letter as a single PDF file by

April 10, 2020 to EMAIL. For more information about the position, please contact

Stephen Rinehart at Stephen.A.Rinehart@nasa.gov [16].

 

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Send submissions to: 

Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary (dpssec@aas.org [17]) 

 

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