DIVISION FOR PLANETARY SCIENCES
American Astronomical Society
MEMBERSHIP SURVEY
DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION:
1. Gender: ______M ______F
2. Age: ___ <25 ____ 25-30 ____31-40 ____41-50 ____51-60
_____ >60
3. Are you: A US citizen residing in US _____
A US citizen residing outside US _____
Citizen of__________________residing in_________________
EDUCATION INFORMATION
4. Highest degree earned:___________
If you have finished your schooling, skip to question 7.
5. Degree goal:_________ expected in (yr)________
6. When your schooling is complete, what type of job do you expect/wish
for?
Full-time research in Planetary Science
University faculty position in Planetary Science
Research or teaching position in another technical field
Other (specify)________________ __
Skip to question 10
EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION
7. Employer Type:
University Non-profit corporation
Government Lab (including JPL) For-profit corporation
DoD or DoE organization National observatory
Other
8. Employee status:
Tenured
Tenure-track
non-tenured “permanent”
Post-doc or other time-limited position
If so, how many such positions held_____, for how
many total years?_____
Civil Service
Other______________
9. How long have you been with your current employer?______years
YOUR PLANETARY SCIENCE TIME:
10. Do you consider yourself primarily (choose 1):
an astronomer
a geologist
an atmospheric scientist
Other
11. Fraction of full time employed in planetary science, including
teaching and administration if related to P.S. rather than some
other field of science or non-science. (Note, e.g., if you are
employed only half time, but all of that time is spent on planetary
science, your answer here should be 50%) _____%
If <100%, is this your own choice?
YES ____ NO _____
12. Percent of planetary science activity funded by (consider
an average year; approximate estimates are sufficient; total %
should be equal to your answer to question 11):
NASA Mission Support %
NASA grants %
NSF grant %
Administrative burden (indirect) accounts %
Other agency grants (name and %) %
Endowment, state support, etc. (research) %
Endowment, state support, etc. (teaching, administration) %
Other (self-employed, consultant, etc.) %
13. Fraction of Planetary Science time spent in the following
activities (consider an average year; approximate estimates are
sufficient; total % should be equal to your answer to question
11):
Teaching related to planetary science %
Administrative duties related to planetary science %
Research (includes observing) %
Writing/refereeing journal papers %
Preparing for/attending scientific meetings %
Preparing/reviewing proposals (incl. serving on review panels)
%
Preparing for/attending advisory committee meetings %
Preparing for/attending mission team meetings %
Other mission support activities %
Preparing for/attending internal organization meetings %
YOUR PERCEPTION OF THE FIELD
Please give us your subjective opinions of the following issues:
14. Current employment opportunities in planetary sciences (1
= Excellent, 2 = Good, 3 = Fair, 4 = Poor, 5 = Dismal): _____
15. Current rate of production of PhD’s in planetary sciences
(1 = too few, 3 = about right, 5 = too many): _______
16. Are you encouraging talented young people to pursue careers
in planetary science (1 = strongly so, 3 = neutral, 5 = strongly
discouraging): _______
17. “If you had it to do over again,” would you choose
a career in planetary science? (1 = strongly yes, 3 = neutral,
5 = definitely not) ________
DPS ROLE AND PRIORITIES
18. Should the DPS strive to become an important international
organization? Choose 1 of the following:
Never meet abroad
Meet abroad once about every 5 years
Alternate domestic and foreign meetings, like the Meteoritical
Society
Meet twice per year, once domestic and once international
Other?________________________________ __________
19. DPS PRIORITIES: Please rate the following, keeping in mind
what you think is possible. Rate each activity from 1 (very
important) to 5 (unimportant/impossible/inappropriate):
Organize annual meeting Sponsor/co-sponsor other topical meetings
Job services (register, interview booths, etc.)
Government policy (“lobbying”)
Education, K-12
Education, university-postdoc Public information, press
Minority rights, job discrimination, etc
Other rating
THANK YOU for participating in this survey. Please feel free to
make additional comments on any of the above topics, or any other
matters you feel the DPS committee should consider: