The Lithuanian Science Council has announced a call for international internships at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in autumn 2025, where students will be able to gain unique knowledge and practical experience. These NASA internships are designed to encourage the participation of students in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) programmes in international projects and to develop their skills in research and experimental development in space technology. Talented students will have the opportunity to carry out scientific internships at NASA research centres: NASA Ames Research Centre (California), NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre (Maryland), and NASA Johnson Space Centre (Texas). Lithuania is one of 13 countries participating in this international internship programme.
The call is open for autumn 2025 internships for 16 weeks (August-December).
The NASA internship programme is open to students:
1. studying in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programmes at Lithuanian and foreign research and study institutions;
2. at the time of application to the Council and during the period of the NASA internship, have a valid study agreement with a Lithuanian or foreign research and study institution;
3. the weighted average of the grades for the courses studied during the entire study period for first-cycle, second cycle, and integrated study students is 8.0 or higher. For first year second-cycle students participating in the NASA internship program competition, the average may also be calculated based on the grades from the entire first-cycle study period if the first exam session of the second-cycle studies has not yet taken place. In cases where one or more semesters were completed at a foreign educational institution, the weighted average of the grades for all courses studied during those semesters must meet at least 80% of the maximum weighted average applied at that foreign institution;
4. students enrolled in the third-cycle studies are assessed for the previous doctoral study period (having completed the research work plan to the satisfaction of the doctoral committee in accordance with its established procedures). This requirement does not apply to first-year third-cycle students, but the weighted average of all grades for courses studied during their second-cycle studies must be 8.0 or higher;
5. actively involved in scientific activities, i.e., participating in scientific projects, presenting papers at scientific conferences, publishing scientific articles, etc., and in activities to promote science;
6. having an interest in space exploration;
7. have a level of English language proficiency of at least B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages;
8. agree to the requirements set by NASA, including, but not limited to, the requirements for transferring intellectual property rights to NASA for intellectual property created during the internship.
The deadline for submission of the application is 16 December 2024 at 16:00, but the student must submit the application on the Lithuanian Research Council website https://projektai.lmt.lt/#login to the representative of Vilnius University for approval before 12 December 2024. The application is submitted to the Lithuanian Research Council after the student's application has been approved by an authorised representative of Vilnius University.
The description of the student selection and funding allocation for internships in the NASA program, the application form, instructions for completing it, and other documents can be downloaded by clicking the link titled Dokumentai pareiškėjams (NASA2024IIK) (all documents in Lithuanian, only a few in Lithuanian and English).
Applications will be divided into two groups: 1) applications from first-cycle, second-cycle, and integrated study students, 2) applications from third-cycle students. The applications will undergo administrative verification based on the administrative verification certificate (in Lithuanian), and those meeting the requirements will be forwarded for expert evaluation. The expert evaluation will be conducted by an expert committee using the standard evaluation form for first-cycle, second-cycle, and integrated study students' applications (in Lithuanian), and the standard evaluation form for third-cycle students' applications (in Lithuanian). It is therefore recommended to prepare applications based on the standard forms for expert evaluation, which outline the evaluation criteria, aspects of assessment, and the maximum possible score. Following the expert evaluation, and in accordance with the priority ranking established by the expert committee within the application groups, the Research Council of Lithuania will select and nominate up to 15 students to NASA. Please note that students from the United States and other countries participating in the international internship program also compete in these selection processes.
The Research Council of Lithuania will allocate a certain amount of funding to students selected for the NASA internship to cover the internship costs. Any internship expenses that exceed the funding provided by the Research Council of Lithuania must be covered by the academic institution or the intern themselves. For interns who are studying at a foreign academic institution at the time of signing the internship agreement, the Research Council of Lithuania does not provide funding for the internship, only the participation fee is paid directly to NASA.
The call published by the Lithuanian Research Council can be found here >>> (in English) and the NASA internship call documents, the information and the video of the information event can be found here >>> (in Lithuanian).