Illinois Space Grant

Funded by an educational grant awarded by NASA to Northwestern University through the Illinois Space Grant Consortium, Northwestern offers a College Summer Research Program for outstanding undergraduates. The program provides an opportunity for college students to work with a professor in one of several areas of space sciences and astrophysics. It is open to students who are currently in an undergraduate program in university or college..

Support of up to $8,570 is available to cover ten weeks of summer research. The exact period is flexible, but it should be between approximately June 15 and September 15.

All our projects here at Northwestern can provide the students with extensive computer experience with a variety of computing facilities on campus and/or via electronic access to several off-campus supercomputer centers. We also have projects that will provide laboratory experience.

Some of the areas of current research are:

Theoretical work on the physics of pulsars and black holes in the centers of galaxies
Modeling of extrasolar planetary systems
Supercomputer simulations of sources of gravitational waves
Radio maps of the Galactic Center and star formation regions
Optical observations related to the study of the cosmic microwave background and the intergalactic gas
Gamma-ray observations of high energy phenomena near black holes and neutron stars
Laboratory work to develop mirrors which can reflect X-rays
Observations of interstellar magnetic fields
Development of astronomical instruments for infrared and submillimeter wavelengths.

Application Deadline: March 17, 2025

See full details and application instructions

We strongly encourage those who are eligible to apply for a Northwestern-funded summer research grant as this will allow us to spread our funds to more students.

Students from other institutions are encouraged apply for supplemental funding from Northwestern’s Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP).

ISG at NU is an equal opportunity educational fellowship grant. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

			2024 cohort Daniel Campos, Connor Capoot, Audrey Clarendon, Cristian Casterjon, Leka Davis, Aiden Novick, Sarah Opoku, Maddox Wroblewski, Justyce Watson
	2023 cohort Leka Davis, Seca Widyatmodjo, Madd Vivona, Charles Gibson, Claire Zwicker, Trevin Cox
	2021 Cohort Brooke Fujishima Cole Geinosky Nicolas Guerra Konstantina Kritikos Max Paik David Stephens Elizabeth Zadir		2020 Cohort Daniel Brethauer Yuxin Dong Nicolas Guerra Emma Kaufman Peizhi Liu Nicholas Marks Caelan Purnama
	2019 Cohort 1st Row – Jonathan Cao, Finlay Larson, Michael MacLean, Michael Kurkowski, Nicolas Rui Not Pictured: Daniel Brethauer, Dylaan Cornish, Brooke Fujishima, Nicholas Marks		2018 Cohort 1st Row – Isaac Rivera, Maria Mutz, Mahlet Shiferaw 2nd Row – William Reinhardt, Eric Van Camp, Marisa Bisram Not Pictured: Kyle Engelmann, Zach Shonfeld, Theo Ward
	2017 Cohort 1st Row – Ally O’Donnell, Nathan Hung, Ben Harpt 2nd Row – Josemanuel Hernandez, Katie Barnhart, Newlin Weatherford 3rd Row – Kyle Engelmann, Eric Van Camp, Doug PinckneyNot Pictured: Dany Atallah, Mark Berger, Grant Messner		2016 Cohort 1st Row – Noelle McGee, Katie Barnhart, Harriet Colie 2nd Row – Kyle Condron, Cobi Rabinowitz, Newlin Weatherford Not Pictured: Alex Gurvich
	2015 Cohort 1st Row – Leah Perri, Amanda Newmark, Daniela Deleon, David Rice 2nd Row – Jessie Duncan, Seth Krantzler, Eric Scott, CJ Hansen		2014 Cohort 1st Row – Leah Perri, Emily Ellinger 2nd Row – Shyam Bharadwaj, Tyler Karia, Shannon Grogansn
	2013 Cohort 1st Row – Erin Roth, Adriana Guzman 2nd Row – Shannon Grogans, Christopher (CJ) Hansen, Tyler Karian		2012 Cohort 1st Row – Caroline Darin, Andrew Srisuwananukorn 2nd Row – Jason Du, Julia Savoie, Bridget Bellavia Not Pictured: Nico Salzetta
	2011 Cohort From left to right: Daniel Douglas, Bryant Smith, Paul Geringer, Julia Savoie, Kuai-Kuai Jin, Susan Yu, Leah Isaman, Ryan Jasinski Not Pictured: Mitchell Drew, Jim Schroeder, Andrew Srisuwananukorn		2010 Cohort 1st Row – Michael Tremmel, Leah Isaman, Samantha Hopkins, Isabel Abbott 2nd Row – Megan Hybinette, Aaron Juarez 3rd Row – Scott Phelan, Kyle Kremer, Bryant Smith
	2009 Cohort 1st Row – Marc Royster, Marina Murashev, Ben Farr, Megan Hbinette 2nd Row – Kyle Kremer, Elizabeth Weingartner, Matt Dodelson (far right) 3rd Row – Emily Leiner, Mason Volk, Aaron Juarez, David Ackerman 4th Row – Michael Tarczon, Michael Medford, Brad Weinberger		2008 Cohort 1st Row – Michael Tremmel, Sophie Arlow, Cara Hageman, Ilana Spar 2nd Row – Robert Kennedy, Josh Glaser, Aaron Juarez 3rd Row – Nicholas Longenbaugh, Ryosuke Kita, David Ackerman,
	2006 Cohort 1st Row – Emerson Speyerer, Elizabeth Tang, Temple He, Alex Godin, Dane Holte 2nd Row – Jeff Kaplan, Julia Fang, Steve Ehlert, David Freidin, Gaspard Clozel, Scott Hollander		2005 Cohort Clockwise, from bottom left: Nick Spear, Daniel Iden, Walter Maksym, Mark Tibbit, Sarah Braden, Steven Wang, Joseph Eckart, Steven Ehlert, Alex Vaynman, Martha Malin, Jennifer Huang
	2004 Cohort Clockwise, from bottom left: Anna Hiszpanski, John Hewitt, Verene Lystad, Steven Ehlert, Nicholas Seltzer, Sara Kasun, Jonathan Echt, Emerson Speyerer, Josepth Eckart		2003 Cohort Clockwise, from bottom left: Matvey Farber, Tiffany Titus, Alex Limpaecher, Emerson Speyerer, John Liu, Adam Hipp, Ann Peterson, Mike Henninger, Aaron Kime
	2002 Cohort 1st Row – Aaron Kime, Matthew Turk, Nathaniel Greenbaum, Jane McCammant 2nd Row – Casey Law, John Hewitt, Emerson Speyerer		2001 Cohort 1st Row – Christopher Greer, Brian Brondel, Thayne Currie, Matthew Steele 2nd Row – Emerson Speyerer, Rachel Goldsborough, Brett Wicox, John Huang, Megan Krejny