The 2023 SETI Forward application is now closed.
Eligibility
The purpose of this award is to encourage undergraduates to enter the field of SETI and/or astrobiology and to encourage interns to become SETI ambassadors. It is open to undergraduate students from around the world.
Qualifications for award recipients are the following:
- Intern must have completed a meaningful research opportunity (i.e. internship) related to SETI/astrobiology between September 1, 2022, and August 31, 2023.
- The research opportunity/project is deemed complete if the intern carried out it to its logical conclusion and the mentor considers the work to have been appropriately carried out.
- Ability to connect their internship and related project to fundamental questions in SETI and/or astrobiology; and their intention to pursue a career in SETI or astrobiology.
- Intern must be an undergraduate in good standing at the time of their research opportunity/internship and throughout the award period. The applicant may graduate during/after completion of their internship, assuming the internship was intended as an undergraduate program and was completed in the last 12 months.
- Award recipients must have demonstrated to their mentor a willingness to share information and “pay things forward.”
Application Info
There are two components of the application: 1) Personal information and research summary the applicant prepares and 2) mentor reference that the mentor will send separately.
Make sure you have the following in order before you apply:
- A plan for how you will use the award stipend (e.g. presenting research at a conference, traveling for part of an internship, etc.) Note: stipends are contingent on acceptance of your presentation by event organizers.
- Support from a mentor who will complete your reference
Mentor Reference
Have your mentor send a recommendation letter to development@seti.org (Must be received by application submission deadline)
Additionally, please forward these questions to your mentor to address in your recommendation letter.
- Is this student likely to pursue SETI or astrobiology as a career?
- How passionate is the intern regarding SETI and/or astrobiology?
- How collaborative was the intern interns/staff/others, exhibit a willingness to share information?
- How receptive was the intern to learning from others regardless of their experience and status?
- Does the intern exhibit the ability to communicate at multiple levels?
- Do you have any comments to add regarding this intern as to why they are a good candidate to receive this year’s travel award?