NASA FINESST Resources: A Practical Guide and Link Library for the FINESST Proposal
Published:
NASA’s Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) is one of the most underused fellowships among US graduate students. Most PhD students have never heard of it, and the ones who have often miss the deadline because the proposal expectations aren’t obvious from the call alone. This repo is a curated guide of links, tips, and examples to help you write a competitive FINESST proposal.
Author: Koutian Wu; GitHub: ktwu01
What Is FINESST
FINESST is NASA’s graduate research fellowship program for Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics, astrophysics, and biological/physical sciences. A successful proposal funds up to three years of graduate research at the rate set in the call. The student is the PI on the grant, with their advisor as the formal sponsor.
If you are a US graduate student doing research in any of NASA’s science divisions, FINESST is one of the highest-leverage fellowships you can apply for.
Why This Repo Exists
When I first applied for FINESST, I could not find:
- Sample successful proposals to calibrate against.
- A clear breakdown of how each division (Earth, Planetary, Helio, Astro, Bio/Phys) reads proposals differently.
- A timeline that worked backward from the deadline.
- Advice on the science management plan, the part most students rush.
So I started collecting what I learned. The repo grew from there.
What You Will Find
- Official program links — call documents, FAQ, ROSES.
- Sample proposals (where authors have made them public).
- Section-by-section guidance — significance, technical approach, science management plan.
- Common reviewer complaints — surfaced from public summary statistics.
- Timeline templates — working backward from the typical mid-cycle deadline.
- Advisor coordination — what your sponsor actually needs to provide.
- Tips on reusing NSF GRFP material if you’ve already written one.
Read It
Repo: github.com/ktwu01/NASA-FINESST-Resources-Guide-Links.
Who This Is For
- US first- and second-year PhD students considering applying.
- Advisors helping a student prepare a FINESST proposal.
- Anyone who has been rejected once and wants to revise.
- Department staff trying to point students at one resource.
A Disclaimer
This is an unofficial community resource, not a NASA publication. Always check the current ROSES call and the official program pages for the canonical requirements.
Contributing
If you have a FINESST proposal you can share publicly, advice from a recent panel, or a link the guide is missing, open an issue or PR at github.com/ktwu01/NASA-FINESST-Resources-Guide-Links.
Fellowships are one of the few cases in academia where the prep cost is bounded and the upside is large. FINESST is worth the week of writing.