• NASA
  • IPAC

What are NITARP Roles?

Mentor Astronomer

A Mentor Astronomer is a researcher with a PhD who guides the team through the research project. There is typically one mentor astronomer per team, though some teams have two.


Mentor Educator

A Mentor Educator works as a sort of deputy lead for the Mentor Astronomer. Having gone through the program before, they help the team (especially the new educators) with everything from logistics to science.


NITARP Advocate

In this category, we place any people who have been or are supporters of NITARP or its predecessor.


NITARP Management

The NITARP management team runs NITARP and plans for its future.


Participant Educator

A Participant Educator is an educator who is a member of a team; frequently this role describes educators during their first and/or only year in the program.


Participating non-science IPAC staff

We sometimes have non-science IPAC staff participate on teams. This provides career role models without PhDs for participants, and provides professional development for the staff.


The application period is now closed for NITARP 2025. We will release our selection for the 2025 class at the 2025 January AAS.