Diksha Shinde-14-yr-old panellist on NASA’s MSI Fellowship

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Diksha Shinde, who is a 14-year-old girl in Aurangabad, was selected as a panellist on Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Fellowships Virtual Panel of American Space Agency, NASA.

About:

• She wrote a theory on black holes. It was liked and accepted at NASA.
• Her research paper on ‘We Live in Black Hole?’ was accepted by the International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research in May 2021.
• She won the research competition that was organised by International Astronomical Search Collaboration.
• She has been selected as a panellist for the 2021 MSI Fellowships Virtual Panel in June.
• She will get training at NASA when she will turn 18. She will also attend a conference that will be held in October 2021. NASA will bear all its expenses.

Background

Initially, she suffered two major setbacks. She had submitted an essay on the title ‘Questioning the existence of God’ in September 2020. But this essay was rejected. She submitted the same research paper in October again which NASA rejected again. Her paper was accepted in third attempt.

What will be her job?

Her job include:

• Reviewing proposals submitted by researchers and
• Describing a collaborative approach to research with NASA and
• Understanding connection between proposed research area student’s academic discipline pursuit.

Minority Serving Institute (MSI)

MSI is a descriptive term used for universities and colleges that enroll significant percentage of students coming from minority groups in the higher education system of United States.