Maharashtra: Here's how 14-yr-old girl got selected for a NASA Fellowship after getting rejected 3 times

In a remarkable achievement, a 14-year-old girl from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, was selected as a panellist on the Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Fellowships Virtual Panel of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Diksha Shinde, who is in Class 10, said that she read many books by Stephen Hawking and submitted an essay titled 'Questioning the existence of God' in September 2020.

In a conversation with news agency ANI, Shinde said that she had submitted it again with slight changes in the initial essay in October 2020. The essay was rejected for the second time.

"I then decided to send a research article in December 2020 on 'Black Hole' which was liked and accepted at NASA. I won a research competition organised by International Astronomical Search Collaboration. In that, I provisionally discovered the 'Main Belt asteroid'," she added.

The International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research accepted her research paper on 'We Live in Black Hole?' in May 2021.

Shinde said that she was selected as a panellist for the 2021 MSI Fellowships Virtual Panel in June. "I accepted the offer and will start working soon. My job involves reviewing proposals submitted by researchers and describing a collaborative approach to conduct research with NASA and understanding the connection between the proposed research area and academic discipline pursuit of the students," she explained while talking to reporters.

The young researcher said that she attends the research discussions every alternate day. She is paid for the job of the panellist. Her father, Krishna Shinde, is a headmaster in a non-aided school, while her mother Ranjana Shinde takes tuition classes.

"I just got an email from NASA about selection as a panellist on MSI Fellowship Panel. I was surprised to receive it. I will do my job between 1 am and 4 am on alternate days and also get a monthly honorarium for it," she said.

She said she would get training at NASA on attaining the age of 18. Shinde will also attend a conference to be held in October 2021 and NASA will bear all her expenses.