Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships Blog

The Newton International Fellowship scheme will select the very best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world, and offer support for two years at UK research institutions. The British Academy, The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society are the sponsor of the fellowships.

The long-term aim of the fellowship is to build a global pool of research leaders and encourage long-term international collaboration with the UK.

The Fellowships cover the broad range of natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities. 50 fellowships are awarded each year. They provide grants of £24,000 per annum to cover subsistence and £8,000 to cover research expenses, plus a one-off relocation allowance of £2,000. As part of the scheme, all Newton Fellows who remain in research will be granted a 10 year follow-up funding package worth £6,000 per annum.

Related: Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship Directory - Singapore Research Fellowship

Electrical engineering grad students earn prestigious NASA fellowships

David Hoffman and Amin Nehrir, master’s students in electrical engineering, both received $30,000 fellowships through NASA’s Graduate Student Researchers Program. In addition to the money, which covers educational expenses, Hoffman and Nehrir will each spend a portion of the coming year as interns at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., one of the oldest and most famed aviation and space laboratories in the world.
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Hoffman and Nehrir work with lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging. Their work involves sending a pulse of laser light into the sky and letting it bounce off the particles suspended in the air. By measuring the amount of light that bounces back, how that light is scattered and the time it takes to return, scientists can learn about the composition of the lower atmosphere.
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“These connections we’re making in NASA are really nice steps to take because it allows us to take our expertise in instrument development and get outside help in moving into this atmospheric science,” he said, noting that the connection to NASA began through the Montana Space Grant Consortium, which funded the initial projects and provided student support.

NASA is particularly interested in the small, 2-by-4-by-4-foot lidar assemblies MSU is building. By comparison, some lidars are large enough to fill an entire 40-foot cargo container, Repasky said. He added that MSU’s lidars are also relatively inexpensive, costing less than $100,000. Larger and more complicated assemblies cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Photo, by Kelly Gorham, shows Amin Nehrir (left) and David Hoffman in front of a green laser beam they are using to study the composition of earth’s atmosphere.

Related: NSF Research Fellowship for Two Montana State Students - Science Fellowship Directory - Carnegie Mellon Engineering Students Win NDSEG Fellowships

Recently ASEE had the opportunity to visit The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) to talk about the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. While there ASEE meet with a hundred or so students who are part of an REU opportunity called (SURF) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship funded by the National Science Foundation. Our guide explained that the SURF program was the brain child of scientists at NIST who wanted to reach out to undergraduate students involved in research. SURF provides a one on one opportunity for students to work directly under scientists in their field. Researchers at NIST are very passionate about the program and thrilled to work with the students, who do not necessarily have to have 4.0 to be part of the fellowship. SURF is about careful guidance taking place in a unique environment and giving students a chance to be part of some really cool research.

The research students do at NIST depend on the student’s field but are inline with NIST’s mission statement, which often revolves around the testing and standardization of common things used by scientist or consumers. NIST is responsible for things like developing, maintaining and advancing the nation’s chemical measurement system to testing the life of house paint under varies environmental conditions. Past work credited to NIST is particularly remarkable, like the discovery of the super conductor or atomic clock.

Other fascinating things, a graft of Newton’s original apple tree in their courtyard, an award winning library, cafeteria and museum located on the research facility.

Jeremy Freeman, neuroscience major, and Lydia Thé, biology major, Awarded NSF Fellowships:

Freeman is an honors special major in neuroscience, combining neurobiology, cognitive psychology, mathematical statistics, and independent neuroscience research in his studies. He studies motion perception with Swarthmore Professor of psychology, Frank Durgin. Freeman has also done extensive research at the N.Y.U. Center for Neural Science with Professors Denis Pelli and David Heeger. His research has focused on understanding how objects are represented in the brain. Most recently, Freeman has used fMRI to measure interactions between different brain regions during object recognition, and to show how these interactions encode object information. Last year, Freeman received a Goldwater Scholarship. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Neural Science at New York University this fall.

Thé started doing science research in high school at the N.Y.U. School of Medicine through a New York Academy of Sciences program. As a biology major at Swarthmore, she has worked with Professor Elizabeth Vallen, studying the role of the myosin protein in yeast cell division. She has also studied germline development in the worm, C. elegans, with Geraldine Seydoux at Johns Hopkins Medicine. She presented her findings at the 2007 International C. elegans Meeting in Los Angeles. This fall, she will join the Molecular and Cell Biology Graduate Program at the University of California at Berkeley.

Related: UAB Students Win NSF Research Fellowships - Nine Dartmouth alumni given NSF Graduate Fellowships

Fellowship announcements have been sent to applicants of the NSF graduate research fellowship, NDSEG fellowship and SMART fellowship programs.

An aspiring ecologists’ blog posts on applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

My bike has been the last to leave the rack outside my building several nights in the past 10 days or so. I imagine I’ll be last again tonight. I’m finally calling it a night after 13 hours at school. I’ve uploaded my essays to FastLane (NSF’s site for applications) in case its overloaded tomorrow afternoon when things are due. I’m planning to do a final proofread tomorrow afternoon, but in the worst case scenario now I’ve got something on FastLane to submit. I’m feeling pretty good about my application.
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I had a short meeting with Herb today. I have SO many questions about starting research. For example [Herb's answer]:
Should I be a TA this summer if I don’t get the NSF GRF? [I don't think you have any other options if you want to continue to pay rent.]

Related: Univ. of Delaware Engineering Student Wins NSF GRF - Geologist Wins NSF Research Fellowship

Five Students Pursue Research Careers with Gilliam Fellowships

The MIC Fellowship Program builds tomorrow’s innovation leaders today. The University of Michigan Medical Innovation Fellowship is a multidisciplinary “team” training program for post-graduate professionals with medical, dental, doctorate, or master’s degrees, who are committed to addressing real healthcare issues through innovation excellence. This program draws on the strengths of Michigan’s renowned schools and colleges to develop a new type of medical innovator with the knowledge and integrated, cross-disciplinary skills necessary to transform problems into practical solutions and discoveries into products. This intensive program provides practical training through experiential learning that allows innovation knowledge to be applied to the medical arena and beyond.

Post-graduate professionals with medical, doctorate, or master’s degrees with a background in medicine, engineering, life sciences, public health, dentistry, or relevant business experience are eligible to apply. Physicians in their residency and who are interested in medical innovation are strongly encouraged to apply.

A nice overview by Mor Harchol-Balter at Carnegie Mellon University on Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science:

A Ph.D. is a long, in depth research exploration of one topic. By long we’re typically talking about 6 years. By in depth we mean that at the end of the Ph.D. you will be the world expert or close to it in your particular area.
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In contrast, a Ph.D. program typically requires typically less than 10 courses during the entire 6 years (at CMU there are 5 required “core” courses, and 3 required “electives”). The emphasis in the Ph.D. is not on classes, but rather on research.
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If you choose to be a professor at a research university, your life will consist of the following tasks: (i) doing research on anything you like, (ii) working with graduate students, (iii) teaching classes, (iv) applying for grants, (v) flying around to work with other researchers and to give talks on your research, (vi) doing service for your department and school (like giving this talk). Note that I say “your life” rather than your job, because for new faculty, your life becomes your job. It’s a fantastic job/life for me because I love these activities, so I’m happy to work hard at all of them, but it’s not right for everyone.

The document also offers a list of fellowships including: the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and NDSEG Graduate Fellowship (both administered by ASEE). Find more science fellowship options in our Science Scholarships and Fellowships Directory.

Related: NSF Graduate Research Fellow Profiles

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship
Each year, the Sloan Foundation chooses 118 fellows out of over 600 nominations. To be eligible for the award, candidates must be faculty members who have received their PhDs within the last six years and in one of the following fields: physics, chemistry, mathematics, neuroscience, economics, computer science, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, or a related interdisciplinary field. The fellowship is open to faculty in both the United States and Canada. Fellows who are awarded will receive $45,000 over a two year period to be used for the fellow’s research.

Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellowship Program
Each year, five new faculty members in computing from the United States and Canada are selected for a $200,000 award which is to be used for research. Universities may only nominate one faculty member per year for the award. Nominees must be in either their first, second or third year of their faculty position. Besides the cash grant, fellows are also given access to additional Microsoft resources, which includes software and conference invitations. Microsoft Research aims to have at least two women Fellows each year.

AT&T Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellowship Program
Up to three awards are made each year to either an individual professor or a team of researchers. The award provides a grant of $25,000 to support the winning proposal. The fields which are eligible for this award are: social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, business, public policy, management science, law, economics, or a related interdisciplinary field.

Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program
Full time science and engineering faculty are eligible to apply for a chance at an eight to twelve week research residency at participating Air Force Research Facilities. The weekly stipends depend on professorial title, broken down as follows: $1300 for Assistant Professors, $1500 for Associate Professors, and $1700 for Professors. Fellows also receive a daily expense allowance of $50.

NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP)
The NFFP awards eligible faculty members with the chance to conduct research for ten weeks at one of its NASA Centers or Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fellows are given a weekly stipend of $1,200 which is not to exceed $12,000 during the ten weeks. Fellows may also receive a relocation allowance. To be eligible, faculty must be either tenured (if at a four year university) or a full time faculty member (if at a two year university). The following disciplines of study are preferred: engineering, mathematics, technology development, or a science discipline that is related to NASA research.

National Academy of Engineering/Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education Faculty Fellow Program
Each year nine new engineering and computer science faculty are chosen to receive the fellowship, which awards fellows with a $1,000 grant for conference travel expenses. Fellows will attend the Frontiers in Education Conference, which provides them with a chance to network while learning about new developments in engineering and computer science education. Applicants for this scholarship must have less than two years of teaching experience and plan on attending the entire conference and one workshop.

Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellowship Program
Since 1995, Boeing has selected exemplary faculty members in engineering, manufacturing and information technology and business to have a chance to be a part of the industrial workplace. The program, which has selected 129 Fellows since it began, allows the selected faculty members to observe and comment on Boeing’s procedures and business practices. At the end of the program, Fellows are asked to submit a report on their observations which contains their suggestions for improvement. They are also asked to present their own personal plan for improving undergraduate education in their field.

Department of Energy Faculty and Student Teams Program (FaST)
The FaST Program provides funding for one faculty member and two or three of his or her undergraduate students. Supported disciplines include science, engineering and technology. Those from underrepresented groups, such as minorities and women, and those from universities with limited resources are especially encouraged to apply. FaST provides the winning team with summer research opportunities in Department of Energy research labs, allowing the faculty member to choose a research area that is mutually beneficial to both the faculty member and the laboratory scientist that the team will work with.