Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships Blog

Notifications have recently been sent out for numerous scholarships and fellowships supported by the American Society for Engineering Education. Please visit the respected programs’ individual websites for more information.

The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program, which invests in the educational development of the aeronautics workforce by providing opportunities to attract undergraduate and graduate students to the aeronautics and related fields, sent out notifications late last week.

The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship, which also let applicants know their status late last week, is a scholarship for service program which gives awardees a fully scholarship for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

Notifications of awardees were sent out early this week for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This fellowship supports graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

Congratulations to all applicants and awardees for all your hard work!

The deadlines for the NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program are approaching this Monday. If you have applied or are finishing an application for the program, be sure to mark your calendars and be attentive of the impending deadline dates.

Application Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time):

November 02, 2009

Interdisciplinary fields of Study

November 04, 2009

Mathematical Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering

November 05, 2009

Social Sciences; Psychology; Geosciences

November 06, 2009

Life Sciences

November 10, 2009

Chemistry; Physics and Astronomy

November 12, 2009

Engineering

The 2010 Graduate Research Fellowship Program application is now available online.

The GRFP is intended for students pursuing research-focused Master’s and PhD degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Applicants must have completed no more than 12 months of graduate study throughout their entire graduate career, including both Masters and PhD programs. Applicants must be US citizens, US nationals, or permanent resident aliens, and must be proposing to carry out a research-focused Master’s or PhD program in an NSF supported field.

For general information about eligibility requirements and supported fields, please view the 2010 GRFP Program Solicitation.

Sarah Khasawinah, a recent graduate from Bryn Mawr College, has been awarded the 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Khasawinah completed both a A.B. and a M.A. from Bryn Mawr.

Khasawinah has also participated in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program and founded The Solidarity Project. The Solidarity Project was founded to create a $10,000 scholarship fund at Virginia Tech in memory of each of the 32 victims from the shootings in 2007.

Khasawinah will use her award to pursue her graduate studies at John Hopkins University in biostatistics.

Three Iowa State University students received awards from the 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). They were Cory Kleinheksel, Joseph Miller and Raathai Molian.

Cory Kleinheksel will be graduating with his BS in Computer Engineering this semester and will begin pursuing his PhD in embedded and sensor systems in the fall. Kleinheksel explains, “My proposed research is for a middleware system that emphasizes modular concepts for improved integration of sensor node data and high-level applications that would use the data.”

Joseph Miller is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. His advisor, Terrence Meyer, is thrilled about Miller’s achievements throughout his academic career. Meyer exclaims, “Throughout his career and academic experiences, Joe has developed the ability to think like a researcher. He looks for the part of our understanding that is missing and develops a systematic way to address it. His excellence in academics and research deserves to be recognized with this great honor.” While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Miller was also a recipient of Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship. He later on achieved the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship in 2007.

Raathai Molian graduated with her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State in 2008 and will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall to continue her studies in Mechanical Engineering. Molian has yet to specify a research plan, however she will continue her research in the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity at MIT. Molian explained, “The award offers me flexibility and independence in my research. It provides me with a solid foundation to build upon as I earn my PhD.”

Mary Katherine Watson, a graduate student at Clemson University, received an award from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Watson intends to use the funding to further her research in the field of Biosystems Engineering.

Watson exclaims, “I am excited to have received an NSF graduate fellowship and I am confident that undergraduate and graduate research in Biosystems Engineering at Clemson University has prepared me to continue my graduate education.”

Watson will continue her research in Fall 2009 while pursuing a PhD in Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech.

On May 19, the honorable mentions and additional awards were announced for the 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Non-awardees and other awardees were notified of their results via email in early April.

The GRFP is intended for students pursuing research-focused Master’s and PhD degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Applicants must have completed no more than 12 months of graduate study throughout their entire graduate career, including both Masters and PhD programs. Applicants must be US citizens, US nationals, or permanent resident aliens, and must be proposing to carry out a research-focused Master’s or PhD program in an NSF supported field.

The application for the 2010 GRFP will open in August 2009 with a deadline in November 2009. Please visit www.nsfgrfp.org for more information.

Sarah Latshaw, a graduate student at the College of Charleston, received this year’s Graduate Research Fellowship. Latshaw’s field of study is Environmental Studies and is currently researching “Restoration of Maritime Habitats on the Barrier Island Using The Painted Bunting (Passerina Ciris) as a Flagship Species”.

Latshaw received her bachelor’s in Wildlife Biology from the Warnell School of Forest Resources at the University of Georgia and has a significant background in the areas of wildlife biology and environmental education. Latshaw is currently working under her advisor, Dr. Paul Nolan, on Kiawah Island. She continues to lead environmental tours, scheduling school trips to learn about the local wildlife, and maintain a nature program’s monthly newsletter.

Laura Beasman is a student at John Hopkin’s Institute for NanoBioTechnology. A recipient of both the IGERT grant and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Beasman is currently working in a lab whose research will hopefully lead to treatments and a cure for blood vessel disorders.

Beasman has also accepted an offer from the NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES). She will work on a short term project in Belgium with one of the top research labs for nanoelectronics and nanotechnology.

“The ultimate goal is to direct the cells to become blood vessels,” Beasman says. Part of their initial success in this project was simply getting the HA, which is a large sugar molecule, to stay where she put it on the surface. Recently, Beasman has started working with adult stem cells. Her work is co-advised by Kathleen Stebe, John Hopkins research professor, INBT affiliate and IGERT program director.

For more information on Laura Beasman and her work at the John Hopkin’s Institute for NanoBioTechnology, please visit http://inbt.jhu.edu/igert-student-profile-laura-beasman/2009/04/22

Four alumni from Oberlin College have received this year’s 2009 National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship. Associate Professor of Chemisty at Oberlin, Manish Mehta, exclaims, “This year’s outcome of four winners is a healthy one, and it is yet another national recognition of the strength of the sciences at Oberlin, including student collaborations with faculty members.

The following Oberlin alumni were awarded the 2009 NSF GRF:

Peter Collopy, who graduated from Oberlin in 2007, is currently pursuing his graduate studies in the history and sociology of sciences at the University of Pennsylvannia.

Tera Levin, also a 2007 graduate, attends the University of California, Berkeley for evolutionary biology.

Alexander Nichols began his graduate studies in Fall 2008. He is enrolled in a joint Harvard-MIT program for biophysics.

David Smith is pursuing his PhD in molecular biology at the University of Washington, Seattle.

For the next three years during their graduate research, Collopy, Levin, Nichols, and Smith will each be receiving a $30,000 annual stipend and $10,500 for annual cost-of-education allowance as part of the fellowship.

For more information on the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, please visit www.nsfgrfp.org