This is meant to list off several fellowships and opportunities that I have come across during my undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as some personal anecdotes and links to other’s websites that provide insightful information and advice when applying. This page is by no means comprehensive. Good luck!
There are several fellowships that are relevant to most STEM graduate students, including:
- National Science Foundation-Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP)
- This is the one that most graduate students will apply for. Keep in mind, as of 2016, the rules have changed such that each applicant only gets to submit one time once they get into graduate school. Award rate for 2017 was ~15%.
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
- This fellowship stresses – in my opinion – an applicants track record, rather than their statements. My suggestion for all applying, make your statement very concise and to the point about how it can be applied to the DoD (i.e., there isn’t room for drawn-out stories). Award rate for 2016 was ~6%.
- Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship
- The Hertz fellowship is for the cream of the crop (so to speak) of applicants. Applicants go through two rounds of interviews for this fellowship. It is, to the best of my knowledge, one of the most selective fellowships. That said, if you win the Hertz, you can think of yourself as a “rockstar” among early graduate students. Award rate is generally < 2%.
- Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
- Josephine De Karman Fellowship (Final year of Ph.D.)
- Science Mathematics & Research for Transformation (SMART) Fellowship
- DoE Office of Science Graduate Research (SCGSR) Fellowship
- DoE Computational Science Gradaute Fellowship
- Various NIH grants…
Additional Opportunities for Graduate Students
- Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings
- These meetings for Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Physiology (or Medicine), and Peace happen every couple of years. This is a great opportunity to travel to Lindau, Germany, and meet several Nobel Laureates in your respective field and interact with them for ~5 days.
- Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award
- This award is to support the attendance of a graduate student at the Annual Meeting of the Associate of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). This is a great opportunity to meet with fellow academics whose mission is to increase the diversity and quality of the educational system.
- NextProf Workshop (@UMichigan, Gatech, UC Berkeley)
- This is a four-day workshop hosted jointly by the University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology, and UC Berkeley that aims to teach participants about how to expand their professional network, learn about the faculty search process, and learn how to navigate your early career as a faculty member.
- Mavis Future Faculty Fellows Academy (UIUC Students only)
- This is a great opportunity for engineering graduate students at UIUC who are interested in pursuing a career in academia. This is a year-long program that aims to lower the activation barriers for obtaining a professorship by exposing the fellows to the application and tenure process.
- Future Faculty Workshop (@ University of Delaware)
- This is a three-day workshop hosted at the University of Delaware that is aimed to provide mentorship to senior graduate students and post docs who are aspiring to become academic researchers in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, or polymer science.
