We just wanted to give a big shout out to all of the 2012 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship winners. This post is a roundup of recent articles we’ve collected from around the web. If you have an article and do not see it here, please feel free to add a link in the comments. Congrats everyone!
Alexandra Bentz (photo credit: Appalachian State University)
Appalachian State University
Have passion, seize opportunities and solve challenges, graduates told
Alexandra Bentz, received a $30,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. Read more.
From left to right: Erik Stout, Brian Perea, Michael Kenney, John Ingraham. (photo credit: Chakris Kussalanant)
Arizona State University
4 juniors win top national awards as up-and-coming scientists
Four remarkable ASU juniors who already are doing sophisticated research and presenting their work to national audiences have won Goldwater Scholarships, the nation’s premier awards for undergraduates studying science, math and engineering. Read more.
Bianca Williams (photo credit: Auburn University)
Auburn University
Two Auburn University seniors awarded National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships
Auburn University students Bianca Williams, a senior in chemical engineering, and Devin Kalafut, a senior in mechanical engineering, have been awarded National Science Foundation graduate fellowships. Read more.
(photo credit: Baylor University)
Baylor University
Baylor Doctoral Student Awarded National Science Foundation Fellowship
Zack Valdez, doctoral candidate in The Institute of Ecological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (TIE3S) at Baylor University, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowship in the geosciences. Read more.
Caroline Smith (photo credit: Veenema Lab)
Boston College
BC grad student wins NSF graduate fellowship
Caroline Smith, graduate student in Alexa Veenema’s lab, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for her research on the neural mechanisms regulating social novelty-seeking. Read more.
Elyas Bakhtiari (photo credit: Boston University)
Boston University
PhD candidate Bakhtiari awarded NSF Fellowship
Sociology Ph.D Candidate Elyas Bakhtiari was awarded one of three graduate student fellowships under the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellows Program. Read more.
Samuel McCandlish (photo credit: Brandeis University)
Brandeis University
Six scientists secure fellowships
Samuel McCandlish ’12 (Physics) , a current student who did research with Michael Hagan and Aparna Baskaran, resulting in a paper “Spontaneous segregation of self-propelled particles with different motilities” in Soft Matter(as a junior). Read more.
(photo credit: City University of New York)
City University of New York (CUNY)
Record 16 CUNY students win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
A record 16 CUNY students — 15 of whom earned undergraduate degrees at the University — have won National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships for work toward their master’s or doctoral degrees. Read more.
(photo credit: Rice University)
Rice University
20 NSF fellowships awarded to Rice students for graduate study
The six Rice seniors and 14 Rice graduate students chosen as NSF graduate research fellows will receive support for three years of graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in the fields of science and engineering relevant to the NSF’s mission. Read more.
Jennifer Sepulveda (photo credit: University of Arizona)
University of Arizona
Students Awarded NSF Graduate Fellowships
Five students who participated in federally funded graduate education preparatory programs for low-income, first-generation or underrepresented students at the University of Arizona have earned National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Read more.
Elizabeth (Lizzy) Mahoney (photo credit: University of Delaware)
University of Delaware
Ten win prestigious graduate fellowships from National Science Foundation
Ten University of Delaware students and recent alumni have received National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Program Fellowships. Numerous Nobel Prize winners are among past recipients of the prestigious award. Read more.
(photo credit: University of Hawaii at Hilo)
University of Hawaii at Hilo
UH Hilo students earn Graduate Fellowships
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has presented Graduate Student Fellowship Awards to a pair of University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo students enrolled in the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science (TCBES) master’s degree program. Read more.
Left to Right: Cameron Williams, Audrey Cheong, Darren Seibert and Thomas Markovich (photo credit: University of Houston)
University of Houston
5 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships awarded to UH students, alumna
From cognitive neuroscience to theoretical physics, this year’s National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellows from the University of Houston (UH) have their sights set on careers in fields ranging from medicine to energy. Read more.
Adam J Dixon (photo credit: adamjdixon.com)
University of Virginia
Ten U.Va. Graduate Students Earn NSF fellowships
This year’s fellowship winners will be conducting graduate work, in biomedical engineering, developmental psychology and social psychology. Four of them, all in biomedical engineering, earned their bachelor’s degrees from U.Va. Read more.
Last night we had a fantastic seminar at the Tufts Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences with an audience of talented doctoral students interested in postdoctoral fellowships. It was interesting to hear from these students that at end of their studies, they are generally expected to secure a position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and then seek funding to support their postdoctoral research. The problem? NIH positions and funding are becoming more and more competitive. These students were very surprised to hear that there are alternative sources of funding, as well as alternative career paths after a doctorate.
Some alternatives to NIH postdoctoral positions include the Humboldt Research Fellowships in Germany, sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. These are for young researchers who have finished their doctorate in the past four years. Germany is the European hub for science and technology research, but one of the great perks of these fellowships is that you can spend up to 25% of your fellowship in other parts of Europe. AvH also offers the one-year German Chancellor Fellowship for professionals, which includes 3 months of intensive German language training (I’m an alumni – class of 2003-4).
Other postdoctoral fellowships include the Smithsonian Institution fellowships or the Pews Scholars Program in Biomedical Sciences.
What I hear often from doctoral students is that they’re burnt-out after the intensity of completing a PhD, and they don’t necessarily want to begin a postdoc immediately after graduation. A professional fellowship is the perfect opportunity for a short-term paid position in something other than research. For example, a recent graduate could pursue a science policy fellowship and spend a year in Washington, DC, or consider a fellowship in K-12 teaching. There are a number of teaching fellowships that support your transition directly into teaching and the simultaneous completion of your Master’s in Education, such as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation program. The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation also offers teaching fellowships for individuals committed to teaching high school mathematics, physical sciences or biological sciences.
If you’re interested in fellowships whether postdoc or professional, one piece of advice I give to students is to begin looking for them early, ideally a year in advance of when you would like to begin a fellowship. Fellowships that begin in the summer or fall often have application deadlines as early as October of the previous year, and application preparation can be time-consuming. Often you need to secure reference letters and prepare an essay and/or project proposal. You should also allow yourself time to speak to former fellows and make contact with potential host institutions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Good luck!
In preparation for my upcoming seminar at MIT, I’ve gone back through my posts on science and engineering fellowships. Here’s a review of some of the best we’ve found.
Engineering:
- The Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship is a competitive and prestigious fellowship for exceptionally talented doctoral students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences.
- The Amelia Earhart Fellowship is a $10,000 award for women of any nationality pursuing a doctoral degree in the field of aerospace-related sciences and aerospace-related engineering.
- The Hydro Fellowship Program is awarded to mechanical and electrical engineering graduate students in their final year of study who are interested in conducting research related to the improvement of conventional hydropower.
- The KPCB Engineering Fellows Program is a paid summer fellowship for entrepreneurial engineering students at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Science:
- Yale University offers 20-25 annual Gruber Science Fellowships for students of any nationality pursuing a PhD in biomedical and biological sciences or in astronomy and astrophysics.
- The L’Oreal USA Fellowships for Women in Science is a competitive fellowship program that provides five awards of up to $60,000 to women postdoctoral researchers who are pursuing careers in the life and physical/material sciences, as well as mathematics, engineering and computer science.
Tech:
- Code for America is a highly competitive professional fellowship program that recuits talented web developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to work on innovative tech projects in city government agencies across the U.S., including Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, DC and Boston.
- The Google Policy Fellowship is a paid summer fellowship for undergraduate, graduate, and law students to spend 10 weeks in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Toronto or Ottawa, Canada at public interest organizations working on public policy in broadband access, content regulation, copyright and trademark reform, consumer privacy, and open government.
- The DHS Emerging Leaders in Cybersecurity is a paid professional fellowship program for computer science graduates; fellows complete rotational assignments at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC.
We hope to see you at our Spring 2012 University Tour in Boston! Read here for details.
The Amelia Earhart Fellowship program helps talented women pursue advanced studies in aerospace-related sciences and engineering, a field traditionally dominated by men. Today women represent just 10% of professionals in these fields.
The Amelia Earhart Fellowship is an award of $10,000 USD, and is given annually to 35 recipients from all over the globe. The fellowship award can be used to purchase things such as state-of-the-art computers, books, and other resources for conducting research. To date, Amelia Earhart Fellows represent 65 different countries, and have gone on to become astronauts, aerospace engineers, astronomers, professors, geologists, business owners, heads of companies, even Secretary of the US Air Force.
Women of any nationality pursuing a Ph.D./doctoral degree who demonstrate a superior academic record in the field of aerospace-related sciences and aerospace-related engineering are eligible to apply.
“The Amelia Earhart Fellowship is more than a fellowship that helped me financially while conducting my research. I met so many wonderful women in all walks of life that are truly engaged in helping women to advance and succeed, the spirit of which I will appreciate for a long time to come.” - Peihua Jing, China, Amelia Earhart Fellow, 2002 & 2005
What’s even better about this fellowship is that you can win it more than once! To learn more about the Amelia Earhart Fellowship Program please visit the website.
The Google Policy Fellowship program is like “Google’s Summer of Code with a public policy twist.” On this one-of-a-kind public policy fellowship, undergraduate, graduate, and law students spend 10 weeks in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Toronto, or Ottawa, Canada working at public interest organizations at the forefront of debates on broadband and access policy, content regulation, copyright and trademark reform, consumer privacy, and open government. Google provides a stipend of $7,500 USD to each Fellow for the summer.
More than a a dozen organizations participate in the program, including the American Library Association, Creative Commons, the Competitive Enterprise Institute or the New American Foundation through its Open Technology Initiative. The Open Technology Initiative recently received media attention for its “Internet in a briefcase” technology for the State Department, which will allow dissidents to make Internet networks portable across borders of repressive regimes in – literally – a suitcase.
This past May, Google also extended the fellowship program to the Asia Pacific region, providing opportunities to students in this region interested in legal and policy issues related to the open Internet.
Applications – including a resume and a 750-word personal statement, are due Feb. 3, 2012. Apply now!
I often hear people talk about their desire to change careers, to do something more meaningful than their current corporate job. Yet, many people are unsure how to make this change, especially in a downturned economy where jobs are scarce. One industry that is in dire need of a new injection of talent and enthusiasm is teaching. The UN estimates that 8 million teachers are needed worldwide by 2015 in order to provide universal access to primary education. The timing couldn’t be better for a career change into teaching.
There are a number of teaching fellowships around the United States, some specifically for career changers with no previous teaching experience. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation funds a teaching fellowship program in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, to prepare career changers and college graduates to teach math, science, engineering and technology in rural and urban schools. Fellows commit to teach for at least 3 years, and receive a $30,000 stipend to complete a special intensive master’s program at a local university. This program is expanding thanks to a recent $4.9 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.
The New York City American Museum of Natural History also just launched a new teaching fellowship. The Museum has created a paid teaching fellowship for their 15-month Master of Arts program in science teaching, which is intended to train middle school and high school Earth science teachers. Students spend two summers working with scientists and educators at the Museum, one in a youth program and the other in a science practicum residency. In between, students spend 10 months in a New York City school, paired with an exemplary teacher selected by school principals.
The options are endless! We hope to have many teaching fellowships on ProFellow soon. Stay tuned!
The NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship is currently accepting applications for the 2012 fellowship program. Master’s and PhD students will receive up to $30,000 a year to help NASA study earth from space, understand the sun, consider the evolution of the solar system and discover the destiny of the universe. The purpose of the fellowship is to ensure NASA has a highly qualified workforce needed to achieve NASA’s scientific goals.
The fellowship call for proposals and submission instructions are located at the NESSF 12 solicitation index page at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/. Click on “Solicitations” then click on “Open Solicitations” then select the “NESSF 12″ announcement. Applications are due February 1, 2012.
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program is a unique teaching fellowship for accomplished K-12 educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to serve in the national education arena. Fellows spend eleven months working in a Federal agency or Congress, bringing their extensive knowledge and experience in the classroom to education program and/or education policy efforts.
One of this year’s Fellows, Mike Kennedy, has returned to his home school, Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, IL , with a new perspective.
“I’m not going to lie — it was awesome,” said Kennedy, physics teacher and boys’ track and field head coach. “I worked in the Department of Energy, and it was a perfect fit for me. It would be really hard to pick the highlights of the year, but one of the best things was being able to work with the other fellows. They are absolutely phenomenal people who are really trying to make sure that education is pushed forward.” Read more.
Albert Einstein Fellows help implement and evaluate national education programs, draft legislation, and initiate collaboration among Federal agencies, among other things. Applications for next year’s fellowships are due January 5, 2012.