Category Archives: Fellowships, Scholarships

Information on fellowships, scholarships, internships and other resources for aiding your science and engineering education.

Goldwater Science Scholarships

I have mentioned previously, I work for ASEE (the curious cat blog is not associated with ASEE). At ASEE, we have started a science and engineering fellowship blog. The latest post covers the Goldwater Science Scholarships – for undergraduate students in science and math. Approximately 300 are awarded each year.

For 2007, 28 mathematics majors, 223 science and related majors, 54 engineering majors, and 12 computer science majors received awards (many of the Scholars have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering, and computer disciplines). The one and two year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established by Public Law 99-661 on November 14, 1986. The Scholarship Program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Applications will be available starting in September for next year. Schools nominate up to 4 students for the scholarship, see the web site for details on the application process.

$10 Million for Engineering Education Scholarships

$10 million perk aims to help prove engineering is the profession to pursue (link broken)

Kao today will announce that his family foundation is donating $10 million to establish scholarship funds at six regional universities for students majoring in electrical and computer engineering. Kao, an electrical engineer who co-founded Garmin, said he decided to fund the program because he was concerned the United States was losing its edge in engineering and design.

“As a business leader of a company like Garmin, and as an immigrant, I feel it should be a real concern for this country,” Kao said. “I don’t think it’s good for a country to be a pure service business.” The education initiative is the somewhat private billionaire CEO’s first significant endowment in the Kansas City area. “Compared to Asian countries, the career of engineer is somewhat overlooked” in the United States, Kao said. “Young kids don’t aspire to be engineers.”
…
The endowment from the Kao Family Foundation will be used to fund 100 scholarships a year, offering students $5,000 annually. It will be tied in with Garmin’s internship program, offering 75 or more summer jobs that include a furnished apartment and health and dental benefits.

Funding for Science and Engineering Researchers

To authorize programs for support of the early career development of science and engineering researchers, and for support of graduate fellowships, and for other purposes. passed the house on a vote of 397 – 20 and was forwarded to the senate. From the majority whips talking points:

supports outstanding researchers in the early stages of their careers through grants at the National Science Foundation (NSF)
and the Department of Energy of $80,000 per year for 5 years
…
enlarges an existing program at NSF supporting graduate students in multidisciplinary fields of national importance

This bill started with the same name as the Sowing the Seeds Through Science and Engineering Research Act – though seems to be missing much on fellowships now.

Fellowship Winners

Several fellowships and scholarships have announced winners for this year:

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Department of Defense (NDSEG) Fellowships – no online list of winners yet
Marshall Scholarships (link broken, so removed)
Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship – blog announcement

As I have mentioned before I work for ASEE (which manages the NSF and NDSEG fellowships): this blog is my personal blog and is not associated with ASEE.

Find out more about these and other science and engineering fellowships and scholarships. Also see: How to Win a Graduate Fellowship – NSF Undergraduate STEM Scholarships

A Life-changing Gift

A nice human interest story, A life-changing gift:

All children have dreams. Many boys dream of growing up and becoming prime minister, a pilot, a doctor or an astronaut. For young Anusorn Pinsuwan, however, he didn’t dream that much. ”I just wanted to study. Then I could dare to dream of being something else, like an engineer or a teacher. But I didn’t think I could make my dreams come true as I didn’t have the money to study,” said Anusorn, now 25. ”But, at least, we shouldn’t sabotage our own dreams. We should give ourselves a chance.”

One of his dreams has been achieved, thanks to the support of the Bangkok Post readers, through a Bangkok Post Foundation scholarship. After excelling at Rajamangala University of Technology, Tak campus, he secured a place at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, North Bangkok, studying civil engineering. He graduated in 2005, and his first job offer from a private construction company followed shortly.

Increasing American Fellowship Support for Scientists and Engineers

A great research paper is available today from the Brookings Institution: Investing in the Best and Brightest: Increased Fellowship Support for American Scientists and Engineers by Richard B. Freeman. For those interesting in science and engineering education and/or economic policy I recommend it.

In 2005, the United States employed about 31 percent of the world’s scientist and engineer researchers and financed 35 percent of R&D while accounting for 5 percent of the world’s population and 21 percent of the world’s GDP…
The U.S. share of global science and engineering activity is declining, however, and will continue to decline

I agree the declining trend is likely to continue, mainly due to the improvement of science and engineering efforts worldwide, see, for example: Diplomacy and Science Research and – U.S. Slipping on Science – Phony Science Gap?.

The growth of high-tech employment in Silicon Valley and in university-based locations of scientific excellence suggests that innovation, production, and employment in high-tech fields occur largely in areas strong in basic science.10 The supply of scientists and engineers is a major factor in the location of these centers of excellence.

Again I agree. I am in danger of confirmation bias since this report basically reinforces what I believe – so of course I find it worthwhile.

While no one can be sure of the particular areas where an increased number of scientists and engineers might make their greatest contribution, our recent history is filled with examples where young innovative researchers have made major contributions to economic progress: The Internet. The biotech industry. The PC. The mathematics of cryptography that underpins Internet commerce.

Again I agree. This is why so many countries have been devoting significant resources to improving their science and technology infrastructure – the economic benefits of doing so.
Continue reading →

Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships

I have added a new page on our web site that includes links to online resources with advice on applying for and winning science and engineering scholarships and fellowships. That page also includes a list of the largest science and engineering scholarships and fellowships. Please share your comments and suggestions for additions for that page.

NSF Undergraduate STEM Scholarships

NSF Undergraduate Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM).

“This program makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level degree in science and engineering disciplines. Grantee institutions are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, reporting demographic information about student scholars, and managing the S-STEM project at the institution.” Students apply directly to the school.

Related: July post on this program (applications are taken each semester) – More science and engineering fellowships and grants

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) pays the fellow’s full tuition and required fees (not to include room and board). In addition, fellows receive a stipend for 12-month tenures. The stipend levels for each of the 12-month tenures are as follows:
Period First Year Second Year Third Year
Amount $30,500 $31,000 $31,500

From 2003 to 2006, 656 awards were granted out of 10,593 applications. Applicaitons must be submitted by January 8, 2007.

Awards provided to applicants who will pursue a doctoral degree in, or closely related to (see web site for full list):

* Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
* Chemical Engineering
* Computer and Computational Sciences
* Electrical Engineering
* Materials Science and Engineering
* Mathematics
* Mechanical Engineering
* Oceanography
* Physics

Programing Bacteria

Duke Packard Fellow to Examine Processing Speed of “Reprogrammed” Bacteria:

research into the development of synthetic gene circuits, carefully designed combinations of genes that can be “loaded” into bacteria or other cells, directing their activity in much the same way that a basic computer program directs a computer. Such re-programmed bacteria might eventually serve in a wide variety of applications, including biocomputing, medical treatments, and environmental cleanup
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The research now, however, is in its very early stages, You said. So far, E. coli bacteria have been programmed to grow in numbers until a certain population size is reached. The bacteria then kill themselves off, growing again only after their numbers dwindle sufficiently.

The relatively simple program takes advantage of bacteria’s ability to communicate with one another, a process known as “quorum sensing,” and essential genetic pathways that control cell death.