Funding Programs Available Now

Scholarships and Fellowships currently available for optical sciences students are listed below in chronological order according to deadlines. Each title is a link to further information about the funding source and requirements. Many applications are quite lengthy and require letters of recommendation. Begin the application process now.

ASEE administers a number of fellowship and research programs with funding provided by the Federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Programs include undergraduate and graduate research support and postdoctoral research programs for recent PhDs at government and industrial research facilities. Click here for a (pdf) list of awards administered by the ASEE. SMART Scholarship (pdf).

NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program

Fostering new generations of highly skilled scientists and engineers is critically important to the aeronautics community. ARMD, as part of its commitment to mastering the core competencies of aeronautics in all flight regimes, is restructuring its education program, including focusing investments in undergraduate and graduate education.  ARMD is undertaking a new scholarship program focused on aeronautical research and related degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  DEADLINE:  January 17, 2011.

As a student, you represent the future of optics, photonics and imaging, as well as the future of the Society.  SPIE has distributed over $3 million in awards through its scholarship program and has awarded $300,000 in scholarships to students in 2010.  Scholarships are available to high school, undergraduate and graduate students.  DEADLINE:  February 15, 2011.

The Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS) is the premier organization for the exchange of information on the development and application of directed energy, which includes both high energy lasers (HEL) and high power microwaves (HPM). DEPS fosters research and development of DE technology for national defense and civil applications through professional communication and education. The traditional academic disciplines involved in DE research include, but are not limited to, physics, electrical engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, materials sciences, optical sciences, optical engineering, and aerospace engineering.    DEPS is seeking qualified scholarship candidates for 2010-2011. 
DEADLINE: April 1, 2011.

The Department of Optics and Photonics, National Central University, Taiwan invites scholarship applications for incoming exchange students for Summer (Jun. – Jul., internship) and Fall (Sept. – Jan., regular semester) in 2011. The opportunities are offered to undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Optical Sciences, the University of Arizona. The awards range from a total of $3,000-$5,000 per person for Fall semester and $2,000-$2,500 per person for Summer. Award notifications are sent about one month after the application deadline and scholarships are awarded as a monthly stipend during students’ stay in Taiwan. DEADLINE: April 1, 2011 for Summer 2011 and April 15, 2011 for Fall 2011.

This scholarship supports students looking to further their education in the optical sciences field. The requirements to apply for this scholarship include being enrolled either part time or full time at a college or university and maintaining a 3.5 GPA. One, $1,000 scholarship will be disseminated by the Michael Pate Optical Sciences Memorial Scholarship Foundation one time per year. DEADLINE:  June 25, 2011

The AAUW American Fellowships support women doctoral candidates completing dissertations and scholars seeking funds for postdoctoral research leave or for preparing completed research for publication. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. One-year postdoctoral research leave fellowships, dissertation fellowships, and summer/short-term research publication grants are offered. Career Development Grants support women who hold a bachelor's degree and who are preparing to advance their careers, change careers, or re-enter the work force. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Community Action Grants provide seed money to individual women, AAUW branches and AAUW state organizations, as well as local community-based nonprofit organizations for innovative programs or non-degree research projects that promote education and equity for women and girls. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. International Fellowships are awarded for full-time graduate or postgraduate study or research to women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Selected Professions Fellowships are awarded to women who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and who intend to pursue a full-time course of study (during the fellowship year) in designated degree programs where women's participation traditionally has been low. DEADLINE: August 2011

The National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC) offers a unique graduate fellowship in the physical sciences and related engineering fields. It is open to all U. S. Citizens, but with emphasis on recruitment of applications from historically underrepresented minorities and women. An NPSC Fellowship covers the first two or three years of graduate school, depending on the employer who sponsors the fellowship, with the possibility of continuation for several more years providing all the conditions of the fellowship continue to be met. The maximum duration is six years, in which case the overall value (allowance, tuition, fees, summer salary for two summers) of an NPSC fellowship typically well exceeds $200,000.  APPLICATION AVAILABLE: August 25.

The Foundation provides fellowships to the exceptionally talented in the study of applied sciences and engineering.  Each year the Foundation conducts a national competition.  We look to support the graduate education of America's most promising technical talent, the Ph.D.-directed effort of the young men and women who can be expected to have the greatest impact on the application of the physical sciences to human problems during the next half-century.  The Graduate Fellowships of the Hertz Foundation are widely considered to be among the most prestigious offered anywhere. The Foundation's standing policy is that they will be structured to be the most attractive in their class in both material terms and duration of tenure.  APPLICATION AVAILABLE:  Late August.

Twenty of Arizona's premier high-school seniors have chosen to pursue their college education at an Arizona public university on a Flinn Foundation Scholarship. The award provides four years of study, academic-focused travel abroad, personal mentorship by faculty members, and other benefits. The package is valued at approximately $50,000—on top of tuition and fee waivers from their chosen universities.to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study.  DEADLINE: October 2011.

The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans support graduate study in any professional or scholarly discipline for immigrants or children of immigrants who possess at least a green card.  Fellows receive an annual maintenance grant of $20,000 and a tuition grant equivalent to one-half the tuition cost of the fellow's U.S. graduate program (up to $16,000 per academic year.) DEADLINE: November 1

Through its Diversity Fellowship Programs, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, to maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and to increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. Ford Diversity Fellowship awards are offered at the Predoctoral, Dissertation and Postdoctoral levels. Fellowships are awarded in a national competition. Awards are made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panels, have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. To be eligible for a Ford Diversity Fellowship award you must be a citizen of the United States, demonstrate evidence of superior academic achievement (such as grade point average, class rank, honors or other designations), and be committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level.  Awards will be made for study in research-based Ph.D. or Sc.D. programs; practice oriented degree programs are not eligible for support. In addition to the fellowship award, Ford Fellows are eligible to attend the Conference of Ford Fellows, a unique national conference of a select group of high-achieving scholars committed to diversifying the professoriate and using diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. DEADLINE: November 2 for Predoctoral Award, DEADLINE: November 9 for Postdoctoral Award and Dissertation Award.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 900-1,600 graduate fellowships in this competition pending availability of funds. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study.  DEADLINE:  November 10-12

GEM Fellows are selected from the following underrepresented groups: African American, Hispanic American, and Native American. Prospective GEM Fellows must be U.S. citizens at the time of application.  The National GEM Consortium enables outstanding students from the U.S. to obtain master's degrees in engineering and doctorates in engineering and the natural and physical sciences. DEADLINE: November 15

The GRC Graduate Research Fellowship Program is open to students who: have US citizenship or permanent resident status, are pursuing PhD study and will be performing research under an approved sponsored research program. Full tuition and fees for up to five years of doctoral study, competitive stipend, annual gift of $2,000 to the department in which the student is enrolled. Includes Internship opportunities. APPLICATION OPENS: November

The AAAS Fellowships help to establish and nurture critical links between federal decision-makers and scientific professionals to support public policy that benefits the wellbeing of the nation and the planet. Fellows select assignments in Congressional offices or federal agencies. This is a year-long opportunity, beginning September 1 and ending August 31. AAAS seeks candidates from a broad array of backgrounds and a diversity of geographic, disciplinary, gender and ethnic perspectives.  DEADLINE: December

The OSA Foundation offers the Harvey M. Pollicove Scholarship to be awarded annually to a student pursuing a degree in the field of precision optics manufacturing. The $4,000 USD scholarship rotates among several universities including the University of Rochester, the University of Arizona and the University of Central Florida. The 2010 scholarship was presented to a student at the University of Central Florida.

AFCEA Educational Foundation scholarships of $2,000 will be awarded to full-time students pursuing either a Bachelor of Science or Master's of Science degree by means of a distance learning or on-line program.  Candidates must be a U.S. citizen enrolled full time.  DEADLINE: This scholarship has been discontinued. Distance learning students may apply for other scholarships offered sponsored by the AFCEA Educational Foundation.