Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The VSGC Graduate Research Fellowship Program provides fellowships of $5,000 add-on support to graduate students to supplement and enhance basic research support. Applicants must be enrolled full-time in a program of study in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) and have a specific faculty-mentored research project that has NASA or aerospace relevance. Awardees will be required to certify through their academic department that basic research support of at least $5,000 in matching funds is being provided before funds are released. This is a competivite fellowship program, funded by NASA and the Commonwealth of Virginia contributions, with the goals of:

• Encouraging undergraduate students in STEM and aerospace-related fields of study to continue to the graduate level;
• Promote graduate aerospace-related research, while recognizing high academic achievement and promise;
• Increasing participation of underrepresented minorities, females and students with disabilities in aerospace-related careers; and,
• Implementing the goals of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5:00 PM EST FEBRUARY 11, 2008.
(Letters of recommendation must be submitted by the reference by February 18, 2008)

Graduate Research Fellowship Application
(First-time users must click on the New User Registration button to begin)

Fellowships are $5,000 add-on awards, designed to supplement and enhance basic graduate research support, such as graduate research assistantships, graduate teaching assistantships, and non-federal scholarships and fellow ships. Awards are made annually and are renewable up to a total of three years for students making satisfactory research and academic progress. Awardees will be required to certify through their academic department that basic research support of at least $5,000 is being provided before funds are released.

Eligibility

The fellowship program is open to graduate students who are U.S. citizens and will be enrolled in a program of full-time study at one of the five Virginia Space Grant universities. Students may apply prior to entering or anytime during their graduate program. Eligibility is not limited to science and engineering majors. Any STEM field of study that includes coursework related to an understanding of or interest in aerospace is eligible.

Successful scholarship recipients are expected to have grade point averages of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Priority for fellowship awards will be given to those who do not receive other federal fellowships such as NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program Fellowships, National Science Foundation Fellowships, etc. Since an important purpose of this program is to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities, females, and persons with disabilities in aerospace-related careers, the VSGC especially encourages applications from these students.

For Graduate Research Fellowship Renewal Applications

Current Graduate Research Fellows applying for a Graduate Fellowship renewal do not need to submit any old transcripts as VSGC has those already on file. Renewal applicants do need to submit transcripts from current institution with Fall 2007 semester grades. In the Educational History section of the application, please only list your current institution. If your institution does not calculate a traditional GPA, please calculate an estimated GPA for the application and add a related comment in the comments field. Renewal applicants only need to submit a progress report for your VSGC-funded research. You do not need to submit a full research proposal for your continued research.

Research Activity

The fellowship program requires students to participate in an active, identified research activity that has STEM or aerospace applications. The research must be supervised by a faculty mentor and may be conducted on the home campus or at an industrial or government facility. The research activity should be continuous and may be conducted anytime during the academic year, summer (defined as a minimum of 10 weeks) or both. The VSGC maintains a list of potential research opportunities offered by NASA centers.

Application Review Process
Applications must be received by the VSGC by February 11, 2008. Awards will be announced by April 2008, with funding provided to students through the universities for the 2008–2009 academic year beginning with the Fall 2008 semester.

Awardee Requirements

Awardees are required to participate in the VSGC’s Annual Student Research Conference to be held in late March or early April 2009. Participation includes attendance and active involvement throughout entire conference, an oral presentation on current research progress, and submission of a research brief for inclusion in the conference proceedings. Additionally, awardees must provide a photo and biographical information upon selection; inform the Consortium of changes of address; and respond to academic and employment follow-up surveys for Space Grant Graduate Research Fellows. Students may also be asked to share research experiences in public forums, classroom presentations and professional meetings. Presentations that encourage interest in aerospace careers and research to high school students are of particular interest to the Consortium.

Disposition of Unused Funds

If an awardee terminates his/her academic program during the 2007–2008 academic year the University is required to return a prorated share of the fellowship award to the VSGC. Fellowship funds are not transfer able.

Applicant Information Form

The application must be submitted online and all information must be complete or the application will not be reviewed. The components of the application are discussed in more detail below.

Description of Proposed Research and Plan of Study

A statement written by the student in consultation with the advisor should describe: the key elements of the proposed research and plan of study; what he/she intends to accomplish; and, identify any aerospace application of the proposed research activity. The statement should not exceed fi ve double-spaced pages. The selection committee is made up of university faculty in a variety of disciplines. Applicants should present their proposed research in a form that will be understandable to a range of readers.

Resume, Letters of Recommendation and Faculty Advisor’s Vita

Applicants will submit a short resume of education, significant accomplishments (e.g. honors or fellowships) and any other relevant information. Applicants will also provide the names and contact information for two references of which one must be the student's faculty advisor. VSGC will contact both references via email to request a letter of recommendation on behalf of the applicant. References will be provided with a link to submit the recommendation. The faculty advisor must submit a short vita (no longer than two pages) that includes name, current position, title, department, university address, phone number, research to date, and principal publications. For the application to be complete, the faculty advisor must submit both a letter of reference and a vita. The VSGC suggests that applicants contact the references listed and inform them that they will receive an email requesting this information on their behalf.

Transcript

Unofficial transcript with grades through Fall 2007 is required and can be submitted as a PDF in the online application. Applicants must submit one transcript from each institiution of higher education attended, whether as an undergraduate or graduate student. If the applicant is selected to receive the award, official transcripts will be required at time of acceptance. If the applicant does not have a PDF conversion tool, links to free on-line PDF converters are provided within the application.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5:00 PM EST FEBRUARY 11, 2008.
(Letters of recommendation must be submitted by the reference by February 18, 2008)

Graduate Research Fellowship Application
(First-time users must click on the New User Registration button to begin)