Graduate Fellowships

Graduate School Fellowships:

There are many fellowships that provide funding for graduate school as an award to the student, rather than to a faculty adviser. Funding is an important consideration for faculty members when they are admitting prospective PhD students because they are the ones paying you. Therefore, if you have your own funding, you are a much more attractive applicant. Because fellowship decisions are released after graduate school decisions, it is common for applicants who are rejected or waitlisted from a program to be accepted if they win a fellowship. Seniors are strongly encouraged to apply because for many fellowships you may apply again in graduate school. Many fellowship programs in the U.S. are aimed at U.S. citizens or permanent residents.  Well-known fellowships include:

  • NSF GRF: This is by far the most well-known fellowship. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and it awards around 2,000 scholarships to applicants who will pursue a PhD in STEM. This scholarship is also unique in that applicants receive feedback on their applications regardless of the decision. 
  • NDSEG: This fellowship is funded by the Department of Defence (DoD) and it awards around 200 scholarships to applicants who will pursue a PhD in a discipline that is relevant to the DoD (including physics). 
  • DOE CSGF: This fellowship is funded by the Department of Energy (DoE) and it awards around 25 scholarships to applicants whose PhDs will emphasize computational methods. 
  • Hertz: This fellowship is funded by The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation and it awards around 10 scholarships to applicants who will pursue a PhD in STEM. 

International Fellowships:

There are also many international fellowships that fund experiences abroad. The Fulbright Scholarship sends students from the U.S. to many countries around the world to conduct research or to teach English. There are an especially high number of scholarships that send students from the U.S. to the U.K., such as Fulbright, Churchill, Mitchell, Marshall, Rhodes, and Gates-Cambridge. Note that to apply for the Fulbright, Marshall, Churchill, Mitchell, or Rhodes you must first be nominated by Rice. The Rice Center for Civic Leadership (CCL) runs the nomination process and more information can be found on their website.