NDSEG - National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship

Deadline

Overview

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship is a highly competitive, portable fellowship that is awarded to U.S. citizens and nationals who intend to pursue a doctoral degree in one of fifteen supported disciplines. NDSEG confers high honors upon its recipients, and allows them to attend whichever U.S. institution they choose.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is committed to increasing the number and quality of our nation's scientists and engineers, and towards this end, has awarded nearly 3,400 NDSEG fellowships since the program's inception 23 years ago. The NDSEG Fellowship is sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), under the direction of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E).

Benefits

NDSEG Fellowships last for three years and pay for full tuition and all mandatory fees, a monthly stipend, and up to $1,000 a year in medical insurance (this excludes dental and vision insurance).

All Fellows, starting with the 2015 Class, will receive a total of $102,000.00 in stipend funds over the course of their 36-month program tenure. Stipends are prorated monthly based on a 12-month academic year.

If the fellow is not enrolled in an institutionally approved academic study and/or research activity during the summer months, financial support will not be provided. There are no dependency allowances. Persons with disabilities may be considered for additional allowances to offset special educational expenses.

Eligibility criteria

There are four eligibility requirements: citizenship, discipline, academic status, and the ability to accept the full benefit. You must meet all four requirements in order to be eligible.

Citizenship – The NDSEG Fellowship Program is open only to applicants who are citizens or nationals of the United States. The term "nationals" refers to native residents of a possession of the United States such as American Samoa. It does not refer to a citizen of another country who has applied for U.S. citizenship. Persons who hold permanent resident status are not eligible. Proof of citizenship will be required upon formal offer.

Discipline – Your field of study must fit under one of the fifteen supported disciplines.

Academic Status – NDSEG Fellowships are intended for students at or near the beginning of their doctoral studies in science or engineering. Applicants must have received or be on track to receive their bachelor's degrees.

ASEE and the DoD use academic status guidelines to ensure that students at or near the beginning of their graduate studies receive fellowships. To be eligible, applicants must either:

• be enrolled in their final year of undergraduate studies, or
• have completed less than two full-time years of graduate study in the discipline in which they are applying.

Ability to accept – You must intend to pursue a doctoral degree in order to be eligible for NDSEG Fellowship support. If you are awarded, you must start your tenure in the fall of that year. The NDSEG Fellowship can be deferred only under exceptional circumstances; you will not be able to defer it if you were awarded another fellowship you wish to use instead.

NDSEG Fellows must be enrolled full-time and must be pursuing graduate study at a U.S. institution; the NDSEG Fellowship does not pay for tuition at any non-U.S. institution.

A fellow may not accept simultaneous remuneration from another major fellowship. Fellows must be eligible to accept both the tuition benefit and the full stipend amount.

Selection criteria

An evaluation panel in each discipline reviews all complete and eligible applications. Each application is evaluated by a panel whose expertise is in the science or engineering discipline of the applicant's proposed doctoral degree program.

The evaluation of applicants is based on review of their entire online application, including academic records, personal statements, recommendations, and GRE scores. The top applications that are ranked by the evaluation panel are then forwarded on to the Department of Defense.

The DoD then selects applicants to receive NDSEG Fellowships based on an assessment of the applicants’ academic ability in fields of interest to the DoD.

Application Process

https://ndseg.asee.org/apply_online