last updated August 2023
Fellowships
Amelia Earhart Fellowship
$10,000 fellowships for women of any nationality pursuing PhDs in aerospace engineering and space sciences.
Soroptimist International
Provides financial grants to women in the final phase (last 1-2 years) of their doctoral degrees.
Association for Women in Science Graduate Fellowships
Distinguished doctoral research scholarship award of $10,000, awarded annually.
NSERC (Canada)
Canadian students at UH may be eligible for NSERC funding.
Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity
A 3-6 year fellowship of $20,000 annually. You have to be a U.S. citizen and either in your first year at the IfA, or returning from the workforce with no more than a Master’s. They emphasize funding under-represented students, including women.
NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO)
Sponsors US citizens and permanent resident graduate students in space science and technology. Awards are made in the form of grants to accredited U.S. universities on behalf of individuals pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees, with the faculty advisor serving as the principal investigator.
Awards will be made for study in research-based Ph.D. or Sc.D. programs. The fellowship seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity. Only US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents are eligible to apply.
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG)
This fellowship serves as an approach to increasing the number of United States (U.S.) citizens receiving doctoral degrees in science and engineering (S&E) disciplines of military importance.
Science, Mathematics & Research for Transformation Scholarship (SMART)
The SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program is a combined educational and workforce development opportunity for STEM students. Scholarship recipients receive full tuition, annual stipends, internships, and guaranteed employment with the Department of Defense after graduation. Applicants must be citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or United Kingdom at time of application.
DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship
The DOE CSGF provides outstanding benefits and opportunities to students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems. The DOE CSGF is open to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. The fellowship provides four years of support, but must be renewed each summer.
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
The AAUW offers multiple different types of fellowships seeking to empower women to chase their dreams. Some scholarships are specifically for US citizens/permanent residents, others are geared toward international students.
Research Grants
Sigma Xi
The Sigma Xi scientific research society offers grants-in-aid of research of up to $5000, with deadlines of twice a year. Applicants do not have to be members of Sigma Xi.
Travel Grants
University of Hawaii GSO travel grants
The UH graduate student organization (GSO) makes awards for travel to meetings and research materials funding. Maximum for travel is $1000 for a domestic meeting and $2000 for an international meeting to present original results. An applicant who has received a previous travel grant is ineligible to reapply for future GSO travel grants. Proposals are reviewed monthly.
AAS career services
The American Astronomical Society maintains a long list of fellowships that are open to astronomers. Many are only for postdoctoral researchers, but some are aimed at graduate students including FAMOUS Travel Grants (for historically underrepresented groups) and International Travel Grants. The International Travel Grant provides funding for airline travel to international science meetings by individuals at US institutions. In years with an International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly (GA), the grant additionally funds travel for US astronomers to the GA and contemporaneous symposia.
Dr. Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund
The Soffen Fund is a travel grant that offers students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in aerospace-related sciences or engineering fields to attend a meeting at which they will present their research. Grants up to $1000 in Travel Grants are offered, with no individual award greater than $500, contingent upon acceptance of the recipients’ conference abstracts.
Visiting Programs
SAO Pre-doctoral Fellowship
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Pre-doctoral Program has welcomed graduate students with research interests in astrophysics or related fields from universities around the world who want to carry out all or part of their research under the guidance of SAO Scientists. Applicants must have completed preliminary coursework and examinations prior to the start of the SAO Predoctoral Program. The SAO Predoctoral Fellowship is awarded for a period of six months or more depending on the project.
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) Visiting Graduate Student Fellowship (VGSF)
The IPAC VGSF offers six-month positions to graduate students who want to conduct PhD-level astronomical research in close association with IPAC scientists. The program duration is nominally February to August, with some flexibility on the start and end dates, during which a monthly stipend is provided.
