Formerly known as the National Physical Science Consortium, Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity is a partnership between government agencies and laboratories, industry, and higher education. GFSD is open for application by all U.S. citizens regardless of race or gender. GFSD's goal is to increase the number of American citizens with graduate degrees in STEM fields, emphasizing recruitment of a diverse applicant pool. As shown in the chart below and on the Diversity page, the GFSD applicant pool is the most diverse of any national STEM fellowship program. And applicants are talented: the average GPA of 2019 applicants was 3.7 and 19% had a GPA of 4.0 or above. GFSD seeks additional government agencies and corporations to support fellowships for these deserving students, a vital national resource.
Download a one-page information sheet.
GFSD OFFERS:
DIVERSITY
The GFSD applicant pool is the most diverse of any national STEM fellowship program.
TALENT
The average GPA of applicants in the fall of 2018 was 3.8. Of those, 17% had a GPA of 4.0 or above. Data for 2019 are given above. Applicants came from major research universities, liberal arts colleges, HBCU's, state universities, and more.
COST EFFECTIVENESS
Because university members do not require GFSD fellows to pay tuition, a GFSD fellowship costs a government agency or corporation typically less than half what it would cost them to fund their own fellowships. The annual allowance per fellow is $20,000, and the GFSD fee is $7,000, for a total annual cost of $27,000. This is roughly one-third the annual cost of an NDSEG fellowship or DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship.
GFSD BENEFITS
CORPORATIONS
Corporations recognize the importance of joining together with academia to increase the overall number of U.S.-citizens with STEM doctorates, especially women and under-represented minorities. GFSD allows corporations access to greater gender and ethnic diversity than any national STEM fellowship program. See here.
The summer internships allow corporations to come to know the future PhD's whom they may wish someday to hire.
GOVERNMENT
GFSD offers its government partners access to the most diverse pool of STEM pre-doctoral students in the nation. They are also among the most talented: the average GPA of the 277 applicants in the fall of 2018 was 3.8. Of those, 17% had a GPA of 4.0. Applicants came from major research universities, liberal arts colleges, HBCU's, state universities, and more. Moreover, GFSD costs an agency or lab much less than the cost of providing their own fellowships..
STUDENTS
The GFSD program is unique:
- open to all American citizens
- lasts for up to 6 years
- provides an annual $20,000 expense allowance
- total allowance funding up to $120,000
- covers full tuition and required fees
- portable to 125 research universities
- allows a research or teaching assistantship
- paid summer internships with the sponsor
- provides a mentor from the sponsoring agency
- establishes a lasting relationship with the sponsor
UNIVERSITIES
GFSD provides universities with carefully selected, talented, and diverse predoctoral STEM students. They bring a $20,000 allowance provided by government or industry. In addition, for a fee, GFSD's applicant database is available to universities. Some 125 research universities are members.
Selected GFSD Alumni
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NPSC Fellow Dr. Catherine Beni
Youngest person to receive a PhD from the California Institute of Technology -
NPSC Fellow Dr. Tamara Kolda
Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories.
See here for video of a talk Dr. Kolda gave at SIAM. -
Dr. Sandra Lee Knowles, Principal Scientist
Merck Research Laboratories -
Dr. Stephanie Land, Research Associate Professor
Program Director and Statistician, Tobacco Control Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute -
Dr. John Cavazos
Assistant Professor of Computer & Info. Sciences
University of Delaware -
Dr. Kimberly Weems
Associate Professor of Statistics
North Carolina State -
Dr. Eric Pierce
Staff Scientist
Environmental Science Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory -
Dr. Matt Borselli
Manager, Device Technologies Department
HRL Laboratories -
Dr. Rachel Kurtz
Product Research Developer
Clorox -
Dr. Carlos Valdez
Research Scientist
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory -
Dr. Alicia Abella
Executive Director of Technical Research
AT&T -
Dr. Jakita Thomas
Service Design
IBM Research -
Dr. Brent Lagesse
Research Scientist
Oak Ridge National Laboratory -
Dr. Amelia Estwick receives her hood at
George Washington University
Dept. of Defense Research Analyst -
Dr. Michelle Ghrist
Professor of Mathematics
U.S. Airforce Academy -
Dr. Madeline Lu
Johnson & Johnson HQ -
Dr. Praveen Bommannavar
Twitter, Inc. -
Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green
Assistant Professor
Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Physiology
See profile article here. -
Dr. Michael King
Postdoctoral Fellow, Sandia National Laboratory -
Dr. Kerri Blobaum
Materials Scientist
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory -
Dr. Michelle Gervasio
Assistant Professor of Engineering
Sweet Briar College -
Dr. Amber Johnson
Software Engineer
Northrup Grumman Corporation
Phone
Phone: (800) 854-6772 or (213) 821-2409
Fax: (213) 821-6329
HQ Address
Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity
USC - RAN
3716 S. Hope, Suite 348
Los Angeles, CA 90007-4344
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