Fellowship Opportunities
Financial aid is normally provided to graduate students through teaching or research assistantships. In addition, several competitive fellowships are available for entering students. Fellowships may be combined with teaching or research assistanceships. All qualified applicants are automatically entered into a pool for these fellowships. Additional fellowships are awarded on the basis of a University-wide competition. The department endeavors to support each student throughout his or her entire graduate career, provided good academic standing is maintained. Detailed information may be obtained by contacting the department.
Departmental Fellowships
Alumni Fellowship
This predoctoral fellowship for entering graduate students was established by generous departmental alumni. In addition to providing a stipend, it provides a full-tuition scholarship, which covers tuition and fees for the period of the award.
Faculty Fellowships
The department offers two one-term predoctoral fellowships for entering graduate students. They provide a stipend and are supplemented by a full-tuition scholarship, which covers tuition and fees for the period of the award.
Mary E. Warga Predoctoral Fellowship
This is a School of Arts and Sciences (A&S) fellowship offered to entering female graduate students in physics and chemistry. It was funded by alumna and former faculty member Mary E. Warga, a renowned optical spectroscopist. All qualified female applicants who are U.S. citizens are automatically entered into the pool. Applicants with exceptional promise for accomplishments in research or teaching are sought. The fellowship provides a substantial two-term stipend, with the third term supported by teaching or research, if needed. It also provides a full-tuition scholarship and supplemental funds to be used for travel, research, and other academic expenses during the first year of graduate study.
Zaccheus Daniel Fellowships
This is a program open to qualified students of astronomy (astrometry and astrophysics). Nominations are sought from the faculty in April. Awards are made on an annual basis for students in good standing. The fellowship provides a stipend and covers tuition and fees for the period of the fellowship.
University Fellowships
Elizabeth U. Baranger Predoctoral Fellowship
The Baranger Fellowship is available to an incoming female graduate student (foreign or domestic), in science or engineering.
The two-term stipend for 2006-07 is $16,500 and offers full tuition remission for the period of the fellowship.
E. Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award
Sponsored by the Arts & Science Graduate Student Organization (GSO)
K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship Program
The University of Pittsburgh, as an educational institution, an employer, and a good citizen of the community, values equality of opportunity, human dignity, and racial/ethnic diversity and will continue to take steps to support and advance these values consistent with the University's mission (Board of Trustees, 1996). One such step is the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship Program that is designed to enhance the diversity of the University of Pittsburgh's graduate student population and eventually the professorate.
Qualified applicants will be recommended by the departmental graduate admission committee for consideration by the Dean of Graduate Studies in Arts and Sciences no later than February 15. Awards are announced by the end of February.
FAS/Provost’s Development Fellows Program
This program offers a number of fellowships to certain groups who continue to be underrepresented in the national pool of earned doctorate degrees, as well as within the professorate at the University. Fellows will be appointed for either one or two years as Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs). Full-tuition scholarships, plus fees, are included. No specific duties are associated with this fellowship; however, the recipient should be involved in a research project. A QPA of 3.0 must be maintained.
Provost Development Fund
This program provides financial support and development opportunities for women, minorities, and disadvantaged students pursuing the doctorate or a professional degree that would qualify them for an academic or administrative appointment. Assistance is made available on the basis of need and merit. Ideally, the candidate for the award should be in the advanced stages of the Ph.D. program so that the support for one year would complete the program. Applications are available in the Office of the Provost, 801 Cathedral of Learning, in the A&S Office of Graduate Studies, 5141 Sennott Square, and from the department Graduate Secretary. The deadline is usually February 1st.
Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowships
This is an A&S fellowship program that offers financial support for highly qualified students. The fellowship provides a two-term stipend and a scholarship for full tuition and fees for the period of the appointment. Awards are made on an annual basis and may be renewed for a second year. The fellowship is supplemented by the department with a teaching or research assistantship for the third term. Applications are available from the graduate secretary in late December for the following academic year.
A&S Summer Fellowships
The department distributes these fellowships to first-year students who are in good academic standing.
External Fellowships
A significant number of external fellowships are available to students applying to or continuing in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Due to the volume of outside organizations offering graduate student support, we encourage the student to research external fellowships on the Internet or by personally contacting the granting organization. Following are a few examples of organizations and programs that have supported our graduate students.
Please remember that the application deadline for National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowships is in early November, and applications should be sent directly to the NSF, and not to the University.
In addition to the list below, we also suggest that students seeking support visit the Office of Research's Funding Resources site for more information.
- A.I.P. Science Fellowship Programs
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Association of Korean Physicists in America (AKPA)
- Association for Women in Science
- CGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award in the field of Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering
- 2007 Chamberlain Fellowship
- Chandra X-Ray Observatory Fellowship Program (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
(contact Nancy Evans of CXC Director's office.) - CLAS Graduate Student Field Research Grants Competition
- The Council Of American Overseas Research Centers: Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program For Advanced Multi-Country Research (click here to find an application to this fellowship)
- Department of Defense (DOD) Graduate Fellowship Program
( or email ndseg@asee.org ) - Department of Energy — The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award
( email nona.shepard@science.doe.gov for info ) - Department of Education — Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Program
(might no longer be available, info previously found in Federal Register) - Department of Energy — Graduate Fellowship Program
(ORISE = Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education) - Department of Energy — Computational Science Graduate Fellowship
- Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship (SSGF)
- Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund — Graduate Fellowships
- Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award sponsored by Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Organization
- Ford Foundation Fellowships for Minorities (administered by National Research Council)
- Fulbright Scholar Program — sponsored by Council for International Exchange of Scholars
(also try emailing scholars@cies.iie.org) - Grant Advisor Plus
- The Hertz Foundation
- IGERT Ph.D fellowships in Nanotechnology
- IGERT Terahertz Fellowships at Rennselaer
- IUPAP Working Group on Women in Physics ( email beamon@aps.org )
- Jacob K. Javits Fellowships
- 2007 Jansky Fellowships
- Joseph F. Mulach, Jr. and Louisa A. Mulach Scholarship Fund — The Pittsburgh Foundation
( email email@pghfdn.org ) - KITP Scholars
- The Leifur Eiriksson Foundation c/o turnerd@pghfdn.org
- Lucent Technologies - Rutgers University Fellowships in Condensed Matter Physics
- Luise Meyer-Schutzmeister Memorial Award — Assoc. for Women in Science
(For an application form, contact kerry.cochran@wmich.edu) - Merrill Lynch Forum Innovation Grants Competition
( email Schrage@media.mit.edu ) - Michelson Fellowships
- Joseph F. Mulach, Jr. and Louisa A. Mulach Scholarship Fund
The Pittsburgh FoundationN
- The National Academies — information about fellowship programs
( email einstein@nas.edu ) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Graduate Student Research Program
- National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC)
- National Research Council of the National Academies
- NRC Research Associateship Programs — for postdoctoral researchers
- NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI)
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship Program
- NSF Graduate Research Summer Institutes in Asia and Australia
(Program Specialist Tony Teolis, PITT Alumni) - The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
( email pdsoros_fellows@sorosny.org ) - P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund for Women
- Pittsburgh Young Professionals Scholarship
- Postdoctoral Prize Fellowships in Theoretical Physics or Astrophysics
- Postdoctoral Prize Fellowships in Experimental Physics or Astrophysics
- SMART
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Predoctoral Fellowships
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI): Hubble Fellowship and Institute Fellowship
- The Spencer Foundation (for Research Related to Education)
- Submillimeter Array Postdoctoral Fellowships 2007
- Systems Teaching Institute: Summer 2007 Graduate Student Internship Program
- UNCF-Merck Science Initiative
( email uncfmerck@uncf.org )


