Fellowship Assistance Program Helps Land SMART Scholarship

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

With a little push from the Graduate School’s Fellowship Application Incentive Program (FAIP), Joseph Mays, Ph.D. student in Optical Science and Engineering, applied for and received the DoD’s Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship.

SMART scholarships range from 1-5 years and cover full tuition up to $38,000 plus an allowance for health insurance and supplies. The program also offers employment placement at a DoD facility following graduation.  Joe will be assigned to a Navy research facility in California.

“We know of so many potential funding sources out there for our graduate students,” said Julie Goodliffe, Director of Funding and Fellowships for the Graduate School.  “We developed FAIP to provide some assistance and additional incentive for students to seek them out and apply.”

The incentive program was launched in 2017 and has helped numerous students take that extra step to apply for funding.  “This incentive program is what finally pushed me to actually apply,” Mays said.

The SMART scholarship supports undergraduate and graduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories.

More information on the DoD’s SMART program is available on the SMART Scholarship site. 

For more information on the Optics and Engineering program, visit the Physics and Optical Science Department.