The PROMISE Program receives a number of funding and fellowship opportunities to share with students.  The information provided here is a partial list based on a funding workshop that was presented on UMBC’s campus through the Success Seminar series.  Our PROMISE  Career Partners website provides weekly updates for fellowships, internships, and positions.  A search engine is available for that site. (Suggestion:  Add the category, e.g. fellowship, plus the year, e.g., 2012 for the most recent entries.  An entry of fellowship 2012 in the search box will yield all fellowship opportunities with 2012 deadlines or start dates.)

FELLOWSHIP TIPS

Many fellowships have strict deadlines, and most of them are listed between October and November.  The external fellowships often allow students to apply from all over the country, therefore they need time to review and process applications so that fellowships can be awarded in time for the fall semester. Here are some tips:

• Pay strict attention to deadlines and submit early.
• Maintain strong relationships with faculty members since you will probably need strong letters of recommendation from your faculty.
• Become familiar with the online interface for the fellowship’s website.  Many fellowships now require online submission which include registration procedures and multiple pages of set-up for essays or statements, letters, transcripts, etc.
• If the deadline has passed for a fellowship that you are interested in, email or call the contact person to inquire about other opportunities with that particular organization, tips for applying next year, or any remaining opportunities for the current year.  Sometimes deadlines are extended but not posted. It’s worth an ask.

FELLOWSHIP LINKS

• LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate. The LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a 2 year fellowship that is awarded to alumni of the undergraduate LSAMP programs throughout the U.S.  Bridge to the Doctorate Fellows must be former undergraduate participants of LSAMP programs and must have their participation validated by their undergraduate LSAMP Directors.
  • UMBC Application, Deadlines vary based on availability of funds. Contact marylandbridgetothedoctorate@gmail.com for inquiries.
  • LSAMP at College Park
  • Schools across the U.S. have Bridge to the Doctorate Programs.  Check with the university’s LSAMP office for detail.
• NASA Fellowships – Through Pathways to Science:
  • Fellowships and internships for graduate students 
  • Sign-up sheet to receive individualized information: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/form.asp
• GEM: http://www.gemfellowship.org/
• Homeland Security http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/
• National Physical  Sciences Consortium – http://www.npsc.org/
• Ford Foundation http://national-academies.org/fellowships
• McNair Scholars Program waives/discounts application fees, GRE fees http://www.ed.gov.offices/OPE/HEP/trio/mcnair
• Application Fee waivers for CIC graduate schools:  http://www.cic.net/Home/Students/FreeApp/Introduction.aspx
• Project 1000 waives up to seven application fees:   http://mati.eas.asu.edu:8421/p1000
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
  
  • Program Information: http://www.nsf.gov/grfp
  • Application and deadlines: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov
  • Email: info@nsfgradfellows.org
• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
  
  • Program Information, application and deadlines:
    http://www.asee.org/resources/fellowships
  • Email: ndseg@asee.org
• General Listing of fellowships for women and diverse groups: http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Channels/grad_school/fellowships.asp
• Database of fellowships and scholarships for all disciplines:
  http://scholarships.fatomei.com/
• Institutional Fellowships (The university applies to the National Science Foundation for this funding and students have a chance to apply and participate through their universities.)  http://www.igert.org/
• http://www.gk12.org/

LINKS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

• Fulbright – Fulbright grants are available for international students in graduate school.
• The Soros Foundations Network – This foundation offers international student scholarships for undergraduate and
  graduate students. Many are restricted to students from specific countries.
• AAUW – This organization provides fellowships for international graduate students who are women.
• American Councils for International Education – The councils provide international student grants and fellowships to international students from the former Soviet republics.
• AMIDEAST – This organization provides grants for international students from the Middle East and North Africa.
• Cornell University Graduate School Fellowship Notebook – This database contains a list of funding and international student scholarships available to graduate international students.

(This information is re-posted from: http://www.usastudyguide.com/Financial_aid.htm)

The following information was contributed by former PROMISE Peer Mentor  Dr. Frances Carter (M.S. Physics, Ph.D. Public Policy, UMBC) from the September 2010 UMBC Success Seminar on funding, reprinted from the PROMISE intranet page on MyUMBC.

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterdays session on “Graduate Students and Money!” The information was extremely helpful in making sure that we as graduate students are creating bright  financial futures for ourselves as we work on our academic future.  As promised, I am including the fellowship links for your use:

• http://www.nsfgrfp.org
• http://www.gemfellowship.org/
• http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_fellows/ (provides an overview of fellowships by deadline date with links)
• http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fellowships/
• http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/
• http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/funding/external.html
• http://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/
• http://www.finaid.com/ and their search engine: http://www.fastweb.com/
• http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
• http://www.sreb.org

_______________________________________________________________________

Photo MP900399463 used with permission of Microsoft.

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP

and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Dear Students, Alumni, and Friends of PROMISE,

Our annual PROMISE Fall Harvest Dinner is coming soon! Save the date: Friday, November 18, 2011.   Please register using the following link:  http://www.cvent.com/d/qcq8x4. You may bring a guest.  We will be dining at Adele’s Restaurant in the Stamp Student Union on College Park’s campus. Transportation will be available from Baltimore. Please register today; spaces are limited.
Dinner at Adele’s is always delicious! This is the PROMISE “Thanksgiving” Dinner. Please register soon to reserve your space. This dinner buffet is valued at more than $25/per person but it is free to you and your guest thanks to co-sponsorship by the Graduate School at College Park and the Graduate School at UMBC.

This event promotes networking, community building, and connections between research and other interests across campuses.  Please reserve your space today.

Kind regards,
Renetta Tull

Dear Students, Alumni, and Friends of PROMISE,

Our annual PROMISE Fall Harvest Dinner is coming soon! Save the date: Friday, November 18, 2011.   Please register using the following link:  http://www.cvent.com/d/qcq8x4. You may bring a guest.  We will be dining at Adele’s Restaurant in the Stamp Student Union on College Park’s campus. Transportation will be available from Baltimore. Please register today; spaces are limited.
Dinner at Adele’s is always delicious! This is the PROMISE “Thanksgiving” Dinner. Please register soon to reserve your space. This dinner buffet is valued at more than $25/per person but it is free to you and your guest thanks to co-sponsorship by the Graduate School at College Park and the Graduate School at UMBC.

This event promotes networking, community building, and connections between research and other interests across campuses.  Please reserve your space today.

Kind regards,
Renetta Tull

Several graduate students have expressed a need for assistance with MATLAB.  In order to assist you with understanding some of the more advanced concepts of MATLAB, PROMISE, the Graduate Student Development Unit of the Graduate School, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics will sponsor a special, customized session for graduate students and others who want more in-depth instruction. The service will be provided by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Consulting (CIRC).

Special MATLAB Workshop
Friday, November 11, 2011
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Engineering Building (ENGR), Room 122

Features:
_________

* A prepared demonstration of numerical computation in MATLAB
* Advanced programming techniques in MATLAB
* MATLAB tutors will be present to provide individualized assistance.

Presenters:
Jonathan McHenry, with support from Zana Coulibaly and Xuan Huang.

This session is being coordinated by Professor Matthias Gobbert, with support from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. We thank Dr. Gobbert for putting the session together.

Graduate students from any discipline may attend. Please RSVP. Financial support for this workshop is provided by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.  Please utilize this unique opportunity to get the assistance that you need for your courses and projects.

————————————————————————————

This post is mirrored on MyUMBC PROMISE: Support for Graduate Students: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/9311

Photo courtesy of CIRC: http://www.umbc.edu/circ/

Several graduate students have expressed a need for assistance with MATLAB.  In order to assist you with understanding some of the more advanced concepts of MATLAB, PROMISE, the Graduate Student Development Unit of the Graduate School, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics will sponsor a special, customized session for graduate students and others who want more in-depth instruction. The service will be provided by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Consulting (CIRC).

Special MATLAB Workshop
Friday, November 11, 2011
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Engineering Building (ENGR), Room 122

Features:
_________

* A prepared demonstration of numerical computation in MATLAB
* Advanced programming techniques in MATLAB
* MATLAB tutors will be present to provide individualized assistance.

Presenters:
Jonathan McHenry, with support from Zana Coulibaly and Xuan Huang.

This session is being coordinated by Professor Matthias Gobbert, with support from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. We thank Dr. Gobbert for putting the session together.

Graduate students from any discipline may attend. Please RSVP. Financial support for this workshop is provided by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.  Please utilize this unique opportunity to get the assistance that you need for your courses and projects.

————————————————————————————

This post is mirrored on MyUMBC PROMISE: Support for Graduate Students: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/9311

Photo courtesy of CIRC: http://www.umbc.edu/circ/

We are pleased to announce that more than 25 of our PROMISE students and affiliates will be attending the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Compact for Faculty Diversity/Institute on Teaching and Mentoring: http://www.instituteonteachingandmentoring.org/Institute/index.html in Atlanta, GA, October 20-23, 2011. The SREB participants will be discussing some thoughts related to their experiences and plans in this thread.

Undergraduate and graduate students who participate in the following NSF programs are invited to submit abstracts for the 2012 Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM:

Key dates related to abstract submission and travel
*** The deadline for poster and oral abstract submissions is October 21, 2011.
*** Notification of abstract acceptance will be sent by December 2, 2011.
*** The deadline to submit travel award applications is October 21, 2011.
*** Travel awards will be announced on or before December 2, 2011.

For questions regarding the online abstract submission process, please contact Donna Behar at dbehar@aaas.org.

Sincerely,
Yolanda S. George, Deputy Director
AAAS Directorate for Education &
Human Resources Programs

The PROMISE Success Seminars and Workshops website contains full lists of workshops for:

• Graduate Students
• Postdoctoral Fellows
• Interest in teaching and the professoriate (PROF-it)

Archived posts by title on the PROMISE Success Seminars site include the following:

• September 2011 Seminars for Graduate Students at UMBC
• Summer Success Institute Registration is open! (August 19-20, 2011)
• Summer Horizons Graduate School Preparation Program: July 20
• UMBC Provost Elliot Hirshman (PROMISE PI) will be the new president at San Diego State University
• Apply for UMBC-CCBC Teaching Fellows program FALL 2011
• PROMISE Cookout – Saturday May 7
• UMBC Will Participate in a Pilot for the Council of Graduate Schools
• Events for March 2011: Dissertation House, Proposals, Teaching Portfolios, Lift Up (Haiti) Movie, Career Roundtables
• PROMISE Spring Opening Dinner Meeting: “Getting to Level 10″ — Friday, 2/18/11
• Preparing for Global Leadership: Cultural Competence and Connections with and for International Students and Colleagues
• Advice for Preparing and Delivering Graduate Level Presentations by Barrett Whitener @PROMISE Symposium, Jan. 21, 2011
• “Reflections” @UMB: Complementary/Alternative Medicine (Tai Chi, Acupressure, and more!)
• PROMISE Research Symposium, Coming January 21, 2011
• PROF-it Professors-in-Training 12/3, January 2011 $$ opportunities for Grad Students, & 2011 Dissertation House. Plus, SREB’s Dr. Bob Belle comes to UM College Park to discuss interviewing Dec. 3!
• PROMISE Fall Harvest Dinner Welcomes Dr. Erica Corral, winner of Hispanic award for STEM, Nov. 19
• Grad Student Workshops on Writing. Nov. 17 & Nov. 19
• Practical Steps for Completing Your Thesis or Dissertation. Saturday, Nov. 13
• “Preparing for the Professoriate” Workshops on Fri. Nov. 5
• Faculty Forum with Grad Students! Fri. 10/22 (Free Dinner!)
• Date changes for October! 10/8 seminar [Fac(x,y)] moved to 10/22, 10/20 seminar [IRB, RCR] moved to 10/26
• PROF-it “Professors-in-Training” Seminars, Fall 2010
• Grad Student Success Seminars and Meetings, September 2010
• Secrets of the Faculty Interview. Coming Aug. 20. 10:30 AM
• Mini “Graduate Horizons” Session at UMBC: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
• Reminders of SSI 2007 & 2008
• Summer Success Institute (SSI) 2010, Coming August 21
• New home for PROMISE Success Seminars

The Graduate Schools at UMBC and College Park will hold orientations this week, and UMBC will hold its first graduate student seminar on Friday, August 26. UMBC’s Evening Graduate School Orientation will be held on Wednesday, August 24 at 4:30 PM.

UM College Park invites all new and continuing graduate students of color and all other interested students to attend the Annual Networking Reception at the Nyumburu Cultural Center in the Multi-Purpose room. 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM on Thursday, August 25. This reception offers students and an opportunity to meet and greet graduate student groups and offices that support students of color at College Park; network with faculty, staff, and group leaders on campus; and learn about various student groups. Refreshments will be served.

At the end of the week, UMBC will host a Teaching and Learning Workshop for all new TAs on campus and all students interested in teaching. The workshop will also feature an “Success Seminar” free 1 hour luncheon workshop on Life/Work Balance  for all graduate students with Psychologist Dr. Robert Deluty.

• All UMBC Graduate Student Success Seminars for 2011 – 2012 are listed here:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/umbc-grad-student-success-seminars/

• Postdoctoral seminars are listed here:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/postdocs/

• PROF-it (Professors-in-Training) and Professors Beyond Borders (PBB) seminars are listed here:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/professors-in-training-prof-it/

The 9th Annual PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) was held at the Sheraton Town Center Hotel in Columbia, Maryland this past weekend. This year, we featured an outdoor component, hosted by Terra Trax from Arizona.  The team leader, Craig Imler, is an Outward Bound-trained facilitator, who has been leading retreats for PROMISE since 2004.  Many alumni mentioned that their turning points came “at Coolfont.” In past years, we’ve had PROMISE retreats at the Coolfont Conference Center in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, and at the Rocky Gap Conference Center in Cumberland, Maryland. This year, we brought the “Coolfont” and “Rocky Gap” experiences and our facilitator team to the SSI. This was the first year that we combined the SSI and the retreat.

A full list of activities can be found on the SSI’s website:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/