Sources of Funding

University of Minnesota Graduate School

University of Minnesota Graduate School Fellowship Opportunities for Current Student page provides a list for fellowships.

Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences Funding Opportunity

The Consortium provides funding for intramural projects related to the societal implications of problems in health, environment, and the life sciences. Since 2000, the Consortium has awarded close to $1.5 million since 2000. Our funding for the past few years has been to UMN graduate and professional students. Awards are provided as a stipend for research and writing and funding for research supplies, or funding for a program or colloquia for the upcoming summer and/or academic year. A total of $35,000 is available with a maximum individual award of $7,000.  Please visit website for further information, deadlines, and application instructions. For questions, call 612.626.5624.

Council of Graduate Students (COGS)

The COGS Endowment allows COGS to give Conference Grants and Research Support Grants every year to graduate students at the University of Minnesota. You can find details at https://cogs.umn.edu/grants

Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in the Directorate for Biological Sciences

The National Science Foundation awards Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in selected areas of the biological sciences. These grants provide partial support of doctoral dissertation research to improve the overall quality of research. Allowed are costs for doctoral candidates to participate in scientific meetings, to conduct research in specialized facilities or field settings, and to expand an existing body of dissertation research. You can find details at https://www.nsf.gov/funding

Fulbright Program

Fulbright program offers a variety of grants for one year of study or research abroad to over 100 countries. Applicants must have proficiency in the written and spoken language of the host country. Campus information and applications are available in May each year for the upcoming academic year.

Conservation Sciences students have received funding from following organizations.

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Other potential fellowships opportunities

American Association of University Women
Dissertation Fellowship: $30,000
Summer/Short-Term - Research Publication Grant: $6,000
American Fellowships support women doctoral candidates completing dissertations or scholars seeking funds for postdoctoral research leave from accredited institutions. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Candidates are evaluated on the basis of scholarly excellence, teaching experience, and active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research.

Association for Women in Science
The Association for Women in Science offers various Graduate Fellowships for women students pursuing careers in science. Each fellowship can be used for any aspect of education, including tuition, books, housing, research, equipment, etc. Citizenship: unrestricted.

American Indian Graduate Center
To be considered for an AIGC fellowship, the applicant must be: An enrolled member of a U.S. federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native Group, or possess one-fourth degree (federally recognized) Indian blood; Pursuing a master's or doctorate degree as a full-time graduate student at an accredited graduate school in the United States; and In need of financial aid. Applicants must apply for federal financial and campus based aid at the college financial aid office.

American Museum of Natural History - Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Grant
Description: The American Museum of Natural History offers the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Grants to offer financial support to individuals for research on North American fauna in any phase of wildlife conservation or natural history related to the activities of the American Museum. Citizenship: unrestricted.

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
The ASM Awards are dedicated to acknowledging the best in microbiology. They are administered by the American Academy of Microbiology and encompass the many subspecialties of microbiology, including biotechnology, clinical microbiology, environmental microbiology, antimicrobial chemotherapy, immunology, and virology, as well as education and service to the profession. Opportunities for individuals to travel to and participate in meetings, conferences, and other professional development activities. Students, postdoctoral fellows, and early and mid-career scientists are eligible for fellowships to conduct research and participate in activities that encourage professional growth in a new area. Funds may be available for stipends, housing, travel, and ASM membership.

American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing sponsors awards and scholarships to facilitate graduate-level studies and career goals adjudged to address new and innovative uses of remote sensing data/techniques that relate to the natural, cultural, and agricultural resources of the Earth. Citizenship: unspecified.

American Society of Plant Biologists
RESEARCH & EDUCATION PROGRAMS - EPA STAR Graduate Fellowships for masters and doctoral level students The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is offering Graduate Fellowships for masters and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study.

American Ornithologists' Union - Research Awards
The Josselyn Van Tyne Memorial Research Fund, Alexander Wetmore Memorial Research Fund, Margaret Morse Nice Fund, Donald L. Bleitz Fund, Herbert and Betty Carnes Fund, and AOU Research Grants Fund were established to provide research funds for students and post-docs who are members of the American Ornithologists' Union or other members without access to funds from major granting agencies. The Van Tyne, Bleitz, and Research Grants funds provide support for research in all areas of avian biology. The Wetmore Memorial Fund supports research in avian systematics, paleo-ornithology, biogeography, and especially neotropical biology. We encourage Latin American students to apply. The Margaret Morse Nice Fund is designated to encourage ornithological research by female graduate students. In addition, research awards from the Carnes bequest to the AOU are available. As stipulated in Betty Carnes' will, recipients of this award must be females and non-smokers (i.e., have not smoked for at least the previous six months). Awards are made in amounts up to a maximum of $2,500.

Environmental Leadership Program
The Environmental Leadership Program offers the Environmental Leadership Fellowships, as part of ELP's highly experiential and innovative national initiative that aims to build the leadership capacity of the environmental movement's most promising emerging professionals. Each year, a new class of 20-30 fellows is chosen to receive intensive training, institutional support, and mentoring for a three-year period. Fellows gain access to funding to pursue further skill training and develop new projects. Applicants must commit to participating in four retreats. ELP will provide $2,000 participation stipend, travel and accommodations for training retreats, as well as $1,000-$10,000 to support leadership-building activities and projects. Citizenship: US
INQUIRIES: 413/268-0035, [email protected]

Fulbright for U.S. Student Program
Offers a variety of grants for one year of study or research abroad to over 100 countries. Applicants must have proficiency in the written and spoken language of the host country. Campus information and applications are available in May each year for the upcoming academic year.

The Garden Club of America Scholarships and Awards
The Garden Club of America offers a selection of unusual and excellent opportunities for further study to college and graduate students, doctoral candidates and recent Ph.D.s, as well as to landscape architects.
INQUIRIES: 212/753-8287, [email protected]

CGA/Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship
Research grant to graduate students through the Center for Plant Conservation. Preference to students whose projects focus on the endangered flora of the Carolinas and southeastern U.S. Funds one student annually up to $4500.

GCA/Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
Annual grants of $8000 to support study and research in ecological restoration as well as advance knowledge and increase the numbers of scientists in this field. Study should conform to the Society of Ecological Restoration's definition: ? The process of assisting the recovery and management of ecological integrity (which) includes a critical range of variability in biodiversity, ecological processes and structures, regional and historical context and sustainable cultural practices". Open to graduate students pursuing an advanced degree.

Graduate Women in Science
The SDE/GWIS National Fellowships Program offers fellowships to help increase knowledge in the fundamental sciences and to encourage research careers in the sciences by women. Endowment funds, mostly generated from bequests, provide the annual income that supports scientific research done by SDE/GWIS award winners. For the 2011-2012 funding cycle, SDE/GWIS distributed nearly $70,000 in fellowships funds to ten deserving women scientists.

International Foundation for Science (IFS)
IFS is a research council with international operations and the mission to build the scientific capacity of developing countries in sciences related to the sustainable management of biological and water resources. International students from developing countries might be able to get funding from IFS for their research.

Link Energy Fellowships
The Link Foundation invites applications for the Energy Fellowship Program. Fellowships are awarded for research proposals related to the aims of the foundation: fostering energy research, enhancing both the theoretical and practical knowledge and application of energy research, and dissemination of the results of research through lectures, seminars, and publications. Preference will be given to proposals dealing directly with energy and exploring ideas not yet fully tested. Awards include $30,000 for the academic year. 

NASA Graduate Student Fellowships in Earth System Science
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invites applications for the NASA Graduate Student Fellowships in Earth System Science which support continued training of interdisciplinary scientists in M.Sc. and/or Ph.D. programs to study the Earth as a system. NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) supports basic and applied research in the following areas: Biology and Biogeochemistry of Ecosystems and the Global Carbon Cycle; Atmospheric Chemistry, Aerosols, and Solar Radiation; Global Water and Energy Cycle; Oceans and Ice in the Earth System; and Solid Earth Science. The maximum period for which a student may receive NASA support is three years.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
The National Science Foundation (NSF) solicits applications for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, including Women in Engineering and Computer and Information Science Awards. Fellowships are awarded for graduate study leading to research-based master's or doctoral degrees in the following fields supported by NSF: engineering; mathematical sciences; computer and information science and engineering; chemistry; geosciences, physics and astronomy; psychology; life sciences; and behavioral and social sciences. Awards are also made for work toward a research-based Ph.D. in science education that requires a science competence comparable to that for Ph.D. candidates in scientific disciplines. Applicants must be near or at the beginning of their graduate study. In most cases, an individual has three opportunities to apply: during the senior year of college, the first year of graduate study, and the beginning of the second year of graduate school. The stipend is $27,500 for a 12-month tenure, plus $10,500 plus cost-of-education allowance per tenure year.
INQUIRIES: 866/353-0905 or [email protected]

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
Applicants must either be a resident alien, hold a green card, be a naturalized U.S. citizen. Annual award to encourage and support the contribution of new American-to-American life and culture. All fields of study are eligible. Continuing graduate students are eligible as long as they have completed no more than two years of graduate study.

P.E.O. Sisterhood. International Peace Scholarship Fund
Annual award to provide grants-in-aid for selected women from other countries for graduate study in the United States and Canada.

Sigma Delta Epsilon and Graduate Women in Science
Sigma Delta Epsilon (SDE) and Graduate Women in Science invite applications for three SDE/GWIS fellowships (SDE, Eloise Gerry, and Vessa Notchev Fellowships) and the Eli Lilly Travel Award in support of scientific research done by women.
INQUIRIES: Regina Vidaver, 202/496-5002, [email protected]

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Research Fellowship Program
The National Science Foundation has created the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP)/Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) for graduate students to complete internships at federal agencies. The NSF and United States Environmental Protection Agency collaboration is designed to encourage, develop, and facilitate collaborative professional development and research opportunities for NSF Graduate Research Fellows (GRF).