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U.S. Research Awards

For these awards, the Scholarship Opportunities Program seeks undergraduates with the ambition to become intellectual leaders in specific academic or artistic fields.

Potential applicants should have demonstrated:

    • The potential to achieve the highest levels of academic merit and accomplishment, including sustained participation in original research or creative projects
    • Pursuance of research or equivalent forms of excellence in specific majors or academic fields
    • The formation of close relationships with faculty mentors (especially professors)

Please Note: External scholarship agencies will consider all of your credit-bearing coursework from any college or institution as part of the review process (including CSU, community colleges, private colleges, and other UC campuses/Extension programs, as well as units earned while in high school or studying abroad). Grades from other colleges will be included in the calculation of your cumulative (overall) undergraduate GPA for eligibility purposes.

Application Procedures

Pre-Application Opens: Early Oct. 2023 | Due by: October 23, 2023 Noon 

  • Self-enroll and complete SOP-PREP.
  • At the completion of SOP-PREP, you will meet with a Student Advisor and receive links to appropriate Pre-Application forms based on your academic interests and goals.
  • If your Pre-Application is deemed eligible for personalized advising (and endorsement/nomination services if required), you will be assigned an SOP primary advisor, under whose guidance you will work on your application materials for 3 months.
Goldwater Scholarship for Excellence in Research*

The Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics in the United States, seeks to identify and support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming this Nation’s next generation of research leaders in these fields.

Accredited 2- and 4-year U.S. academic institutions that have identified a Goldwater Campus Representative with the Foundation may nominate up to four students annually. A four-year school may nominate a 5th student if one or more of the nominated students is a transfer student. No direct student applications or nominations by campuses without a Goldwater Campus Representative will be considered. In March 2023, 1267 nominees from 247 institutions and 412 awards.  

The characteristics the Foundation seeks in a Goldwater Scholar include:

  1. Strong commitment to a research career in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering,
  2. Effective display of intellectual intensity in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, and
  3. Potential for a significant future contribution to research in their chosen field.

As materials are prepared, students should keep in mind that the Goldwater Scholarship is awarded to those who show the greatest potential for becoming one of the United States’ next generation of research leaders in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. All elements of an application should help the Foundation understand how you intend to be one of these leaders.

Click here for detailed information regarding eligibility, fields of study, and more!

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP) offers competitive scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are committed to careers in biomedical, behavioral, and social science health-related research. The program offers:

  • Scholarship support
  • Paid research training at the NIH during the summer
  • Paid employment and training at the NIH after graduation

Click here for detailed information regarding eligibility, fields of study, and more!

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings (Hollings) scholarship program is designed to:

  • Increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, research, technology, and education, and foster multidisciplinary training opportunities;
  • Increase public understanding and support for stewardship of the ocean and atmosphere and improve environmental literacy;
  • Recruit and prepare students for public service careers with NOAA and other natural resource and science agencies at the federal, state, and local levels of government; and
  • Recruit and prepare students for careers as teachers and educators in oceanic and atmospheric science and to improve scientific and environmental education in the United States.

Click here for detailed information regarding eligibility, fields of study, and more!

 Department of Defense SMART Undergraduate Scholarship

The Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program is funded by the Department of Defense (DoD). It is a combined educational and workforce development opportunity for bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. students to gain technical skills in critical STEM fields and support the national security mission of DoD.

Click here for detailed information regarding eligibility, fields of study, and more!

Beinecke Scholarship*

The Beinecke Scholarship Program seeks to encourage and enable highly motivated students to pursue opportunities available to them and to be courageous in the selection of a graduate course of study in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Since 1975 the program has selected 664 college juniors from more than 110 different undergraduate institutions for support during graduate study at any accredited university. Each of the 135 schools invited to participate in the Beinecke Scholarship Program is permitted to make a single nomination each year toward national competition for up to 20 new awards.

Click here for detailed information regarding eligibility, fields of study, and more!

Application Procedures

Pre-Application Opens: Mid. February 2022  |  Due by: April 11, 2022 at 12:00 Noon

  • Self-enroll and complete SOP-PREP.
  • At the completion of SOP-PREP, you will meet with a Student Advisor and receive links to appropriate Pre-Application forms based on your academic interests and goals.
  • If your Pre-Application is deemed eligible for personalized advising, you will be assigned an SOP primary advisor, under whose guidance you will work on your application materials for 6 months.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in fields within NSF’s mission. The GRFP provides up to three years of support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant achievements in science and engineering research.

Recipients may attend accredited graduate programs in the United States for study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in fields supported by the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, including Engineering, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Geosciences, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Biological Sciences, Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences, and STEM Education.

The program goals are: 1) to select, recognize, and financially support early-career individuals with the demonstrated potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers; and 2) to broaden participation in science and engineering of underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans. NSF actively encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, persons with disabilities, veterans, and undergraduate seniors to apply. GRFP is a critical program in NSF’s overall strategy to develop the globally-engaged workforce necessary to ensure the Nation’s leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation. The ranks of NSF Fellows include numerous individuals who have made transformative breakthrough discoveries in science and engineering, become leaders in their chosen careers, and been honored as Nobel laureates.

Click here for detailed information regarding eligibility, fields of study, and more!

*Requires UCI endorsement/nomination & campus screening process; deadlines must be met in order to qualify.

Questions about the campus advising and endorsement (nomination) process may be directed to the Scholarship Opportunities Program at scholars@uci.edu or 949-824-0189.