Fellowships and Scholarships

Internal Fellowships and Scholarships

A variety of fellowships and scholarships are given annually to graduate students in the Department of Physics. All students should ensure that they have a completed and up-to-date profile in UWM’s Scholarship Portal.

Students should complete the general application and the Letters & Science application which consists of just one item – upload a copy of your most recent transcript.

Chancellor's Graduate Student Awards

These awards will be given to outstanding graduate students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in physics. These awards are open to all non-doctoral and doctoral graduate students in Physics and awarded competitively.  The students may receive this award concurrently with other university support in the form of TA, RA, PA and other fellowships or extramural support.

Physics Graduate School Trust Fund Award

These awards will be given to outstanding graduate students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in physics.  These awards are open to all non-doctoral and doctoral graduate students in Physics and awarded competitively.  The students may receive this award concurrently with other university support in the form of TA, RA, PA and other fellowships or extramural support.

David Lichtman Scholarships and Fellowships

Awards are given to outstanding graduate students in the Department of Physics.

Physics Foundation Awards

Awards are given to outstanding graduate students in the Department of Physics.

Papastamatiou Scholarship

The award will be given to an outstanding graduate student studying theoretical physics.

Research Excellence Awards

Awards are given to outstanding graduate students in the Department of Physics.

External Fellowships and Scholarships

These are external Fellowships and Scholarship that are not administrated by UWM which fit with the academic focus of the Department of Physics.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000 for any area supported by the National Science Foundation. This Fellowship accepts applications from undergraduate seniors and first and second-year graduate students, with applications due in Mid-October. More information, including how to apply, can be found at the NSFGRFP website.

DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship

This is a four-year fellowship with an annual stipend of $45,000. Please see their website for eligible areas. This fellowship accepts applications from undergraduate seniors and first-year graduate students, with applications due in January.

NASA FINESST Award

Please see their website for the full announcement later in the year, but it is typically up to 3 years with support for any graduate student doing work in an area supported by NASA’s Science Management Division. Applications are due in early February.

Other Fellowships

There are a number of nationally-competitive graduate fellowships available in the sciences. Graduate students are encouraged to look at NCSU’s list of fellowships for any items that might fit their area of research.