NSF EPSCoR Scholars Program

Through funding from the National Science Foundation Research Infrastructure Improvement Award (RIIA), Oklahoma EPSCoR has established the NSF EPSCoR Scholars Program to help recruit top graduate students to Oklahoma. Funds are available to provide support for new graduate students statewide. Students entering Ph.D. programs at Oklahoma universities in the summer or fall of 2005 will be eligible to participate in this Program. Each selected student participant will receive a stipend of $5,000 paid over the first 12 months in the graduate program. This stipend is payable in addition to the regular stipend paid by the host institution. Preference will be given to students entering graduate programs in the two RIIA theme areas of plant virus biodiversity & ecology and nanotechnology but exceptional students in other science and engineering disciplines will also be considered. Although Oklahoma EPSCoR will award the stipend for one year only, renewal for additional years may be possible, at the host institution's expense, depending on the student's progress and on the availability of funds.
In order to be considered for participation in the NSF EPSCoR Scholars Program, students and host institutions must meet the following eligibility criteria:
§ Students must have outstanding academic credentials, including college
grades, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, letters of reference and commitment to a career in science.
§ Host institutions must have offered student participants acceptance into
their Ph.D. program with a commitment to a full stipend (e.g. teaching assistantship or graduate research assistantship or equivalent) at the maximum amount generally offered by the institution plus a full tuition waiver, conditional only upon satisfactory academic performance.
Applications from underrepresented minorities and women are strongly encouraged. Applications will be considered expeditiously as they are submitted. In order to be considered for participation, host institutions must submit the following information:

§ Complete set of student credentials including transcripts, GRE scores,
letters of reference and a statement of career goals.
§ Evidence of institutional commitment fulfilling the eligibility criteria
listed above.
§ A letter from the department chair or the institution's Vice President for
Research or equivalent, Graduate Dean or Graduate Program Director indicating why the student should be considered for the NSF EPSCoR Scholars Program.
Please send this information to Ms. Sasha Smith, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, 655 Research Parkway, Suite 200, Oklahoma City, OK 73104; Phone: 405.225.9419, Fax: 405.225.9230, Email: ssmith@osrhe.edu. For questions or if additional information is required, please contact Dr. Frank Waxman, Oklahoma EPSCoR Director, at 405-225-9459 (fwaxman@osrhe.edu).