Energy Department announces new awards for nuclear energy students

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $5 million in awards for undergraduate and graduate students studying nuclear engineering and other nuclear science and engineering programs relevant to nuclear energy.

The awards include 58 undergraduate scholarships and 31 graduate-level fellowships for students at U.S. colleges and universities.

“Nuclear innovation is a top priority of the Administration,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Raymond Furstenau said. “We are committed to assisting in the development of future researchers who will help advance breakthrough technologies that could revolutionize the nuclear energy industry. These brilliant future researchers will support the nuclear energy research needs of tomorrow,”

Each undergraduate scholarship provides $7,500 towards education costs for the upcoming year. The three-year graduate fellowships provide $50,000 each year for graduate studies and research as well as $5,000 to fund a summer internship at a U.S. national laboratory or other approved research facility. This internship program seeks to strengthen the ties between students and the Department’s energy research programs.

Since 2009, DOE has awarded almost $38 million to nearly 700 students for nuclear energy-related scholarships and fellowships. Ninety-eight percent of the students who completed nuclear energy-related fellowships then pursued careers in nuclear energy fields, according to DOE. Seven former fellowship winners are now university professors conducting nuclear energy related research, and three received Office of Nuclear Energy Research and Development awards.