DoD NDSEG Fellowship

"NDSEG" redirects here. For other uses, see NDSEG (disambiguation).

The Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (DoD NDSEG) is a prestigious fellowship awarded annually to U.S. citizens pursuing doctoral degrees in science and engineering disciplines. The highly-competitive fellowship is sponsored by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. Final selection of fellows is made by these branches of the U.S. Military. National Defense Fellows must be enrolled in research-based doctoral degrees aligned with the goals of the U.S. Department of Defense, as outlined in a specific Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). Qualifying doctoral programs must be based in the United States. The NDSEG Fellowship is a 3 year term that pays for a Fellow’s full tuition and all mandatory fees in that period. An additional monthly stipend, totaling $38,400 annually, is awarded directly to the Fellow. Fellows are also awarded a $5,000 travel budget for the 3-year tenure and a $1,200 annual health insurance budget.

Award History and Details

An act of Congress established the NDSEG Fellowship in 1989, requiring that fellows be selected “solely on the basis of academic ability.” Over 4,000 fellowships have been granted since 1989 and over 60,000 applications have been received, for an acceptance rate of below 7%.

Each Fellow’s grant is supported by a specific agency of the Department of Defense (Navy, Air Force, or Army). The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) correspond to the Navy and Air Force programs, respectively. The Office of Naval Research typically awards between 30 and 60 fellowships each year. Applicants selecting the U.S. Army as their preferred agency may choose from BAAs for the Army Research Office (ARO), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), or United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC). The U.S. Marine Corps is represented through the The Office of Naval Research, which is responsible for the science and technology programs of both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The Vice Chief of Naval Research also serves as the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL). As of 2021 the U.S. Space Force is not directly represented in the NDSEG Fellowship.

The $38,400 annual stipend is paid directly to National Defense Fellows on a monthly basis. There are no earmarks or usage requirements for this stipend. Fellows are required to participate in the NDSEG Fellows Conference in their 2nd year of tenure as a fellow. The $5,000 travel budget may be spent on this conference. The remainder of this budget must be spent on qualifying travel for conferences or professional development. Tuition payments and fees are paid directly to universities by the NDSEG program office. National Defense Fellows have no military service obligation upon completion of the program. The NDSEG Fellowship allows awardees to transfer the fellowship title and funding to different universities, allowing them to choose whichever institution they which to attend.

Eligibility and Application Requirements

Applicants must be U.S. Citizens (including dual citizens) or U.S. Nationals who have completed a qualifying undergraduate degree prior to the start of the fellowship. In order to receive the fellowship, students must be accepted to or enrolled in a qualifying doctoral program. It is possible to apply for the DoD NDSEG Fellowship while applying to graduate programs, but receipt of the grant and fellowship is contingent on acceptance and enrollment into the graduate program.

U.S. citizens enrolled in dual MD-PhD programs qualify to apply for the NDSEG Fellowship; but pure MD programs do not qualify. It is possible to apply for the NDSEG Fellowship after completing a Master’s degree, unlike the NSF-GRFP. Students enrolled in PhD programs awarding a Master’s degree en route qualify to apply.

The application for the DoD NDSEG Fellowship requires students to apply to a specific Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) within the Department of Defense. BAAs outline research and scientific goals identified by a given branch of the U.S. military. Applicants must identify a BAA that funds the aims of their own research. BAAs may be specific to a particular branch of the U.S. military or apply to multiple branches. Applicants are required to submit a 4-page single-spaced research proposal, with a maximum of one page for cited work. Applicants must have 3 references, and submit academic records and GRE score.

As of 2021, qualifying research program areas include:

• Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Cognitive, Neural, and Behavioral Sciences
• Computer and Computational Sciences
• Electrical Engineering
• Geosciences (Includes Terrain, Water, and Air)
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering (Includes Undersea Systems)
• Oceanography (Inlcudes Ocean Acoustics, Remote Sensing, and Marine Meteorology)
• Physics (Includes Optics)
• Space Physics

Additional Information

The DoD NDSEG Fellowship is often compared to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP). Unlike the GRFP, the NDSEG Fellowship is not administered through the university the doctoral student is enrolled in. National Defense Fellows are paid through a contracting agency for the DoD. Since the 2019-2020 award cycle the NDSEG Fellowship has been managed by Systems Plus of Rockville, Maryland. The fellowship was previously managed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and STI-TEC.

Notable Recipients

• Neil Garg (2001), Professor of Organic Chemistry at UCLA
• Wendy Okolo (2012), Aerospace Research Engineer at NASA Ames

See Also

• Science, Mathematics, And Research For Transformation (SMART) Defense Scholarship Program
• NSF-GRFP