WASHINGTON, D.C. – A total of 62 PhD students from 24 states have been selected for the prestigious Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program.

Through world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities, expertise, and resources at DOE national laboratories, the program prepares doctoral candidates to enter jobs of critical importance to the DOE mission and secure the nation’s status at the forefront of discovery and innovation.  

“The Department of Energy is committed to supporting and growing America’s science and technology workforce,” said Harriet Kung, Acting Director of the DOE Office of Science. “These awards are given at a critical time in a graduate student’s career, and we’re honored to be a part of the journey. SCGSR nurtures talent and curiosity in students from all walks of life to meet our greatest scientific challenges.”  

Awardees were selected from a diverse pool of graduate applicants. Selections were based on merit review by external scientific experts.  

In this cohort, 32% of the awardees are women; approximately 13% of the awardees attend Minority Serving Institutions; and 13% are from institutions in jurisdictions that are part of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).  

SCGSR awardees work on research projects to address critical energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges at national and international scales. Projects in this cohort span six Office of Science research programs. Awards were made through the SCGSR program’s first of two annual solicitation cycles for Fiscal Year 2024.  

Graduate students currently pursuing PhD degrees in areas of physics, chemistry, material sciences, biology (non-medical), geology, planetary sciences, mathematics, engineering, computer or computational sciences, or specific areas of environmental sciences that are aligned with the mission of the Office of Science are eligible to apply to the SCGSR program.

Research projects are expected to advance the graduate awardees’ overall doctoral research and training while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE national laboratories. The award cohort from the 2024 Solicitation 2 cycle is expected to be announced around May 2025.  

Find out more about applying for the next round, with applications due by 5:00 pm Nov. 6, 2024, at the SCGSR How to Apply | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC) (osti.gov) page.  

Since 2014, the SCGSR program has provided more than 1,200 U.S. graduate awardees from 165 universities with supplemental funds to conduct part of their thesis research at DOE national laboratories in collaboration with DOE national laboratory scientists.

A list of the 62 awardees for this selection, their institutions, host DOE laboratory/facility, and priority research areas of projects can be found at the SCGSR Awards and Publications page.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.