Applying for Department Funds

Applying for Department Funds#

Each semester, the Penn State Department of Geosciences disburses scholarships, awards, and/or funds to graduate students who apply to them. In the past these were decentralized, each with their own submission template and accompanying set of requirements. As of the Fall 2024 semester these templates have been reduced to a single PDF and a Microsoft Survey form. Generally, these funds require you to submit the following information:

  • Your name

  • The date of your last progress report

  • Your graduate GPA

  • A description and/or significance statement for why you are applying

  • Line item requests for the amount you are asking for from the pool of funds

  • A statement and signatures from your advisor

Previously required information included (which may return in future iterations):

  • A brief CV

  • A transcript of your graduate school grades (you can get these automatically from Penn State through LionPath’s Academic Records section)

  • A rationale for why other funding sources are inadequate

  • Outside (non-Penn State) financial support for your request, if asked for or received

Where Can I Learn More About What Funds Are Available to Geoscience Graduate Students?#

You should click this link to see the full list of what assistantships, awards, scholarships, and fellowships are available, and what the purpose of each are. Please apply for the funds that you are most likely to receive – for example, students that have already passed their Comprehensive Exams should not be applying for the Charles Knopf Memorial Scholarship to support themselves as these funds are for first-year graduate students.

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