Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Computer Science

US Department of Energy Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowships

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U.S. Department of Energy Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowships

The U.S. Department of Energy provides funding for students in their first or second year of graduate study in the fields of physical, engineering, computers, mathematics and life sciences. The fellowships are renewable up to four years. Students receive about $31,000 a year, as well as a $1,000 annual academic allowance for travel, research activities and attending conferences. Some students may also get matched funds for computer support up to $2,475.

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New theses and dissertations available in the Library

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The Graduate School is pleased to announce new theses and dissertations are now available in the J.R. van Pelt and Opie Library from the following programs:

  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Engineering Science
  • Industrial Archaeology
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
  • Rhetoric and Technical Communication
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Department of Defense SMART

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The Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

Eligibility:

  • a U.S. citizen at time of application,
  • 18 years of age or older as of August 1, 2012,
  • able to participate in summer internships at DoD laboratories,
  • willing to accept post-graduate employment with the DoD,
  • a student in good standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (as calculated by the SMART application) and,
  • pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the disciplines listed on the About SMART page.

Benefits:

  • Full tuition and education related fees (does not include items such as meal plans, housing, or parking)
  • Cash award paid at a rate of $25,000 – $41,000 depending on prior educational experience (may be prorated depending on award length)
  • Paid summer internships
  • Health Insurance reimbursement allowance up to $1,200 per calendar year
  • Book allowance of $1,000 per academic year
  • Mentoring
  • Employment placement after graduation
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THE NASA GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS IS APPROACHING

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THE DEADLINE OF FEBRUARY 23, 2011 FOR THE NASA GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS IS APPROACHING.

Only two weeks remain to submit graduate student applications for NASA’s new Space Technology Research Fellowships. Applications are due by February 23 for the new NASA grants.

Applications are being accepted from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of graduate students interested in performing space technology research beginning this fall.

The fellowships will sponsor U.S. graduate student researchers who show significant potential to contribute to NASA’s strategic space technology objectives through their studies. Sponsored by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist, the fellowships’ goal is to provide the nation with a pipeline of highly skilled engineers and technologists to improve America’s technological competitiveness.

NASA Space Technology Fellows will perform innovative space technology research while building the skills necessary to become future technological leaders. Information about the fellowships, including how to submit applications, is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/early_stage_innovation/grants/NSTRF.html

To learn more about NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist and the crosscutting space technology areas of interest to NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

If you plan to submit an application please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) in the Sponsored Programs Enhancement Office.

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Alumni Gifts Underwrite New Computing Research Center

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The new Paul and Susan Williams Center for Computer Systems Research will soon provide a space where Michigan Tech’s computer scientists and engineers can put their heads together.

Equipment and furnishings for the 10,000-square-foot center are made possible by a gift from Paul Williams, a 1961 electrical engineering graduate. Williams, of Torrance, Calif., is a retired engineer who spent nearly all of his career with Hughes Aircraft.

Donations from other alumni are underwriting the costs of remodeling the fifth floor of the Electrical Energy Resources Center, which will house the new facility. The space was formerly occupied by the Seaman Mineral Museum. The construction project is funded by gifts from the James Fugere Foundation and the Dave House Family Foundation, along with numerous other donations alumni have made over the last several years.

The Williams Center will support research on real-time, high-performance computing and information processing; computer-aided design of digital systems; and embedded and distributed computer systems.

“Our aim is to bring together people from all parts of campus with a common interest in computing systems research,” said Dan Fuhrmann, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The Williams Center will be for faculty and students alike, for graduate students and undergraduates. It represents a huge leap forward in realizing Paul Williams’ vision of state-of-the-art facilities in electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science, that were simply not available at Michigan Tech in 1961.”

Williams is also supporting Tech’s Paul and Susan Williams Endowed Scholarship, to be awarded annually to a graduate of his other alma mater, Negaunee High School. Preference will be given to electrical engineering majors.

The center has been a cooperative effort. “We’re excited about working with the Department of Computer Science on this,” said Fuhrmann. “We’ll be looking at experimental architectures, new applications and new ways of doing computing.”

Steven Carr, interim chair of computer science, is equally enthusiastic. “It’s a really neat opportunity for our departments to collaborate in a much more defined way,” he said. “We have always worked well together, and there are faculty in both departments who have the potential to cooperate closely on large projects. The center will play a big role in making that happen.”

The Williams Center concept grew from the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative in computational discovery and innovation. “It’s helping realize the goals of the SFHI, to raise the level of computing studies campus wide,” Fuhrmann said. “As we develop the resources made possible with this gift, we’ll be reaching out to others on campus for interesting computational problems.”

A grand opening for the center is expected in August. The facility will house 10 faculty offices, a conference room, a seminar room, two small meeting rooms, common areas for graduate student desks and lab space and a social area overlooking the Keweenaw Waterway. “It was designed to draw people together,” Fuhrmann said. “And the fact that it was made possible entirely through alumni donations is just phenomenal.”

Published in Tech Today.

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NASA NSPIRES Research Opportunities

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Supporting research in science and technology is an important part of NASA’s overall mission. NASA solicits this research through the release of various research announcements in a wide range of science and technology disciplines. Please bookmark and visit often  http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external to search for NASA research opportunities that may fit with your graduate research focus.

Current Opening:  NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF)

This Fall 2011 Fellowship opportunity is open to US citizens and permanent residents who are pursuing Master’s or Doctoral degrees in relevant space technology disciplines in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.   Selected fellows will perform research on their respective campus and at NASA Centers and US Research and Development laboratories.

The maximum amount of an NSTRF award is $60,000 per year for a Master’s candidate and $66,000 per year for a Doctoral candidate – this includes a faculty advisor allowance of $9,000.

If interested, please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu).

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Central Intelligence Agency Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program

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This Research Solicitation by the Central Intelligence Agency announces a Fiscal Year 2011 solicitation for the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program.  The Program was created in response to the Intelligence Community (IC) requirement to address long-term IC research and technology needs.  The Program serves the IC and research communities by engaging experts in the solution of problems critical to IC goals and missions.  Science and technology are fundamental drivers of global developments, and the IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program facilitates the necessary research in leading-edge technologies to support broad IC technology needs.  The Program awards multi-year postdoctoral research fellowship grants to address these needs.  In addition to facilitating research for the long-term needs of the IC, the mission of the IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program is to establish long-term mentoring relationships with its Postdoctoral Fellows and provide research institutions with an understanding of the IC’s research requirements.  The Program fosters partnerships with these Fellows as they move into career positions and provide innovative solutions to address critical IC problems.

Through this solicitation, the Program expects to make twelve or more grant awards in the specific research topics described herein.  If additional funding becomes available, the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program may choose to make additional awards under the terms of this Research Solicitation from the remaining selectable proposals.  The grant will be awarded for two years and funded up to $120,000 per year ($240,000 total), with a potential for a one-year option in the third year for up to $120,000.

Applicants may submit a proposal under this Research Solicitation without having a Postdoctoral Fellow identified. The applicants must be associated with a U.S. domestic accredited college, university, or other degree granting institution or a U.S. Government Laboratory.  Although all research in this program is unclassified, each Postdoctoral Fellow MUST be a U.S. citizen.  Fellows must have completed and have been awarded their doctorate degree before starting the IC Fellowship, and the degree must have been conferred within the last five years prior to the submission of this proposal.  The Principal Investigator (PI)/mentor is NOT required to be a U.S. citizen.  If a grant is awarded as a result of the proposal submitted, the PI has one year from the award date of the grant to recommend a postdoctoral research candidate, who must be approved by both the Program Manager and Government IC Advisor prior to starting the IC Postdoctoral Fellowship. Funding is limited until a Postdoctoral Fellow is identified and approved (see Section 8, paragraph B).

As required by the terms and conditions of the award, Fellows must participate at the annual IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Colloquium (both as an attendee and as a presenter), and publish yearly in a peer-reviewed journal, with the full article submitted to the Journal of Intelligence Community Research and Development (JICRD), or an original publication in JICRD.  Yearly publications submitted to a journal other than JICRD must include permission, following copyright law, for the CIA to reprint the article.

Please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) if you are interested in applying.

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Research Associateship Programs

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The mission of the NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP) is to promote excellence in scientific and technological research conducted by the U. S. government through the administration of programs offering graduate, postdoctoral, and senior level research opportunities at sponsoring federal laboratories and affiliated institutions.

In these programs, prospective applicants select a research project or projects from among the large group of opportunities listed on this website.  Prior to completing an application, prospective applicants should contact the proposed Research Adviser to assure that funding will be available if their application is recommended by NRC panels.  Once mutual interest is established between a prospective applicant and a Research Adviser, an application is submitted through the NRC WebRap system.  Reviews are conducted four times each year and review results are available approximately 6-8 weeks following the application deadline.

There are four review cycles annually. Deadlines for 2011 are:

February 1

May 1

August 1

November 1

Click here for more information: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/rap/

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A (Graduate) Family Affair

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The rigors of graduate education are daunting enough, and adding a new child into the mix can raise the stress level into the stratosphere.

Now the Graduate School has helped ease the burden for Lihui Hu, a PhD student in computer science who has just given birth to her first baby, a boy named Alex. The Graduate School recently adopted policies to help graduate students transition to parenthood by offering excused absences and paid leave for new mothers or fathers of biological or adopted children, providing they are already supported full-time by the University.

Hu is the first beneficiary of the new policy. “I’m very grateful to my department and all the people who helped,” she says. “I was able to come home one week before my delivery. It has really helped. At the end of the leave, I’ll be ready to return to campus to work and do my research.”

The timing was perfect, too. Hu’s husband, Linjia Hu, had a job offer that just fell through, and the couple would have been without any income.

“We are among only 13 percent of universities nationally who offer six weeks guaranteed, paid leave,” says Kristi Isaacson, assistant director of marketing for the Graduate School.

The support system within academic departments and administrative offices also includes extension time for the degree programs, subsidies for campus child care and local resources to help new parents, Isaacson adds.

Central to the new benefit is the Graduate Student Parental Accommodation Policy, which applies to the mother or father. Under the policy, the graduate student-parent is excused from courses, research, teaching assignments or other responsibilities at Tech for up to six weeks.

“For many women and men, the best time to begin to raise a family is when you are in graduate school,” says Jackie Huntoon, Graduate School dean. “This policy makes it easier for our students and faculty to manage a birth or adoption in a positive way.”

“The excused absence can actually begin three weeks prior to the birth or placement,” Isaacson adds.

The policy also provides a one-semester extension to the time-to-degree limit, as well as extensions to deadlines for completing the qualifying exam or proposal defense.

The academic departments receive funding from the Graduate School to hire temporary replacements for the students on parental leave.

“It’s great that we are able to support her and still cover her duties,” says Steve Carr, chair and professor of computer science, who sits on Hu’s dissertation committee. “With tight budgets, we can still afford a TA. We don’t want to discourage graduate students from starting families, but this type of support is necessary,” Carr adds.

Isaacson agrees. “We don’t want the program to be a burden on the academic department, and we want the grad students to know that we are family supportive,” she says.

Programs like Michigan Tech’s could help stop the “female brain drain in science,” where women are more likely to abandon their academic careers in favor of raising their families, according to research by the Council of Graduate Schools.

“I am proud that our policy is among the best in the nation,” Huntoon says. “This certainly will help us attract and retain more female students, which is one of the University’s strategic goals.”

Isaacson says that help for graduate student-parents, new and old, extends beyond campus resources, such as Little Huskies Child Development Center and the Michigan Tech Preschool.

“The Keweenaw Family Resource Center has the new tree house indoor play area, maternity closet of “gently used clothing” and other programs, and Community Coordinated Child Care (4Cs) also has many ways to help parents.”

“Everyone benefits, and students are not burdened with any additional stress from their academic lives,” Huntoon adds. “They truly can take the time to enjoy the new addition to their family.”

by Jennifer Donovan, director of public relations
Published in Tech Today and Michigan Tech News (by Dennis Walikainen)

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