Scholarships and Fellowships

The following scholarships and fellowships are available to students who major in physics at Wake Forest University.

American Physical Society Minority Scholarships

The American Physical Society, the national society of Physicists in America, sponsors a scholarship for minority students (African-American, Hispanic-American, or Native-American) for students majoring in, or committing to major in, Physics. High school and college students are eligible. The scholarship entitled the American Physical Society Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Physics Majors, consists of $2000 for new recipients and $3000 for renewal recipients. More information and application forms can be found at http://www.aps.org/programs/minorities.
The application deadline is February 1.

Randall Ledford Scholarship in Physics

Wake Forest University offers students who know that they are interested in physics the opportunity to begin physics research early in their college experience. The Ledford scholarship is awarded every four years to a student who shows outstanding potential in physics.  This scholarship carries a value of more than $74,000 and will next be available to a student who will enter the university in the fall of 2011.

This scholarship is funded through the generosity of Dr. Randall D. Ledford, WFU class of 1972. Dr. Ledford is Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of Emerson Electric Company, one of the world’s leading electronics companies. Before joining Emerson Electric, Dr. Ledford was president and general manager of several divisions of Texas Instruments Inc. including software, digital imaging, enterprise solutions and process automation. He began his career at Bell Telephone Laboratories where he worked on UNIX development, fiber optic communication and microwave transmissions. While at Texas Instruments, Dr. Ledford led the company’s development of the Digital Light Processor (DLP) used in many high definition televisions and video projectors.

For more information about this scholarship, follow this link or contact the department chair, Keith Bonin.

Wake Forest Research Fellowships

The Wake Forest Research Fellowship Program is sponsored by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and is designed to encourage individual Wake Forest undergraduates to join their professors as junior partners on scholarly research projects. While improving opportunities for mentoring and helping students to progress into advanced work, these are also a means of supporting successful and dedicated students with financial scholarships. Up to 55 competitive, merit-based fellowships will financially assist students who collaborate with faculty mentors. For more details, follow the link to this program's web page.
The application deadline is March 17 for the following summer.

Goldwater Scholarships

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is designed to attract outstanding students into careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit to students who are sophomores or juniors during the current academic year and who have excellent academic records and demonstrated interest in and potential for careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The scholarship covers eligible expenses for tuition, fees, books, and room and board to a maximum of $7,500 per academic year. For more information on this program, please follow this link.
The application deadline is December 1, 2008(internal); January 30, 2008 (Foundation Deadline).

REU opportunities

The National Science Foundation supports undergraduate participation in research through the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Scholarships

The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS Mission. The program supports students at the undergraduate level. The award includes full tuition and fees and a monthly stipend plus a 10-week summer internship doing research in a DHS-related area.

The DHS HS-STEM Summer Internship Program provides a 10-week summer research experience for undergraduate students majoring in homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) disciplines. Students will have the opportunity to conduct research in DHS mission-relevant areas at various federal research facilities. Participants receive a stipend of $500 each week plus transportation expenses to/from their internship location.

The DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions provides research opportunities to increase and enhance the scientific leadership at Minority Serving Institutions in research areas that support the mission and goals of DHS. The program supports research teams composed of a faculty member and up to two students (undergraduate or graduate level) for a 10-week summer internship doing research at a DHS Center of Excellence. The award includes a stipend plus transportation expenses to/from the internship location.

SMART Scholarships

Established by the department of Defense (DoD) to support the education and recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students in Science, TEchnology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields for recruiting and retaining civilian scientists and engineers to work in DoD agencies and laboratories. Please visit the site for more information.
The application deadline is December 15, 2008.

Amgen Scholars

An undergraduate summer research program in science and biotechnology. Please visit the site for more information.
The application deadline is early February, depending on the site.

Churchill Scholarships

The Churchill Scholarship is for one year of graduate study in engineering, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge University, ENGLAND. The scholarship is available to graduating seniors.

Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships

SULI (Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships) is a DOE program where undergraduate science and engineering majors can undertake research in a paid internship at a DOE National Lab, such as Fermilab.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). SURF students work for 11 weeks, contributing to an ongoing research project under the guidance of a NIST scientist or engineer from one of the Institute’s nine major laboratories (Physics, Manufacturing Engineering, Building and Fire Research, Chemical Sciences, Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, Materials Science, Neutron Research, and Nanoscale Science).