Term Length: 3 Years
US Citizenship Required

To be eligible for the NDSEG Fellowship, you must meet 5 basic criteria:

1. Be a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Dual Citizen, or U.S. National (as defined below)
2. Have completed your undergraduate studies prior to the commencement of the fellowship year. For example, if applying for 2026 fellowship year, you must have completed your undergraduate studies as of 2025.
3. Be applying to, accepted to, or currently enrolled at an accredited graduate-level institution within the United States. If enrolled, you must be or near the beginning (within first 2 years) of your Graduate study in Science or Engineering.
4. Have at *least* THREE remaining years in your graduate degree program at the time of application.
5. Be pursuing research in alignment with one or more specific topics identified in the Department of Defense’s Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs).

For the purposes of the NDSEG Fellowship, the term “U.S. National” designates a citizen of the United States or a native of a possession of the United States such as American Samoa. It does not refer to a citizen of another country who has applied for but has not yet received citizenship. People who hold permanent resident status are not eligible to apply.

Candidates pursuing only a Medical Degree are not eligible for the NDSEG Fellowship.

If you complete an application, and are not selected, you can apply again as long as you continue to meet all of the eligibility criteria above.

Applications are also encouraged from women, persons with disabilities and minorities, including members of ethnic minority groups such as Native American, African American, Hispanic American, Native Alaskan (Inuit and Aleut) or Pacific Islander (Polynesian or Micronesian).

DoD NDSEG Fellows must meet the following requirements as a condition of their appointment:

• Enrolled in full-time programs leading to graduate degrees in fields specified in the DoD services Strategy Documents
• Attending an accredited U.S. institution of higher education
• Has made satisfactory academic progress toward an advanced degree in one of the science or engineering fields
• Mandatory attendance at the DoD National NDSEG Fellows Conference within their award term

Fellow may not accept simultaneous remuneration from another fellowship, e.g., if an applicant is offered both an NSF and an NDSEG Fellowship, the applicant must choose between the two offers.

An evaluation panel in each discipline reviews all complete and eligible applications. Each application is evaluated by a panel whose expertise is in the science or engineering discipline of the applicant’s proposed doctoral degree program.

The evaluation of applicants is based on review of their entire online application, including academic records, personal statements, recommendations, and GRE scores. The top applications that are ranked by the evaluation panel are then forwarded on to the Department of Defense.

The DoD then selects applicants to receive NDSEG Fellowships based on an assessment of the applicants’ academic ability in fields of interest to the DoD. Selection of awardees is made by the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the High Performance Computing Modernization Program. Each agency directly monitors the awards conferred to fellows in discipline areas closely related to its mission.

Official award notification is sent via email by the start of April. Award winners are expected to accept or reject the offer within two weeks of official notification. On average, 10% of reviewed applicants are selected to receive awards each year.

A complete application consists of the following:

Application Categories

1. Proposal (Proposed DoD sponsoring agency, DoD Strategy Documents (e.g., BAA/FOA), and research technical discipline area.
2. Personal Essay – Will be typed in a web application (no more than 500 words for each essay). No special formatting required. Describe your academic or other interest, personal story, and personal achievements (e.g., short and long-term professional goals; How your goals were developed; How you have begun to lay the foundation for these goals; How the fellowship fits into these goals?)
3. Research Proposal [Redacted and Original Versions] (Proposed DoD sponsoring agency, information, and research technical discipline area.
4. Resume/CV [Redacted and Original Versions] – Upload a PDF of your most up-to-date Resumes/CV
5. Up to 3 References [Highly Recommended but not required to submit application] – References should be provided by an Academic Advisor, Research Advisor, or Internship Supervisor. References can complete a reference form via a systems link sent by a Fellow via their online application. Letters on letterhead will NOT be accepted. The Reference Evaluation Forms link includes a space for additional comments. Reference should capture professional assessment of the applicant, a testimony to your scholarly excellence.

If for any reason an application does not contain all of the required elements, it will not be reviewed. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the completeness of his or her application.

Research Proposal Instructions
Proposed research relevant to the DoD. The research proposal should capture how well the proposal responds to the DoD Strategy Document listed on the website under the DOD menu. Guidelines are provided below:

4 Page Proposal with work cited
3 Page Proposal Single line space
1 Page Max Cited Work
Graphics and Charts may be included
12Pt. Times New Roman Font-a smaller font size may be used for cited work, charts and graphics
Margins should be no less than 0.5

Additional Information About DoD Strategy Document
Applicants must find the DoD Strategy Document that list research areas that relate to your discipline/area of research (https://ndseg.sysplus.com/NDSEG/About/DoD-Agencies). The Research Proposal should reflect your field of study as well as connect with one of the DoD Strategy Document’s.

In the application, there is a section where you will list the DoD Strategy Document number (not name of the DoD Strategy Document), and the name of the research area you select. Additionally, if you are interested in the international research area, that is okay. Generally, the rule is, if it’s listed under 1 of the DoD Strategy Documents, and it is an open and current DoD Strategy Document, applicants can write their proposal in that area.

Please list the title of the research area your proposal will support. This is to ensure you are responding to one of the DoD Strategy Documents. Additionally, in the application is a field to incorporate a title for your proposal.