Eligibility
No. You must be a U.S. citizen in order to apply for the DOE NNSA SSGF.
No. You must be a U.S. citizen in order to apply for the DOE NNSA SSGF.
Your department must certify that no more than two terms of teaching (two courses) are required of you and that this requirement is for all students in your program and department. Grading for a course is not allowed as a requirement by your department or advisor. Review our teaching assistant policy.
No. You must be a full-time student working toward your Ph.D. at a U.S. university (by fall 2025).
At the time of application, you cannot have completed more than two years of full-time graduate work toward your Ph.D. For specific questions, please contact us.
You can apply to the DOE NNSA SSGF program, but if awarded the fellowship, you may have to give up your current fellowship. The DOE NNSA SSGF cannot be accepted concurrently with another federal fellowship.
A previous master's degree in another field doesn’t affect your application. As long as you are no further than the first or second year of doctoral work in your current field of study, you are eligible to apply.
As long as you’ll start a doctoral program by the time the fellowship would begin (fall 2025), you’re eligible.
Yes, you are eligible for the fellowship.
Students planning to study in an academic department and conduct research in a science or engineering discipline related to high energy density physics, nuclear science, or materials under extreme conditions, are eligible for this fellowship. If you feel that your area of study fits into one of these categories, you are encouraged to apply and convince application reviewers that your work can be properly represented as stewardship science. Read more about supported fields of study.
Transcripts
We require an official transcript from all universities listed on your application, including the current fall term (if you are enrolled). If the fall transcript is not available until after the deadline, we will still accept your application and consider it complete.
Official transcripts must be sent directly from the university, either by mail or through an e-transcript system (the latter is preferred when the option exists). Transcripts sent by an applicant will not be accepted regardless of delivery method.
Ph.D. Institution/Program of Study (POS)
You can attend any accredited university (that offers a Ph.D.) during the fellowship period, as long as it is in the United States. Read about the program of study requirement.
Application Status & Submission
Yes, you can save your application and work on it any time. Your application is considered final — and no further changes can be made — once you click “Final Submission" within the "Review for Final Submission" section of the system. You can, however, continue using the online system to prompt listed references to submit their letters and/or to check your application’s status.
Yes. While you will not be able to modify your application, you can continue to use the online system to notify references that their letters have not yet been received, or to check the status of your application.
The 2024-25 application deadline is January 14, 2025. Please keep in mind that all application materials — including references, transcripts and the completed application — will be due at that time.
For studies beginning in the fall of 2025, you will be notified whether or not you received a fellowship by early April 2025.
For those considering whether to apply for the next class of awards (2025-26), the fellowship start date will be September 1, 2025. As a reminder, program funding is renewable for up to four total years.