Now Accepting Applications for the 2026 Next Gen Cohort
The Next Generation Fellowship is designed to provide targeted financial and community support to graduate students currently registered at North American (USA, Canada, Mexico) universities. Three Fellows are recruited each year, one in each of three tracks: Earth System Science Research Track; Applied Science Research Track (new for 2026); or Science Policy Research Track. During their two year fellowship, Fellows collaborate with experts from across UCAR, including NSF NCAR and UCAR Community Programs, while participating in dedicated professional development and leadership training opportunities.
Each Fellow receives a $40,000 Fellowship over two years ($10,000 twice per year); funding for up to 20 weeks of research visits to a relevant UCAR site; funding to attend conferences; curated professional development programming; professional coaching; and the support of a like minded cohort.
The Next Generation Fellowship is a collaboration between a graduate student (the Fellow) and their track mentors (UCAR/NSF NCAR/UCP experts). Fellows are responsible for leading the work pursued during their Fellowship, integrating it into their ongoing research, building connections between their track mentor and their faculty advisors, and have considerable freedom to build interdisciplinary knowledge and collaborations.
For more information on the program structure, we recommend attending one of the information sessions or emailing nextgenfellows@ucar.edu
Register for info sessions
The Next Gen coordinator will host three information sessions during the application period. These sessions will go over the structure of the program, tips on how to prepare your application and find a mentor, and give you the chance to chat with current Fellows and/or potential track mentors. Click the links below to register for one or more sessions.
Thursday March 19th, 2026 at 11am PT/12pm MT/2pm ET