Apply for the 2025 Next Gen Cohort by May 31
The UCAR Next Generation graduate Fellowship is a prestigious, multi-faceted opportunity to explore the interplay between the areas of Earth System Science research and its impact on society.
Fellows engage with, and learn from UCAR’s experts 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); Fellowship Visits that entail up to 20 weeks of paid research trip to Boulder, Colorado or Washington, D.C. or other agreed upon location; funding to attend conferences, professional coaching; and the support of a like minded cohort.
The primary goals of this program are to facilitate engaged, motivated “Next Generation” students in exploring the intersections between science and society, and to support Fellows in becoming future leaders in the field of atmospheric and Earth System Sciences.
The Next Generation Fellowship is a collaboration between a graduate student (the Fellow) and their track mentors (UCAR and NSF NCAR 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.
How the Fellowship Functions
The Next Generation Fellowship program recruits graduate students into a specific Fellowship tracks on which they will focus, although interdisciplinary exploration is encouraged:
Although each Fellowship experience is customized for the individual Fellow as much as possible, the overall Fellowship experience follows a similar arc. During the academic year, most Fellows meet occasionally with their track mentors to build a relationship and share ideas for how they would like to collaborate. Meanwhile, Fellows participate in bi-monthly professional and cohort development activities (all virtual). During each summer of their Fellowship, Fellows will usually travel to Boulder or Washington DC (policy Fellows) and spend 8-12 weeks working side by side with their track mentors and other UCAR and NSF NCAR experts.
We will host three info sessions during the application period. During these sessions, we'll discuss the overall program, the specific tracks, and tips on completing your application. We will also have breakout rooms with mentors and/or current Fellows from the different tracks.
Register for info sessions
Feb 27, 2025 at 11am HST / 1pm PST / 2pm MST / 3pm CST / 4pm EST
Mar 14, 2025 at 10am HST / 12pm PST / 1pm MST / 2pm CST / 3pm EST
Apr 22, 2025 at 6am HST / 9am PST / 10am MST / 11am CST / 12pm EST