Assistantships and Scholarships

Scholarships and Awards for Geosciences Undergraduates

The Department of Geosciences and the College of Natural Sciences offer a variety of scholarships and awards to recognize the hard work and academic success of our students, assist students with the expense of their education, and support student research and internships. The majority of these scholarships and awards are funded through the generosity of alumni and other members of the CNS community. We encourage all current students in the department, both undergraduate and graduate, to apply.

A list of of scholarships and awards funded by alumni and friends of the department can be found here.

How to apply

The university has implemented AcademicWorks, an online application system for scholarships offered at UMass Amherst. Simply enroll in AcademicWorks, fill out both the UMass general application and the CNS application. The system will automatically submit your application to the scholarships and awards for which you are fully eligible and will inform you of other scholarships for which you would need to supply additional materials to apply.

Go to the AcademicWorks webpage and sign in with your UMass Net ID and password.

  • Complete both the general application and the CNS application. The system will show if you are eligible for scholarships that require additional application materials.
  • Click on each scholarship link and upload any required supplementary materials (such as resumes or faculty recommendations).
  • Submit your application and check your dashboard to see the status of any pending and submitted applications.

Email acadworks@umass.edu if you have any questions.

Randolph and Cecile Bromery Graduate Fellowships and Undergraduate Scholarship

Provided by the generosity of Randolph ‘Bill’ and Cecile Bromery, these aim to increase the participation of  U.S. students from underrepresented communities within geology and earth sciences. Bill Bromery, a distinguished African American geophysicst, served as Commonwealth Professor at UMass, Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts and President of the Geological Society of America. He has also received numerous honorary degrees and accolades, including the National Academy of Sciences Outstanding Black Scientist award in 1997. For more information and to apply, click here.

Additionally, the UMass Graduate School offers Spaulding-Smith fellowships for graduate students from historically underrepresented communities. Nominations for these highly competitive fellowships are made by the Graduate Program Director during the admissions process.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

REU's (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) are programs designed to engage undergraduate students in research projects alongside faculty & professional scientists.  They often occur in the summer and are all-expense-paid with a stipend.  Northwestern University maintains a growing directory of REUs that are seeking applicants— Click here for more information.

The U.S. National Park Service hosts the Scientists in the Parks program; a series of paid internships for scientists at any point in their education and career (especially students!) to help with natural resource needs in U.S. National Parks.  Click here for morre information.

Graduate Research and Teaching Assistantships

The Geosciences department offers Research Assistant (RA) and Teaching Assistant (TA) positions on a competitive basis.  Please contact a potential advisor to inquire about available RA funding.

The Geosciences Department and College of Natural Science (CNS) also offer a variety of awards to assist students with research and travel expenses due, in large part, to generous donations from our alumni.  Graduate students are invited to apply for these awards in the AcademicWorks system by logging in with your NetID and password. Fill out the general application and the Geosciences awards can be found under “Other Recommended Opportunities.” If you are interested in finding out more about these awards, please contact the Geosciences Department Chair, Graduate Program Directors, or your advisor. Examples of research funded by these awards can be found here.

ELEVATE fellowships for graduate students

ELEVATE draws upon expertise in a wide range of research fields to train graduate students to address resilience and equity in the energy transition towards renewables. ELEVATE Fellows receive competitive funding offers of up to 4 years. Nominees are expected to be incoming first-year PhD students or current first-year PhD students already at UMass Amherst. ELEVATE Affiliates participate in some aspects of the program along with their faculty advisors. Affiliates may be senior PhD students or outstanding Master’s students. For more information, click here.

Graduate Student Travel Grants

The department has funds to help graduate students with travel to conferences and fieldwork.  For more information and to apply, click here (link is for 2021-2022) or contact the Geosciences (geosciencesGPD@geo.umass.edu) or Geography (geog_gpd@geo.umass.edu) graduate program directors.

The 1 year M.S. in Geography: GIST concentration also maintains funds to encourage 1-year M.S. students in that program to attend professional conferences and events. For more information contact Dr. Forrest Bowlick (fbowlick@umass.edu).

UMass Internally-Funded Fellowships and Grants

The UMass graduate school also hosts a number of grant and fellowship opportunities for graduate students, including grants for pre-dissertation and dissertation research, fieldwork, travel, travel with children, public engagement, research interupted by COVID-19, etc...  Please visit https://www.umass.edu/graduate/funding/internal-funding to learn more...