USA Scholarships
PhD & Postdoctoral Scholarship Guides
PhD & Postdoctoral Fellowships
Guides for fully funded doctoral and postdoctoral research opportunities. Each guide covers eligibility, documents, benefits, and the full application process.
NASA JPL Year-Round Internship 2027 - Paid STEM
The NASA JPL Year-Round Internship Program pays undergraduate and graduate STEM students to work on Lab at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the academic year and over the summer, with part-time and full-time terms offered all year. There is no single closing date. JPL accepts applications continuously, keeps each one active in its system for eight months, and lets mentors search that pool when they have a project to staff. Participants get a weekly monetary award, and full-time in-person interns whose university sits more than 50 miles from JPL also get a housing and travel allowance. The programme is open to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents enrolled at accredited U.S. universities, with a 3.0 GPA minimum and 3.5 preferred, and your first term has to run 10 weeks or more.
NIAF Scholarship 2027 - $2,500 to $12,000 Awards
The NIAF Scholarship is the National Italian American Foundation's annual award programme for Italian American students at US colleges and universities. Individual awards run from $2,500 to $12,000, and the Foundation says it has put over $10,000,000 into scholarships since it was founded. One application matches you to every fund you qualify for, from business and STEM awards to funds for music, law, Italian studies and students from particular states. You need an active NIAF membership, a 3.5 GPA, US citizenship or permanent resident status, and full-time enrollment for Fall 2027. The application reopens on 1 December 2026 and closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on 1 March 2027.
Harry S. Truman Scholarship 2027 - $30,000 Award
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the federal memorial to the thirty-third President and the best known graduate award in the USA for students headed into public service. Scholars receive up to $30,000 toward a graduate or professional degree, a required Leadership Week in Missouri, an optional summer in Washington DC, and a direct hiring authority with the federal government. You apply in your junior year, through your campus, and the Foundation picks one Scholar from each state plus up to 15 at-large Scholars. Nominations for the 2027 competition are due by 11:59 p.m. in your own time zone on 2 February 2027.
SMART Scholarship 2027 - Full Tuition, $30k-$46k
The SMART Scholarship is the Department of War Scholarship-for-Service Program for STEM students in the USA. It pays full tuition with no monetary cap, an annual stipend of $30,000 to $46,000 depending on degree level, a health insurance allowance up to $2,500 a year and a miscellaneous allowance up to $1,000 a year, then places you in a civilian job at the sponsoring facility that picked you. Every funded year carries one year of service in return. The cycle closing at 5 p.m. EST on 4 December 2026 funds study from Fall 2027, and it is open to citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
University of Rochester Chemistry PhD Scholarship 2027
Every PhD student in the University of Rochester Department of Chemistry gets the same package: a full tuition scholarship, health insurance and a living stipend set at $35,520 for the 2026-2027 academic year. The GRE is not required, applications close on 1 December for fall entry only, and the $70 application fee is waived automatically for anyone with a 3.5 GPA or better. Teaching is part of the deal at six units across the degree, usually three semesters in the first two years, and departmental fellowships such as Sherman-Clarke, Ewart and Weissberger add a bonus on top of the base stipend later on.
Notre Dame Doctoral Program 2027 - Sustainable Development
The University of Notre Dame's Doctoral Program in Sustainable Development at the Keough School of Global Affairs opens for a Fall 2027 start, with applications closing on 1 December 2026. Admitted students get a five-year funding guarantee: a 12-month stipend set at $39,000 for Keough doctoral students in 2026-2027, a full tuition scholarship worth $69,510 a year, a health insurance premium subsidy, summer research support and up to $4,000 for conferences and professional development. The programme is STEM-designated, takes about five years, and trains researchers in climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental governance and development policy.
East-West Center Fellowship 2027 - Study at UH Manoa
The East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship pays general graduate tuition and fees at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, gives you a single room in an East-West Center residence hall, and adds a stipend that partly covers food and incidental costs. The Center values the package at roughly $22,000 a year before tax, with extra aid possible where you can show financial need. Awards run for one academic year and can be renewed once, to a maximum of two years. Applications for the 2027 intake close on 1 December 2026 at 11:59 PM Hawaii Standard Time, and you have to apply to UH Manoa by that same date if you are not already enrolled there. Open to US citizens and permanent residents and to citizens of listed countries across the Pacific, Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia.
Hertz Fellowship 2027 - Up to $250,000 for a PhD
The Hertz Fellowship is the hardest doctoral award in American science to win and one of the most generous. Fellows get up to five years of support worth as much as $250,000: a $38,000 nine-month personal stipend, the full tuition equivalent at any of more than 50 US universities, and $5,000 a year more if they have dependent children. It is open only to US citizens and permanent residents heading into or just starting a PhD in the applied physical and biological sciences, mathematics or engineering. The 2027 application opened on 31 August 2026 and closes on 30 October 2026, with references due 2 November. Nineteen fellows were chosen from more than 1,450 applicants last cycle.
Big Ten Smithsonian Fellowship 2027 - $45,000 Stipend
The Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship pays PhD candidates at BTAA universities a $45,000 yearly stipend, prorated, plus up to $5,000 for research to spend 3 to 12 months at the Smithsonian with a staff advisor. Tenure starts between June 2027 and May 2028. Apply through SOLAA by 15 October 2026.
Knight Hennessy Scholarship 2027 - Stanford Full Funding
The Knight Hennessy Scholarship 2027 is Stanford University's flagship graduate award, run as the Knight-Hennessy Scholars programme. It pays tuition and fees, a living stipend, one round trip a year and a relocation allowance for up to three years of graduate study in any of Stanford's seven schools, including MA, MS, MBA, JD, MD, MFA, MPP, DMA and PhD programmes. Up to 100 scholars are chosen each year and applicants of every nationality are welcome. The application for the 2027 cohort closes on 6 October 2026 at 1 pm Pacific Time, and you must also apply to your Stanford degree programme by 1 December 2026 or its own earlier deadline.
HUGO Lab PhD Scholarship 2027 - South Carolina Funded PhD
The HUGO Lab PhD Scholarship 2027 is funding for two new doctoral students in Dr. Jangwoon Park's Human Factors and Ergonomics (HUGO) Lab at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. According to the lab's recruitment notice, both places come with a full tuition waiver and a monthly stipend, and funding is guaranteed for the first two years. You can start in Spring 2027 or Fall 2027. You apply through USC's Mechanical Engineering PhD, where the Spring deadline is 1 October 2026 for international applicants and 15 October 2026 for US applicants, and the Fall deadline is 1 May 2027 (15 May for US applicants). You also email your file to Dr. Park directly.
AAUW International Fellowship 2028 - Up to $25,000 in STEM
The AAUW International Fellowship pays women who are not US citizens or permanent residents $20,000 for a first master's degree or $25,000 for a first doctorate, studied full time in a STEM field at an accredited US institution. The 2027-28 application window closes at 5pm ET on 17 September 2026, so this guide is set up for the 2028-29 cycle, which is expected to open in mid-August 2027 and close in mid-September 2027.