Energy Department to award $5 million to undergraduate and graduate students

The Department of Energy today awarded more than $5 million to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in nuclear engineering and other science and engineering programs related to nuclear energy.

The awards build on President Barack Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy and efforts to expand clean energy innovation.

“The awards announced today will directly help support the future of the nuclear energy research workforce, as we continue to grow the U.S. clean energy economy,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. “By helping promote cutting-edge nuclear science and engineering, the department is helping to advance American leadership in the safe, secure and efficient use of nuclear energy here and around the world.”

The awards include 59 undergraduate scholarships and 32 graduate-level fellowships for students at U.S. colleges and universities.

Each undergraduate scholarship provides $7,500 to help cover education costs for the upcoming year. The three-year graduate fellowships provide $50,000 each year to help pay for graduate studies and research. To strengthen the ties between students and the department’s energy research programs, fellowships also include $5,000 to fund a summer internship at a U.S. national laboratory or other approved research facility.

The Energy Department has awarded almost $25 million to more than 500 students for nuclear energy-related scholarships and fellowships since 2009. Ninety-eight percent of the students who have completed energy-related fellowships have pursued careers in nuclear energy at government agencies.