Columbia Engineering crown logo on a blue background

External Fellowship Grants

Federal and Foundation Fellowship Opportunities for Graduate Students

  • National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D.
    • Deadline: October 20, 2026
    • Stipend: ∼$45,000/year for 3 years
    • Tuition: Full tuition & fees
    • Target Field/Demographic: DoD-relevant STEM (CS, EE, ME, AE, MSE, etc.)
    • Citizenship: U.S. citizens/nationals only (permanent residents not eligible)
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students, 2nd-year graduate students
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D.
    • Deadline: October 22, 2026
    • Stipend: $37,000/year for 3 years
    • Tuition: $16,000/year cost-of-education allowance
    • Target Field/Demographic: STEM, including Engineering & CS
    • Citizenship: U.S. citizens or permanent residents
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students
  • Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans
    • Terminal Degree: Master's and Ph.D.
    • Deadline: October 29, 2026
    • Stipend: $25,000/year for up to 2 years
    • Tuition: Up to $20,000/year
    • Target Field/Demographic: Immigrants, DACA recipients, green card holders, naturalized citizens, and children of immigrants
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students, 2nd-year graduate students
  • Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D. Deadline: October 30, 2026 
    • Stipend: $38,000/year for up to 5 years 
    • Tuition: Full tuition 
    • Target Field/Demographic: Applied physical, biological, and engineering sciences (including CS) 
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students
  • National GEM Consortium Fellowship (MS Track)
    • Terminal Degree: Master's
    • Deadline: November 13, 2026
    • Stipend: $8,000/year + up to 2 paid summer internships with a GEM employer
    • Tuition: Full tuition & fees
    • Citizenship: U.S. citizens or permanent residents
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors
  • National GEM Consortium Fellowship (PhD Track)
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D.
    • Deadline: November 13, 2026
    • Stipend: $16,000/year + one paid summer internship with a GEM employer
    • Citizenship: U.S. citizens or permanent residents
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students
  • DoD SMART Scholarship
    • Terminal Degree: Master's
    • Deadline: December 4, 2026
    • Stipend:30,000–46,000/year + guaranteed post-graduation DoD employment
    • Tuition: Full tuition & fees
    • Citizenship: U.S. citizens only
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students, 2nd-year graduate students
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) F31 Predoctoral Fellowship
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D. 
    • Deadline: Three cycles yearly — April, August, and December 8 
    • Stipend: ∼$28,000/year 
    • Tuition: Tuition & fees covered 
    • Target Field/Demographic: Biomedical engineering, computational biology 
    • Who Can Apply: 1st-year graduate students, 2nd-year graduate students
  • DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF)
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D.
    • Deadline: Tentatively January 2027
    • Stipend: $45,000/year for up to 4 years
    • Tuition: Full tuition & fees
    • Target Field/Demographic: Computational science, applied math, CS, engineering
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students
  • National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC) Fellowship
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D. Deadline: January 31, 2027 
    • Stipend: Up to $20,000/year Tuition: Full tuition & fees 
    • Duration: 2–6 years of support 
    • Additional Benefit: Summer internship with sponsoring company (1–2 summers) 
    • Target Field/Demographic: Physical sciences & engineering 
    • Who Can Apply: Seniors, 1st-year graduate students, 2nd-year graduate students
  • SWE (Society of Women Engineers) Graduate Scholarships [Clarify this Link]
    • Terminal Degree: Master's Deadline: February 1, 2027 
    • Award:1,000–15,000 (varies by award) 
    • Target Field/Demographic: Women in engineering 
    • Citizenship: Open to all citizenships 
    • Who Can Apply: 1st-year graduate students, 2nd-year graduate students
  • Link Foundation Fellowships (Energy / Modeling & Simulation / Ocean Engineering)
    • Terminal Degree: Ph.D. 
    • Deadline: Tentatively March 2027 
    • Stipend: $35,000/year for 1 year 
    • Target Field/Demographic: Energy, modeling/simulation, ocean engineering 
    • Who Can Apply: 1st-year graduate students

Fellowship Opportunities for Postdoctoral Fellows