The Scholarship Program strives to encourage and reward aspiring women scientists pursuing their degrees in San Diego colleges and universities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The scholarships, now in their 13th year, are awarded annually and have supported community college, undergraduate, and graduate women in San Diego County pursuing their degrees, conducting research projects, or assisting with additional educational expenses, with an emphasis on STEM fields where women are underrepresented. The fields of study of the scholarship winners in the past have included: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Experimental Psychology. Each recipient receives a $1000 scholarship award.

Eligibility: Female students actively engaged in a degree program in the 2011-2012 academic year may apply. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Applicants must be affiliated with an institute of higher learning in San Diego County. The award can be used for educational expenses including tuition, books, housing, or research.

Scholarship application deadline: February 17, 2012.

In 2011 for the second consecutive year, Great Minds in STEM awarded educational grants to over 100 STEM students. Since our inception, the HENAAC Scholars Program has experienced tremendous growth awarding over $1.5 million dollars in educational grants to over 850 STEM students. These awards are made possible through the continued generous support of our outstanding scholarship partners including the Northrop Grumman Corporation, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Shaw Industries Group, Cummins, NAVSEA, Verizon, Rockwell Collins and The Dow Chemical Company. Great Minds in STEM also awards monetary grants through our HENAAC Conference Travel Grants Program, the HENAAC College Bowl and our Technical Papers and Poster Competition. For more information on these programs, please visit our website at: www.greatmindsinstem.org.

The San Diego Foundation has contacted my office to request assistance with advertising their 2012-2013 scholarship opportunities that are available to SDSU students in engineering. Here are three that may be of particular interest to your students:

The prestigious Buick Achievers Scholarship has expanded eligibility to include current college undergraduates as well as high school seniors.

This scholarship, funded by the GM Foundation, is designed to help students who are leaders in both the classroom and their communities, but who may not have the financial means to attend college.

The California Space Grant Consortium (CaSGC) is pleased to announce its 2011-2012 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) for Juniors and Seniors attending CaSGC affiliate member institutions.

SDSU is a partner with University of Washington and MIT for the new Engineering Research Center (ERC) in Sensori Motor Neural Engineering (CSNE).

We have a few opportunities for SDSU MEP/MSP students to gain paid research experience (spring and summer 12) and to share that experience with pre-college students (outreach).

The San Diego Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) is offering scholarships to community college, undergraduate, and graduate women in San Diego County who are in pursuit of a degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). Because you are in a position to inspire and encourage future scientists, attached is information about the AWIS San Diego scholarships that we hope you will share with your students. Last year, many applications from the Biology Department were received but few from the other departments at SDSU. We would like to have students from all STEM departments at SDSU represented in our applicant pool so please help us to encourage aspiring women scientists by posting the attached AWIS San Diego Scholarship flyer on a student information board or website and e-mailing your students.

The California Space Grant Consortium (CaSGC) is pleased to announce its 2011-2012 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) for Juniors and Seniors attending CaSGC affiliate member institutions.
Scholarships: Up to twenty $1,500 scholarships will be awarded to California college and university students studying Science, Technology, Engineering or Math.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State will inaugurate a new Fulbright award in academic year 2012-13. The Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship will provide opportunities for U.S. citizens to build mutual understanding and contribute to the strengthening of the public sector abroad.

The MURF program aims to increase the participation of underrepresented students (such as African American, Hispanic, and Native American, females who are underrepresented in their discipline, or first-generation college
students) in science and engineering Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. programs and to make Caltech’s programs more visible to students not traditionally exposed to Caltech.

Caltech’s Amgen Scholars Program is geared towards students in biology, chemistry, and biotechnology fields. Some of these fields include biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, and chemistry.