The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation’s (ASF) award is for outstanding students who exhibit motivation, imagination, and exceptional performance in the fields of engineering and natural or applied sciences at one of the twenty-five schools with which the Foundation has agreements. The award is for $10,000.
It is the desire of ASF that the students nominated for Astronaut Scholarships be highly motivated, focused in their scientific objectives and possessed of intellectual daring. ASF recognizes that these special students may be so involved, they excel in science and engineering although they may be somewhat less successful in general studies courses.
Because the junior and senior years are critical times of professional maturation, ASF restricts its awards to students enrolled at those levels. Thus, it is possible to nominate a currently enrolled sophomore for the award for their junior year. Further, if progress is satisfactory as indicated by official grade reports, and a renewal application, the award may be renewed for that student until the degree sought at the time of application is completed (up to two years). Although ASF wishes to make it clear that the award will be made primarily on the basis of merit, financial need may be considered.
The University of Texas at Austin has been selected to be one of the 27 institutions eligible to submit undergraduate student nominations for the $10,000 Astronaut Scholarship. Other institutions included are Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Penn State, Purdue, Texas A&M, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington.
The Foundation is soliciting nominations from the sciences, mathematics, and engineering, so students in the Cockrell School of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences are eligible to receive these scholarships.
Procedures for nominating students for next selection period, AY 2013-2014 are as follows:
- Students are nominated only by the Engineering or Natural Sciences faculty (see Instructions to Faculty) using the Nomination Form;
- Nominated students provide the items listed in the Nomination Form;
- Nominated students complete the Financial Summary form;
- The nomination package is assembled by the nominating faculty and forwarded no later than Friday, February 8, 2013 to Vice Provost Neal Armstrong, the Liaison Officer designated by the Provost between the University and ASF;
- An evaluation committee consisting of faculty from Engineering, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences will review the nominations;
- Nominated students’ packages are submitted to ASF no later than Friday, February 22, 2013.
More information is available in the Philosophy and Procedures document.
