About NDSEG

The DoD, through the Office of the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering and the military services, promotes education in science and engineering disciplines relevant to the Defense mission. One means of promoting science and engineering education is through awarding fellowships to encourage promising U.S. scientists to pursue doctoral degrees in designated research disciplines.

The DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Program is a competitive fellowship that is awarded to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and U.S. dual citizens who intend to pursue a Doctoral degree aligned to the DoD services Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) in research and development at a U.S. institution of their choice.

Since program inception, over 4,000 DoD NDSEG fellowships have been awarded and over 60,000 applications received. DoD plans to award up to 500 new three-year graduate fellowships each fiscal year (subject to the availability of funds) to individuals who have demonstrated ability and special aptitude for advanced training in S&E.

The DoD NDSEG Fellowship Program, was established in 1989 by direction of Congress and sponsored by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

The broad research area disciplines include, but are not limited to:

The Government may revise the aforementioned disciplines annually to ensure relevancy to the Defense mission is maintained. For the most relevant research areas please review the tri-services BAAs.

The NDSEG Fellowship lasts for 3 years and pays for full tuition and all mandatory fees; a monthly stipend ($38,400 annually); a $5,000 travel budget over the Fellow’s tenure for professional development; and up to $1,200 a year in health insurance.