We are looking to bring motivated, innovative students into this fellowship program. Please use the essay questions as an opportunity to set yourself apart from your peers. What specific aspects of the fellowship are you interested in? For more tips on what to include in your application, review the application questions.

Yes, each track is evaluated separately. If you wish to be considered for multiple tracks, please submit a separate, independent application for each. Applications to each track are reviewed by a dedicated committee for that track.

No, you do not need to submit a CV or transcripts with your application.

Letters of recommendation do not need to be submitted with your application. If your application progresses through the first round of review, we will contact your references directly in June/July. You do not need to send letters of reference or your resume as part of your application. Award notifications will be sent out via email in August.

If your recommenders are able to speak to your interest in multiple tracks, it is possible to reuse the same letters. However, it may be prudent to ask your letter writers to adapt their letters for each of the two tracks, as each fellowship track is looking for distinctly different interests in successful applicants and each track's applications are reviewed by different groups of people.

Yes, we encourage you to apply again if you were not successful. If you’d like to discuss your application with the program coordinator, you can email nextgenfellows@ucar.edu to request a discussion.

For most of the tracks you can hold citizenship from any country. The only citizenship restriction we have is for Policy Fellows, who are required to be US Citizens. However, you are required to be currently enrolled as a graduate student in a North American (Canada, USA or Mexico) college or university, and to remain enrolled for the two year duration of your Fellowship.

Yes, students outside of the US are eligible, but you must be enrolled in a North American (Canada, USA or Mexico) college or university.

This is really only an issue for those applying to the Science Track. For Science Track fellows, we strongly encourage you to reach out to any science mentors you would like to work with before submitting your application. NSF NCAR and UCP have hundreds of scientists and research groups that might be of interest to you. It is important that you do your due diligence to identify where in the NSF NCAR, UCAR and UCP ecosystem your research interests lie. While it is not required that you contact the researchers in advance of your application, it may be beneficial to do so as their availability to collaborate will have an impact on the success of your application. I.e. If you select a research group that does not have the capacity to collaborate with you, your application will not progress. To avoid your application being denied for this reason, you can also identify more than one potential collaborator in your application. Please visit the Science Track webpage for suggestions on how to identify a track mentor. Fellows applying to Policy or Convergence tracks are not required to contact potential mentors in advance, as they will automatically be assigned.

No, you’re not required to work with the same mentors for each of your fellowship years. You can change the topic of your research each year if you desire or even request to collaborate with multiple groups within one year. However, it is important that you have a clear objective in collaborating with multiple groups simultaneously and how you plan to bring your work together.

No, you keep working with your graduate advisors. For the science track (and maybe others) the goal is that you create a mini research collaboration between you, your graduate advisors, and your track mentors from UCAR. This is most straightforward for those applying to the science track, but for the other tracks, it might get a bit more challenging to have your mentors and grad advisors engaged together. This is something we will support you through navigating.

Accepting this award should not impact any existing NSF support you are in receipt of. However, if you are receiving NSF funds, it’s important to communicate this to the program coordinator for administrative and record keeping purposes. You are responsible for understanding any impact this may have on your personal taxes, existing funding, fellowships, institutional assistantships, or other financial support.

You are responsible for understanding any impact this may have on your personal taxes, existing funding, fellowships, institutional assistantships, or other financial support you may be receiving or eligible for. We strongly recommend that you consult with a tax professional to assess your personal situation. We recommend reviewing the IRS guidance on scholarships and fellowships.

Fellowship funds can be used for incidental expenses supporting educational activities, such as room and board, travel, and optional equipment. Fellowship funds are subject to 14% tax. The award can be deposited into the fellows bank account and used for living expenses, or it can be paid directly to your school to cover tuition (with any excess being paid to the fellow, also at 14% tax rate) following the IRS scholarship guidelines.

In order to continue to be eligible for the Next Generation Fellowship, you must be registered as a graduate student. If you graduate early, you may forfeit any remaining award funds you would otherwise have been eligible to receive. An exception to this may be if you have not yet completed your fellowship visit to UCAR. This will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but you may still be eligible to complete your fellowship visit within 6 months after graduation.

This will be considered on a case-by-case basis but the program will be as flexible as possible in accommodating your needs. If you opt to take a semester off before the semester begins, you will also be taking a break from the Next Gen program since you need to be currently registered in a graduate program to qualify. However, you will become eligible to retake your place once you re-register for school. Any postponed semester awards may be eligible for deferral.

You are still eligible to apply for the Next Generation Fellowship if you are enrolled part time. However, the timeline for the fellowship will remain 2 years, with 20 weeks of fellowship travel available to all participants in that time, regardless of their full or part time status. This means that if you are not able to take advantage of the full duration of the fellowship visit, you will have to forfeit any remaining travel weeks that are unused at the end of your two year Fellowship.

This is the term we use for the time spent working in person with your track mentor, mostly likely in Boulder. UCAR pays for up to 20 weeks of visits to Boulder (or DC if you are a Policy Fellow) over the two year duration of your Fellowship. The goals for these visits are to give you the opportunity to engage more deeply with your track mentors, take full advantage of the resources UCAR, NSF NCAR and UCP have to offer, and build relationships with the other Fellows and mentors. UCAR pays for your transport to Boulder (or DC), lodging, and per diem for the duration of your visit. In collaboration with their Track Mentors, Fellows have the flexibility to decide when they wish to take a Fellowship Visit. Many Fellows take the 10 weeks each summer of their Fellowship to participate in a visit, but others take multiple shorter trips per year, or take the majority of their visit time in one extended trip. When and for how long you visit is up to you as long as it does not exceed 20 weeks in total.

This will be determined by the fellow and their track mentors depending on everyone's schedule requirements. Generally, fellowship visits occur during summer months, but this is not required and can occur any time during the two-year fellowship period.

Yes, the fellowship visits are flexible and can be discussed with your track mentor to determine the best time for a visit. Your fellowship visits can be broken into multiple short trips, or can be one extended trip covering all 20 weeks if preferred. There is full flexibility in scheduling (within the limits of the fellow and mentors’ schedules).

Your fellowship visit is flexible and can be adapted to best suit your needs. If there is a field campaign that meets the goals you have set for your fellowship, and your track mentor agrees, you can request to use your fellowship visit time and funds to participate in a field campaign. Your request will be reviewed by the fellowship leadership on a case-by-case basis.

The program coordinator will work with you to try to find solutions for you. UCAR pays for your lodging directly, and families have stayed in AirBnBs or other temporary housing during their Fellowship Visits. The maximum lodging rate is dictated by the US Government GSA rates, so lodging requirements in excess of this may be the responsibility of the Fellow. This is extremely unusual as we can normally find AirBnb housing options within the GSA rate.

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve had much experience in providing flexible mentorship to fellows in a remote setting. If you are unable to travel to participate in an in-person fellowship visit, we can work with you to provide a valuable mentoring experience in a remote setting. Please include details in your application.

Policy Fellows can choose to participate in the AMS Policy Colloquium instead of 10 weeks (one summer's worth) of Fellowship Visits.

Next Gen Policy Fellows have the possibility of doing a 6 month internship with a Legislative office on Capitol Hill, funded by UCAR, during or immediately following their Fellowship. This is an extraordinary opportunity that is awarded on a case-by-case basis. Should you be awarded such an internship, you will work with the Government Relations office to identify a Member of Congress you would like to Intern with and the UCAR Government Relations Officers will facilitate this opportunity.