IACS New Recruit Award

This award is given to new, incoming, full-time, fully-supported PhD graduate students who are recognized as stellar students because of their outstanding potential indicated, for instance, by high undergraduate GPA, strong letters of recommendation, as well as their active research record.

Who is eligible?

The applicant’s background, and plans for study and research, must be aligned with research currently undertaken by a core or affiliate faculty member in the institute. The departments whose students are eligible for this award are: Physics & Astronomy, Psychology, Applied Math, Computer Science, SOMAS, Geosciences, Sociology, Materials Science, Chemistry, Biomedical Informatics, Mechanical Engineering, Linguistics, Music, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neurobiology and Behavior, Ecology and Evolution, and the School of Social Welfare. This award is available to both domestic and foreign students.

What does the award provide?

This award provides lump-sum payments each semester to ensure that your total combined (Department TA/GA/RA, summer funding, and other awards) annual stipend support reaches $37,000 for one calendar year. In addition to the award, the recipient will have a $4K allowance to be used for research-related expenses such as conference travel and equipment for the duration of their award. This allowance does not reset upon award renewal. (The recipient of the award is responsible for determining if the payments received are taxable or non-taxable income when filing their individual income tax return. It is suggested that the recipient should seek professional advice from the IRS or income tax advisors regarding this matter.). In addition to the award, the recipient will have a $4K allowance to be used for research-related expenses such as conference travel and equipment.for the duration of their award. This allowance does not reset upon award renewal. Distinguished IACS award recipients will be provided with a student-assigned mentor within IACS, permanently identified on the IACS website and in IACS publications, and their work will be highlighted in IACS workshop and conference proceedings. At the Institute for Advanced Computational Science our goal is to provide a springboard for students to reach for and obtain optimal career opportunities associated with the relevant emerging fields of graduate study. (The recipient of the award is responsible for determining if the payments received are taxable or non-taxable income when filing their individual income tax return. It is suggested that the recipient should seek professional advice from the IRS or income tax advisors regarding this matter.)

What are our expectations?

Participation in student organized activities
Attendance at our student and faculty seminar events
Meet with the IACS Director once a year
Work toward identifying an affiliate or core IACS faculty member with whom you will work starting in Year 2

What are the requirements for continuation?

The student is required to receive no less than a B in any graduate course taken throughout the duration of the academic year in which the scholarship was given along with at least a B+ GPA.

Continuation of the scholarship for a second year is subject to availability of funds, and is contingent

the approval of an IACS core or affiliate faculty member as a research supervisor who, if a TA is not available, will pay the full-time department-level Research Assistant (RA) stipend, a strong evaluation by the faculty member, presentation to the IACS New Recruit Committee and the availability of funds. A copy of the student's transcript along with the faculty letter must be sent by June 1 to iacs@stonybrook.edu.

Presentation: If the candidate receives Committee approval, they will move to the second round of review which is to give a presentation (up to 10 minutes in length) to the IACS review committee, and the candidate should be prepared to take questions after the presentation. A final decision will be made by the review committee once the candidate completes the presentation.

For students who have been given an IACS New Recruit award but subsequently receive a fellowship, for example from NSF or DoE, continuation of the IACS New Recruit Award will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

How does one apply?

Applicants are chosen as candidates for the scholarship based on nominations from the departments to which they are applying. An IACS review committee vets all candidates, and students who are chosen are notified by their departments.

View Deadlines and Further Details

PAST WINNERS

2023

Derek Fucich

Ecology & Evolution

Melissa Rasmussen

Physics & Astronomy

Michael Rivera Serrano

Linguistics

Adil Soubki

Linguistics

Alina Shabaeva

Linguistics
2022

Kenneth Berard

Chemistry

Megan Hott

Physics & Astronomy

Adil Soubki

Linguistics
2021

Kenneth Berard

Chemistry

Magdalena Markowska

Linguistics

Hongji Gao

Applied Mathematics & Statistics
2020

Hongji Gao

Applied Mathematics & Statistics

Dakotah Lambert

Linguistics

Magdalena Markowska

Linguistics

Jiaxi Zhao

Applied Mathematics and Statistics
2019

Grace Kim

Physics and Astronomy

Dakotah Lambert

Linguistics

Michael Wethington

Ecology and Evolution
2016

Dongwon Han

Physics and Astronomy

Alexander Borowicz

Ecology and Evolution
2015

Eric Raut

Applied Mathematics and Statistics