Fellowships and Scholarships
The Department of Geosciences - through various Scholarship Endowment Funds, the University
of Houston Geology Alumni Association, the College of Natural Science and Mathematics Alumni Association,
The Robert and Margaret Sheriff SEG Fellowship Endowment, the Houston Geological Society and other
sponsoring corporations and organizations - nominates or awards through its Scholarship and Awards
Committee or its Graduate Admission Committee many scholarships and fellowships for well-qualified
Geology, Geophysics and Atmospheric undergraduate and graduate majors enrolled full time at the University
of Houston. Most of the internal awards are generally made each spring at the annual awards
ceremony (last Friday in April) for the subsequent academic year or summer session. Certain scholarships
are renewable on a yearly basis (e.g., the John C. Butler Presidential Award) dependent on outstanding
scholarship and academic progress toward a degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences during the initial award
period. Both incoming freshmen and continuing undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply
by filling out the Department of Geosciences Scholarship Application Form or applying to the SEG awards
designated for the University of Houston (e.g., Sheriff Fellowship). An HGS scholarship committee based
on nominations by the faculty decides other awards by the Houston Geological Society. The University of Houston scholarship
application form The Departmental Awards and Scholarship committee (4 - 5 tenure track faculty) appointed
each year by the Chair of the Department will review scholarship applications of majors in the Department for
scholarships and awards dispensed each spring for the following academic year. Scholarship applications are
ranked by the committee and deserving students based on academic performance and sometimes other criteria such
as financial need or specific requirements listed by the sponsor (e.g. U.S. Citizenship, foreign citizenship,
graduate or undergraduate status, major in Geology, Geophysics, Atmospheric Sciences, or freshmen, sophomore,
junior, senior, M.S. or Ph.D. status, etc.). Each industrial or philanthropic organization sponsor may have
different criteria from year to year and these may change yearly dependent on the sponsor's objectives for
that year. The scholarship committee works to assign the internal scholarships in its control based on the
sponsor's directives (e.g., academic performance, financial need, major, graduate or undergraduate status,
etc.). In some cases outside sponsors work through their own scholarship committees to make awards, but
ask for departmental nominations from the scholarship committee. The alumni association (UHGAA) also works
closely with the Chair and Scholarship committee in making awards to support field camp scholarships. The
scholarship committee attempts to balance and distribute the number of awards among well-qualified students
based on the specific criteria for the award or scholarship so that the broadest number of students attains
support. From time to time, exceptionally well-qualified students may receive multiple awards at the discretion
of the committee based on their academic excellence. College awards are made through a separate Alumni committee. Students with a minimum GPA of 2.5 who will be enrolled full time as a declared major in
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences during the academic year are eligible to apply for Departmental scholarships
during the spring semester. The deadline for application is April 1 of each year. Some awards, however,
will have specific GPA requirements (generally 3.0 or higher), undergraduate or graduated status, financial
need, and U.S. citizenship eligibility requirements. In addition, some awards may not be accompanied by
scholarships (e.g. Furbunch Award for outstanding Field work). Graduate fellowship assistance in the form
of scholarships provided by external sponsors is typically awarded during the admission process based on
academic ranking, GRE and TOEFl scores, and prior undergraduate records and preparedness for graduate
studies. These scholarships are often matched for exceptionally well qualified students by the Dean of
Graduate studies with Presidential Scholarships on a 1:1 or 2:1 basis. The Graduate Committee, which consists
of the Chair of the Department and graduate advisors for Geology, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Sciences will
recommend these supplemental scholarships for those students who rank the highest in the selection process
during the admission of new graduates students. The number of fellowships and scholarship awards and award conditions will vary from
year to year depending on yearly sponsorships, although endowment awards are typically awarded each year
based on the same criteria if there are qualified applicants. SEG and HGS awards require application directly
to the Society (see above) and HGS awards require faculty nominations. Several awards for outstanding research talks and posters are granted each year during
Student Research Day in April and the Sheriff Lecture in November. The grants awarded are in the form of
travel grants to national meetings. Students must be attending these meetings to provide talks or posters
to a national or international audience. Each function where talks and posters are presented will have
faculty and alumni judges whom review and rank talks and posters in choosing the most outstanding presentations
for the awards. (U = Undergraduate Scholarships, G = Graduate Scholarships, GF = Graduate Fellowships)Application Forms
- Deadline April 15th is available in Adobe
Acrobat PDF format. A copy may also be requested by contacting the departmental academic advising
assistant Sylvia Marshall.Scholarships and Awards Provided (Contingent on Sponsors Support in Any Given Year)