DOE’s Office of Science Is Now Accepting Applications for Graduate Student Research Awards

Students Will Perform Graduate Theses Research at U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2025 solicitation 2 cycle. Applications are due on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. ET. 

SCGSR application assistance workshops will be held on September 11, 2025, 2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. ET (register on Zoom for the first workshop) and October 9, 2025, 2:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. ET (register on Zoom for the second workshop). The first workshop will provide a general overview of the program and application requirements. It will also include time for attendees to discuss their potential research topics and their alignment with the SCGSR priority areas with managers of each participating program office. At the second workshop, staff members will guide attendees through the application process, answer general questions, provide guidance on proposal writing, and lead discussions with scientists and former awardees. Additionally, the program manager will host virtual office hours every Friday 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET starting on September 26, 2025 via this Zoom link.

The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students for conducting part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory in collaboration with a DOE national laboratory scientist. The goal of the program is to prepare graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the mission of DOE’s Office of Science. The research opportunity will advance the graduate students’ overall graduate theses while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the host DOE national laboratories. In addition, SCGSR awardees may have the opportunity for short international research visits to select prestigious centers to broaden their horizons.

Since its inception in 2014, the SCGSR program has provided support to over 1,300 graduate awardees from 170 U.S. universities to conduct thesis research at all 17 DOE national laboratories across the nation. Areas of research include but are not limited to: physics, chemistry, materials science, planetary science, geosciences, biosciences (non-medical), fusion science and engineering, mathematics, computer and computational sciences, engineering, microelectronics, quantum information science, and artificial intelligence.

The SCGSR program is sponsored and managed by the Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, in collaboration with the Office of Science’s six research program offices and the DOE isotope R&D and production office, and DOE national laboratories/facilities. Program administration support is provided by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. 

More information on the SCGSR program can be found by visiting the SCGSR program website, by emailing the SCGSR team.