Fellowship Program (66.513)
Program
66.513 Fellowship Program
Federal Agency
FEDERAL AGENCY: OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Authorization
Clean Air Act, Section 103, as amended, Public Law 95-95, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.; Clean Water Act, Section 104, as amended, Public Law 95-217, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; Solid Waste Disposal Act, Section 8001, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6981; Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442, as amended, Public Law 93-523; Toxic Substances Control Act, Section 10, as amended, 15 U.S.C. 2609; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 136r; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Section 311, 42 U.S.C. 9660.
Program Number
66.513
Last Known Status
Active
Objectives
The National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) is offering graduate and undergraduate fellowships to students in environmentally related fields of study. This program is intended to strengthen the environmental research capacity of institutions of higher education that receive limited funding to build such capacity, including in particular institutions with substantial minority enrollment. The program provides quality environmental education to undergraduate and graduate students, thereby encouraging them to pursue careers in environmentally related fields. This goal is consistent with the mission of EPA, which is to provide leadership in the nation,s environmental science, research, education, assessment, restoration, and preservation efforts. This program will benefit both the public and private sectors which will need a steady stream of well-trained and culturally diverse environmental specialists if society is to meet the environmental challenges of the future. Funding Priorities: The Greater Opportunities: Fellowship Program offers Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Graduate Fellowships and Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Fellowships for students in environmentally related fields of study. The graduate fellowships are intended for masters and doctoral level students while the undergraduate fellowships are intended for bachelor level students.
Types of Assistance
Project Grants (Fellowships).
Uses and Use Restrictions
All fellowship awards are made in response to competitive solicitations. Funds are to provide resources to allow for fellowships related to environmental issues. No matching funds are required.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
Applicants must be citizens of the United States or its territories or possessions, or be lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Resident aliens must include their green card number in their pre-application. EPA may choose to verify this number with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Students must attend eligible institutions. Students must attend fully accredited four year U.S. institutions of higher education. These schools must be among those that are not highly funded for development of environmental research capacity. For purposes of the Greater Opportunities: Fellowship Program, EPA considers such institutions to be those listed in the National Science Foundation's publication, Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions: Fiscal Year 2001, Table B-15. Institutions identified as receiving $50 million or less in annual federal research and development funding, as designated in column 2 of Table B-15, are eligible. The publication can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf03326/start.htm. Students at eligible institutions with substantial minority enrollment are particularly encouraged to apply. Examples of such schools are those that the U.S. Department of Education lists as Accredited Postsecondary Minority Institutions on its web site listed below, consistent with Executive Orders 13125 (Increasing Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders), 13230 (Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans), 13256 (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), and 13270 (Tribal Colleges and Universities), which encourage building of the capacity of minority serving institutions to provide high quality education. See link below: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.html. See solicitations at http://www.epa.gov/ncer for additional eligibility requirements.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Individuals who have demonstrated high scientific ability.
Credentials/Documentation
EPA may request that fellows document their affiliation with an eligible institution. The Agency may also request that applicants demonstrate they have appropriate background, academic training, and experience in the field to carry out the fellowship.
Application and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
NCER invites pre-applications for graduate and undergraduate fellowships in academic disciplines relating to environmental research including engineering, public health, and ecological sciences. A pre-application provides the information needed for the review of its merit. Following the merit review, top rated applicants will be required to submit a brief formal application. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.
Application Procedure
Completed pre-applications must be submitted to the: Environmental Protection Agency, Peer Review Division (8703R), Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20460 or as shown in the specific solicitations, which are accessible through the EPA/ORD/NCER website at http://www.epa.gov/ncer.
Award Procedure
Competitions will be conducted under EPA Order No. 5700.5, Policy for Competition in Assistance Agreements (9/12/02). EPA will review pre-applications in accordance with the criteria specified in the solicitations.
Deadlines
As stated in the solicitation.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Appeals
As described in 40 CFR Part 46.215 and 46.220.
Renewals
None.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
None.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
For undergraduate fellowships, the term of the fellowship is negotiated with the student and covers a period of nine months for each fellowship year. Students seeking a bachelor's degree may be supported for a maximum of two years. The term of the graduate fellowship is also negotiated with the student and customarily covers a period of 9 to 12 months for each fellowship year. Students seeking a master's degree may be supported for a maximum of two years. Students seeking doctoral degrees may receive support for a maximum of three years, available over a four-year period.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
EPA includes reporting requirements for fellowships in the terms and conditions of the agreements. Agreements may require annual, quarterly, or interim and final progress reports, final results, expenditure/financial, equipment, and invention reports. Reporting requirements are also identified in the fellowship regulations, 40 CFR Part 46.
Audits
Not applicable.
Records
The record retention requirements of 40 CFR Part 46 are applicable. All records related to a fellowship agreement must be maintained for three years after the completion date inserted on the Completion of Studies Notice (EPA Form 5770-9). EPA, the Inspector General, Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, has the right of timely and unrestricted access to documents, papers, or other records related to a fellowship, in order to make audits, examinations, excerpts, transcripts and copies of such documents. The rights of access in this paragraph are not limited to the required retention period, but shall last as long as records are retained.
Program Accomplishments
An estimated 35 new competitive fellowship awards for the Greater Opportunities: Fellowship Program are made during each annual solicitation cycle. Abstracts of current awards and summary results of the research are available on the homepage: http://www.epa.gov/ncer.
Financial Information
Account Identification
68-0107-0-1-304.
Obligations
Fellowships- FY 02 $1,527,000; FY 03 $1,399,000; and FY 04 est $1,527,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
Awards range from $6,000 to $41,000 annually per fellowship and average $30,000.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
Fellowship Regulations, Environmental Protection Agency (40 CFR Part 46).
Related Programs
66.607 for other potential fellowship opportunities.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
Individuals are encouraged to communicate with the contact listed in the solicitations.
Headquarters Office
For information on fellowship applications and procedures, contact Environmental Protection Agency, Grants Administration Division, 3903R, Washington, DC 20460. To obtain further information via the Internet for the Greater Opportunities: Fellowship Program, click on "Fellowships" at http://www.epa.gov/ncer.
Web Site Address
Examples of Funded Projects
See Web Page for previously funded projects under the Greater Opportunities: Fellowship Program: http://www.epa.gov/ncer.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
Competitive pre-applications will be selected in accordance with announced criteria. The pre-applications will be reviewed by non-EPA experts from the appropriate field of study. Reviewers are recruited based on the specialty fields represented by the pre-applications. Students will be evaluated on his or her potential for success in a undergraduate or graduate study program, based on the information provided in the pre-application as described above under "Mandatory Format for Pre-Applications (see solicitations at: http://www.epa.gov/ncer). The reviewers will consider academic records, career goals, objectives, and letters of recommendation. Finalists will be selected for award of the fellowship based on the availability of funds, reviewers' evaluations, and program goals, such as distribution of awards across disciplines, institutions and geography, and other possible indicators of program balance. See the Web page http://www.epa.gov/ncer for additional criteria for this year's solicitations.
