Program

Description and objectives: The Ryan Fellowship, made possible by a generous donation from Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan, supports graduate students dedicated to the exploration of fundamental nanoscale science and to advancing this knowledge into practical applications of benefit to society.  The fellowship, created in 2007, is to support the finest graduate students in the country and to provide them with the education and experience to assume leadership roles in the realm of nanotechnology.  Ryan Fellows will participate in a variety of activities, including retreats, lectures and symposia, and other opportunities to engage in collaborative discussion and research with domestic and international partners.  Applications are by nomination only.

Award amount: The fellowship includes an annual $7500 award: $5000 as an additional stipend and $2500 for research expenses.

Award period: Incoming students receive two years of Ryan Fellowship funding after which they are eligible to apply for the award for continuing students.

Continuing students are eligible to be nominated at the end of their second year.  Awardees will receive Ryan Fellowship funding in addition to their current funding for three years or until they graduate, whichever comes first.

Eligibility: The fellowship competition is open to incoming PhD students who demonstrate aptitude and interest in nanoscience and continuing students who have shown exceptional scientific talent and who have committed to a specific research project in the area of nanoscience and technology.  The inherent interdisciplinarity of nanotechnology makes the Ryan Fellowship applicable to gifted students in a broad spectrum of scientific and engineering disciplines.  This includes those from the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, NUIN, and the Feinberg School of Medicine.  Please note that although each department or program may submit up to five nominees, they will be in competition for this prestigious award with many other candidates.  Therefore, nominees should be selected from among the most qualified and appropriate incoming students.  Nominating fewer than five candidates will not restrict a department or program's nominee allocation in future years.

Deadline and Notification dates for incoming students: The deadline for departments to submit incoming-student nominees' applications to The Graduate School is 12:00 noon on Friday, January 25, 2008.  The announcement of 2008/09 incoming-student Ryan Fellowship recipients will be made in early February.

Deadline and Notification dates for continuing students: Check with the department in which you are enrolled for their internal deadline.  The deadline for departments to submit continuing-student nominees' applications to the Graduate School is 12:00 noon on Friday, May 23, 2008.  The announcement of 2008/09 continuing-student Ryan Fellowship recipients will be made in June.

Review Process

Fellowship recipients are selected by the Ryan Fellowship Committee.

Nomination process for incoming students

Incoming students should check with their department regarding internal nomination procedures.  Individual departments or programs are responsible for determining Ryan Fellowship nominees among admitted students. 

Nomination process for continuing students

The materials described below must be collected into a single pdf file and submitted by the designated TGS nominator for the department or program. 

Applications must include all required materials and adhere to all page, font, and format restrictions. Do not include materials other than those requested. Applications that do not comply with these instructions--which are intended to ensure a level playing field for nominees across disciplines--will not be considered for an award.

Materials required: The required materials are to be submitted in the following order.

1. The completed application form.
2. A description of the proposed research project, not to exceed five pages. The description must be double-spaced and in Times New Roman 12-pt font.  Endnotes, bibliography, and/or pictures do not count toward the 5-page limit, but these may not exceed a total of two additional pages.
   
3. A sample of previous research or published paper in electronic format. Dissertation proposals, dissertation chapters, and qualifying exams are not acceptable samples.  There are no maximum or minimum length requirements for research samples.  However, they generally should be nno longer than 25 pages.  Excerpts are perfectly acceptable.
   
4. A curriculum vitae that includes education, professional experience, awards, presentations, publications, and professional memberships.
5. An unofficial Northwestern transcript.  Unofficial transcripts may be obtained from CAESAR.  After logging in to CAESAR, you can view your unofficial transcript by selecting “For Students” then “Academic Information” then “View Unofficial Transcript.” Once the transcript is displayed, select “Switch to printer-friendly view” at the top of the screen.  To save your unofficial transcript as an electronic document, copy and paste the entire transcript into a Word (or equivalent) file.
6. A Letter of Support from the faculty advisor.  Letters must not exceed two single-spaced pages.

Nominee’s responsibilities: The student nominated for the fellowship should prepare items 1-5 above as electronic documents and provide these to the faculty advisor. The student is responsible for asking the faculty member to prepare the recommendation letter in electronic form.

Department approval: Electronic submission of an application by the designated department or program person (see below) constitutes confirmation that the application has been vetted and endorsed by the chair of the department. Departments and programs should nominate only one student per PI laboratory per year.

Department nominator’s responsibilities: The designated department or program nominator is responsible for assembling all the documents, including the Letter of Support and the nominee’s unofficial transcript, into a single pdf file and submitting the application to The Graduate School through the web interface.

Instructions for web site:  Each department or program should have a designated person who submits the pdf file through the web interface.  This would normally be the Chair, Director of Graduate Studies or Program Assistant.  This person should contact Bill Rett, IT Manager for The Graduate School, for access to the system or for other related technical questions (847/491-8538, w-rett@northwestern.edu ).  For other questions, please contact Mary Pat Doyle (847/491-8497, mdoyle@northwestern.edu).