ARCS Foundation Scholarship Award

Application Information

We are inviting eligible departments to nominate their top graduate students for the 2024 ARCS Scholarship. This year, at least eight (8) scholarships are available. The recipient will receive $7,500 for the 2024-25 academic year, followed by up to two additional years of funding. This scholarship is exclusively an add-on award and is NOT to be used to subsidize an existing UGA stipend. Additionally, the recipient of the ARCS Foundation Scholarship, must adhere to the following responsibilities (see below) to remain in good standing with the organization.

Application Overview

The UGA-ARCS application process occurs in two stages.

Phase One

May 2 – June 5, 2024: General applications are accepted from eligible UGA programs (see list below).

Phase Two

July 3, 2024: Finalists are identified by the selection committee and invited to submit a short video regarding their research (details below).

July 24, 2024: Application videos are due.

Eligibility Criteria

  • currently pursuing a PhD degree in either science, engineering, or medical research (complete list below)
  • no less than 3 years remaining in current doctoral program (must be verified by major professor)
  • U.S. citizenship
  • GPA of 3.5 or above
  • enrolled full-time (minimum 12 hours/semester) for both fall and spring semesters
  • Students underrepresented in STEM are particularly encouraged to apply.*

*Underrepresented students in STEM are defined as African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanic/Latinos, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and people with disabilities.

Application Materials

The nominating faculty member must complete the online application and upload the documents below as one complete packet in the following order:

  • a letter of nomination which includes an evaluation/recommendation from faculty mentor
  • a second letter of recommendation from graduate coordinator or additional faculty member
  • a 300-600 word research statement (from the student) outlining their work and its potential impact on their discipline
  • nominated student’s curriculum vitae

Scholar Responsibilities

By accepting the ARCS scholarship, the student agrees to the following stipulations:

  • complete all award paperwork (acceptance forms, bio sketch, headshot, registration)
  • maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher for the duration of the fellowship
  • attend the 2024 Scholar Awards Celebration in Atlanta—in person event on November 13, 2024
  • give a 3-minute presentation on your research at the ARCS-Atlanta site visit at UGA in spring 2025
  • Animal & Dairy Science
  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Cellular Biology
  • Chemical, Materials & Biomedical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Comparative Biomedical Sciences
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Health Sciences
  • Genetics
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Integrative Physiology & Pharmacology Medicine
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Nutritional Science
  • Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences
  • Plant Biology
  • Regenerative Bioscience
  • Toxicology

Applicant Video

Student applicants will be notified if they are being officially considered as a finalist for the award. Upon notification, finalists will have several weeks to compose a brief video regarding their research. For additional questions regarding this aspect of the application process, please see our FAQ page and/or contact the ARCS Coordinator directly.

The short video (2-3 minutes max) outlining your research project should touch upon the following:

  • A description of your project
  • How your project will advance your field
  • Why someone outside of your field should care about your research

You should orient your video toward an educated, but general (i.e., non-specialist) audience. Please make your presentation accessible and free of field-specific jargon and acronyms. Principally, this is an opportunity to convey the importance of your work, so please focus your efforts on the clarity of your message while also articulating your own enthusiasm for your research.

Students are asked to upload their video to YouTube and submit the video link to the ARCS Award Coordinator. Instructions can be found here. Examples of previous ARCS submission videos can be found here.

Selection Criteria

Other than meeting the eligibility criteria, the ARCS Selection Committee seeks to identify students who excel not only in their field, but also science communication. High importance is placed on the approachability and enthusiasm of the applicant’s message. Therefore the committee will be evaluating each submission based on the candidate’s ability to accomplish this directive.

This portion of the application is to be submitted by the nominating graduate coordinator in Grad Status. Only two (2) nominations per department/program is permitted.