AWIS Educational Awards
for Predoctoral Students

The AWIS Educational Awards Committee offers awards for women pursuing PhDs in the STEM fields. About 5-10 AWIS graduate awards in the amount of $1,000 are given each year. The special memorial awards include the Barbara Filner Award for a student also mentoring or otherwise helping women advance in STEM fields, the Luise Meyer-Schutzmeister Award for an outstanding graduate student in physics, and the Ruth Satter Award for an outstanding graduate student who interrupted her education for at least three years to raise a family. AWIS may also give Citations of Merit ($500).

In all cases, applicants must meet the general eligibility with one to 2 ½ years of work remaining to complete the degree.

Categories of Awards:

Predoctoral Awards are made in the following categories. Please review the categories and select the one that matches your circumstances. An individual may apply for only one category of award. Click the name of the award to go to the submission webpage for each application. All applications follow the general application process (except the Schutzmeister Award, see below).

Predoctoral Award
For a female graduate student who has advanced to PhD candidacy studying in any STEM field except Physics (see below)
Schutzmeister Award
For a female predoctoral student who has advanced to PhD candidacy studying Physics
The Schutzmeister Award has a separate application process managed by Dr. Gerald Hardie at Western Michigan University. Do not use the materials on this site. To request application forms contact Dr. Hardie at gerald.hardie@wmich.edu.
Satter Award
For a female predoctoral student who has interrupted her career for three or more years to raise a family
The Satter Award application includes an additional document provided by the applicant’s graduate department certifying that you meet the Satter criterion.
Filner Award
New this year, this award honors Barbara Filner, a long-time active AWIS member who served as President of National AWIS, and as President of the AWIS Educational Foundation for ten years. This award is given to a predoctoral student who has advanced to PhD candidacy and has participated in activities, such as mentoring and organizing workshops, that encourage women to pursue careers in science and related fields. The application process includes an additional document (up to 700 words) reviewing activities to help women achieve their career goals.

The Predoctoral Application Form

The Predoctoral application requires two files. The main application, the Predoctoral Application Form, is a MS Word form. You will be able to add content only in the form fields. Before you begin, please save the document using the file name format: YourLastName_YourFirstName_2010-Predoc-Ap.doc.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to insert figures in this Word form. Therefore, we have created a separate document to hold up to four figures for your Research Plan. Please save this document as YourLastName_YourFirstName_2010-Predoc-Figs.doc. We apologize for this inconvenience.
When you have completed your application files, please convert them to pdf files, maintaining this file name format. Click here for information on preparing the pdf file.

Transcripts and References

You will also need to provide two transcripts and two references. One of your references MUST be your Thesis Advisor. Click here for more information on preparing Transcript Files for submission. Click here for a page of information to share with your references.