DeKarman fellowships are open to students in any discipline, including international students, who are currently enrolled in a university or college located within the United States. Only candidates for the PhD who will defend their dissertation in or about June of the application year and undergraduates entering their senior year (will receive bachelors degree in or about June of the application year) are eligible for consideration for a fellowship. Postdoctoral and masters degree students are not eligible for consideration. Special consideration will be given to applicants in the Humanities.

Potential applicants should note that the competition for DeKarman fellowships is extreme. To be competitive, graduate applicants should have outstanding letters of recommendation, significant publications, and have completed several chapters of the dissertation at the time of application. Undergraduate applicants should have exceptional recommendations and grades plus a compelling record of original research or scholarship. Although the competition is open to students from any US university or college, the vast majority of awards go to students at top-tier schools.

Additional Information of Interest to Applicants:

1. Students who are not citizens of the United States may apply for a Josephine de Karman Fellowship if they are already enrolled in a university located in the United States and if they will be in the United States by the July preceding the fall semester of the academic year for which they have enrolled.

2. The fellowships will be paid directly through the fellowship office of the university in which the successful candidate is enrolled for study in the United States. One half will be paid in September and one half the following February. NO UNIVERSITY OVERHEAD MAY BE APPLIED TO THE FELLOWSHIP AWARD. UNIVERSITY FINANCIAL SUPPORT IS VIEWED AS SEPARATE FROM DE KARMAN FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT. THE FELLOWSHIP IS FOR MERIT, BASED ON A NATIONAL COMPETITION. THEREFORE, ONGOING UNIVERSITY SUPPORT COMMITMENTS ARE MAINTAINED WHILE A DE KARMAN FELLOWSHIP IS HELD.

3. The names, universities, and departments (and dissertation titles) of Josephine de Karman Fellowship awardees may be published on the de Karman Trust and Pasadena Community Foundation websites.

4. By the end of October following completion of their fellowship year, awardees ARE REQUIRED to submit an abstract of their dissertation and a one- or two-page report on their achievements as a result of having held a Josephine de Karman Fellowship. The report should include a brief breakdown of how funds were utilized.

Applications  are available at https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=pcfscholarships.

Please create a new user profile to access the portal. To access the de Karman Fellowship application, enter Access Code “jdkf2024” – you will find the Access Code field located in the upper right corner of the screen.

Complete applications, including transcripts of applicant’s graduate and undergraduate studies at institutions in the United States and Canada and two letters of recommendation, must be received by the fellowship committee IN ONE PACKAGE postmarked no later than midnight of the deadline. Late applications will not be considered.