Applications now open until MARCH 3rd.
Click the link below to download the application and instructions. Please review the below materials, the rest of the Veterans Program webpages, and the entire COMPASS website prior to beginning your application to ensure that you are qualified to apply.
The 2025 Veterans Innovation Fellowship will be open to all full time, undergraduate, prior or currently enlisted student veterans at the following schools: North Carolina State University, the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), and the University of Michigan. Students intending to start attendance at these schools and incoming students are also encouraged to apply, even if they have not been admitted yet. A fellowship award, however, will only be offered to students that are accepted to the above universities and attend full time during the Fall 2025 semester.
Overview. Our competitive program offers up to 3 years of support with a generous stipend ($3300/month) and a health insurance allowance ($100/month). The fellowship has a research requirement of 12-18 hours of research per week while attending full time during the semester and requires a full-time commitment during the summer. Research is performed on campus with a COMPASS faculty member advisor during the year and matching to an external (i.e., industry) partner or program during the summer. Fellowship recipients receive a multi-tiered array of professional and technical mentors to include bi-weekly 1-1 coaching, a day-to-day research mentor, monthly 1-1 PI coaching, and an applied research mentor. Recipients are also exposed to an extraordinary network of world-class researchers, manufacturers, and R&D centers in order to best position them to bring the skills they master in the program to the real world as innovators and leaders. Many of our fellows choose to select a second mentor from other Universities within the COMPASS network, thereby doubling their networking and mentorship opportunities while gaining even greater exposure to cross-disciplinary research.
Timeline. Applications will open on 1/1/25 and close 3/3/25. Review of applications will begin immediately and offers will be extended by 5/1/25. During the summer, incoming fellows will select a home research laboratory and support/research will begin 9/1/25.
Applications. Our rubric for assessing students focuses on personal goals and programmatic fit. Applicants will be assessed as follows: academics and recommendation letters (30%), military experience (10%), Short form essays (40%), and alignment with the Center (10%). The application requirements, application materials, links, and additional instructions will be forwarded to you through your campus student veteran offices prior to the end of the fall semester.
Preparation. The only preparation for this application is familiarization with the faculty research for the Center. While headquartered at the University of Michigan, our researchers span multiple universities and disciplines. Familiarizing yourself with our work prior to writing the essay materials will also be beneficial. Due to the financial support and research commitment requirements of the program, fellows should not intend to seek any other student employment during the school year and should plan on a full time commitment during the summer.
Academic backgrounds. Because our research spans so many disciplines, we accept many majors: all physical and mathematical sciences, all engineering disciplines, certain life sciences (general biology, cell/molecular biology, cognitive science, neuroscience), computational and data sciences, and most interdisciplinary STEM majors. Awardees must maintain a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and successfully complete research training and assignments each semester.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2243104.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.