News Archive

25 August 2023
NRC Awards Nearly $11 Million in Education Grants Supporting Nuclear Science and Engineering Fields

Cindy Flannery, Health Physics News Contributing Editor

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced on 22 August 2023 that it has awarded 26 grants to 23 academic institutions, including three minority-serving institutions, in 20 states, totaling nearly $11 million.

"These awards are vital to advancing nuclear science and research at academic institutions across the United States," said NRC Regulatory Research Director Ray Furstenau. "The program continues to educate students and develop faculty to strengthen the nuclear workforce to meet the future needs for highly skilled engineers and scientists."

The University Nuclear Leadership Program provides federal funding opportunities to qualified academic institutions to bolster nuclear engineering and related programs.

These grants include five undergraduate scholarships, 13 graduate fellowships, and eight distinguished faculty advancement awards. Each undergraduate scholarship provides up to $20,000 in financial support to students over the course of the three-year program, and each graduate fellowship provides up to $50,000 to students over the course of the four-year program. The NRC's distinguished faculty advancement awards provide up to $600,000 over a four-year period.

Since the program's inception in 2009, the NRC has awarded 602 educational grants totaling more than $190 million, of which 109 were awarded to minority-serving institutions. This funding has benefitted more than 176 individual faculty members and 4,800 students located in 39 states and Puerto Rico.

The complete list of grants awarded and general information about the grant program are available on the NRC website. The NRC announces grant opportunities on www.grants.gov, which enables the public to find and apply for federal funding opportunities. Current funding opportunities for NRC educational grants can be found on both websites.