NARST offers several scholarships, awards and other opportunities.

ASERA Travel Award

Support for graduate students going to the annual ASERA Conference. This scholarship offers $2,500 each for two graduate students. Calls for applications are announced in the early winter through NARST announcements to members and details posted on NARST’s homepage.

ESERA Travel Award 

Support for doctoral students going to the ESERA Summer School during even years, This scholarship offers $2,500 each for two doctoral students, plus $1,000 to support a NARST member to serve as a mentor to help facilitate workshops at the Research School. Calls for applications are announced in the early winter through NARST announcements to members and details posted on NARST’s homepage.

SAARMSTE Travel Award

Support for doctoral students going to the SAARMSTE Doctoral Research School during odd years. This scholarship offers $2,500 each for two doctoral students, plus $1,000 to support a NARST member to serve as a mentor to help facilitate workshops at the Research School. Calls for applications are announced in the early winter through NARST announcements to members and details posted on NARST’s homepage.

Linking Science Educators Program – LSEP

This scholarship is for NARST members who seek to partner with science education colleagues in economically disadvantaged or educationally disadvantaged countries to provide support for science education research, teacher education, professional development and more in the host country. The goal is to link NARST and science education professionals in countries other than the United States. The fund offers $7,000 to support activities to implement new ideas on science educational reform in the host country. The LSEP program supports round-trip economy airfare for resource experts from NARST. The host country members should additionally propose to provide resources towards efforts to support the proposed activities (conference/ workshop/ seminar, or other activity). Calls for project proposals are announced in the early winter through NARST announcements to members and details posted on NARST’s homepage.

Sandra K. Abell Institute for Doctoral Students (SKAIDS)

The Abell Institute runs every other year (during odd years), and provides doctoral students opportunities for research mentoring. NARST will provide up to $45,000 USD to support the organization and implementation of the bi-annual Abell Institute. Calls for host applications are announced in the late summer of even years to members and details posted on NARST’s homepage. Opportunities to attend SKAIDS as a student and/or mentor will be shared in the winter/spring of odd years, ahead of the upcoming institute.

Early Career Institute (ECI) for Early-Career NARST Members

The purpose of the ECI is to support early-career NARST members who are pre-tenured, or are in their first five years of academic work beyond their doctoral work. The NARST ECI takes place during even years. NARST will provide up to $25,000 USD to support the organization and implementation of the bi-annual ECI. These funds cannot be used to pay for indirect operating expenses typical of many federal grants. The $25,000 contribution is meant to minimize costs for mentors and participating early-career NARST members. Proposers are encouraged to seek additional support from the organizers’ institution(s) and/or in-kind contributions of staff time, or other resources that support the successful implementation of the ECI.

Scholarships and Awards for the NARST Annual Conference

Calls for applications are announced each fall through NARST announcements to members and details posted on NARST’s homepage.

Jhumki Basu Fellowship Award

The Basu Award offers 15 scholarships in the amount of $700 aimed at supporting and nurturing promising young scholars (advanced doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty) that are members of underrepresented groups within the United States. The scholarships are meant to both help defray expenses to participate in the NARST Conference, as well as to intellectually support the development of the emergent scholars’ programs of research. 

Graduate Student Travel Award

NARST offers graduate students the opportunity to apply for a travel award to attend the annual conferences. Scholarships generally range from $550 to $2,000 per recipient. The eligibility requirements include a) being a member of NARST; b) having an accepted proposal or being a first-time conference attendee; c) demonstrating some declared financial need; d) having not received any financial support from university institution; e) not already receiving another NARST scholarship. Funds may be used to cover NARST Conference registration fees and to reimburse costs related to in-person Conference travel (flights, trains, buses and hotels).

International Travel Awards

These scholarships are for graduate students and early career scholars (10 years or less as a postdoctoral scholar). Scholarships generally range from $1,000 to $1,550 per recipient. Funds may be used to cover NARST Conference registration fees and to reimburse costs related to in-person Conference travel (flights, trains, buses and hotels). Scholarships are dependent upon where participants are traveling from to attend the conference. 

Classroom Teachers and Informal Science Educators Scholarship

NARST provides scholarships for supporting teachers or informal educators who collaborate with NARST members on research projects to participate in and present research papers at the NARST conference. Nine scholarships of $700 each will be awarded. Funds may be used to cover NARST Conference registration fees and to reimburse costs related to in-person Conference travel (flights, trains, buses and hotels).