(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced that it is establishing a financial assistance program to help selected institutions develop and implement a NIST measurement science and engineering fellowship program. The new fellowship program is funded under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.

NIST expects to award up to $20 million to support up to five grants to United States higher education institutions, nonprofit and commercial organizations, or state, local, or Indian tribal governments to partner with NIST in managing the fellowships. The awards will last for up to three years.

The program is designed to provide financial assistance to increase the number of research and collaboration opportunities at NIST in measurement science and engineering fields that contribute to the agency’s mission to advance innovation.

Grant awardees will offer paid fellowships on a competitive basis to:

• trained, qualified graduate and undergraduate students from United States colleges and universities or postdoctoral researchers, and to
• provide collaborative research opportunities for practicing scientists and engineers in the public and private sectors.

Fellows under this program will work on projects with NIST research scientists and engineers at the agency’s programs in Gaithersburg, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado; and Charleston, South Carolina. NIST expects the program to support approximately 100 fellowship positions, with the exact number depending upon the levels and durations of the awarded fellowships. The awards could range from part-time and summer fellowships for undergraduates to full-time positions for postdoctoral fellows or practicing scientists and engineers.

The deadline for applications is 3 p.m., Eastern time, July 27, 2009. Applications may be submitted on paper to:

National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1060
Gaithersburg, MD  20899-1060.

Applications may also be submitted via the Internet at Grants.gov (www.grants.gov). Search for Funding Opportunity Number 2009-NIST-ARRA-MSE-FELLOWSHIP-01 or CFDA Number 11.609.

For more detailed information on the Measurement Science and Engineering Fellowship Program, see:

• Full news release, “NIST Seeks Proposals for $20 Million Recovery Act Program”
• Grants.gov, Funding Opportunity Number 2009-NIST-ARRA-MSE-FELLOWSHIP-01 or CFDA Number 11.609
• The NIST Recovery Act Web site for the Measurement Science and Engineering Research fellowship Program www.nist.gov/recovery/measurement_fellow_program.html
• Federal Register notice, “Recovery Act Measurement Science and Engineering Fellowship Program” (FR Vol. 74, No. 103, p. 26206, Docket Number: 090306281–9287–01).