Scholarships and Graduate Stipends

SoMAS offers full tuition scholarships and stipends to virtually all entering students in the research based M.S. and Ph.D. programs. Students are generally brought in on teaching assistantships and after their first year, transferred to research assistantships. Actual stipend levels for individual students depends on availability of funds on grants. Students can earn up to $30,000 on specific fellowships. All SoMAS M.S. and Ph.D. students in good standing can expect full tuition support.

Information for M.A. in Marine Conservation & Policy students, and non-supported M.S. students, about financial aid available from Stony Brook University is found here.

Fellowships, Scholarships, and Awards

SoMAS has a variety of special awards available to graduate students. In addition to being eligible for a variety of programmatic awards, SoMAS students may also compete for the following awards:

This scholarship provides an annual award of $500 to a marine science student for travel, subsistence, and supplies and equipment for research., to honor the memory of Boudewijn "Bud" Brinkhuis, a faculty member at MSRC/SoMAS who was known as the "algae man" and passed away in 1989.
The ability to recruit and graduate top students from across the nation and the world is integral to the continued growth and success of Stony Brook's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Understanding the important role that private philanthropy can play in the quality and advancement of our programs, Cynthia Decker is creating the Decker Graduate Student Award.

During her own experience as a graduate student, Cynthia faced the unexpected costs tied to conducting research in the form of travel expenses. One of Stony Brook’s own faculty provided generous support to Cynthia so that she could finish the research needed for her degree completion. Similarly, the Decker Graduate Student Award is intended to provide graduate students with the important resources needed to complete their graduate degree, while easing the financial burden of a graduate education.

The Decker Graduate Student Award will provide resources for graduate students in SoMAS, including but not limited to conference travel, exploratory research, equipment and instrumentation for research, and other expenses to enhance the graduate student experience at SoMAS. Students who are eligible to apply for and receive support from the Fund must meet the following criteria:
1. Be enrolled full-time as a graduate student in SoMAS as defined by Stony Brook policy.
2. Demonstrate good academic achievement as defined by Stony Brook policy.
3. Preference given to students in the Marine Sciences track or conducting research related to Oceanography.
The Evan R. Liblit Award is granted to a student at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. This is awarded to students conducting research on contaminants, waste management, or environmental issues.

Many of us remember Evan Liblit as an innovator and teacher of recycling and waste management.

But Evan was a student as well. Always anxious to explore new technologies and techniques, he quickly learned and understood that his field was subject to fiscal pressures, legislative compromise and the public’s willingness to cooperate.

Today’s students of environmental management face similar challenges and changes. Waste management in the new millennium will not only be subject to the same pressures of the last two decades, but new technologies will emerge and ever-changing regulation will attempt to address those changes.

In 1997, the State University at Stony Brook recognized Evan Liblit’s contributions to solid waste management and recycling, and established a memorial scholarship in his name. The Evan R. Liblit Memorial Fund will support graduate students at the Stony Brook University Waste Reduction and Management Institute. The fund will be on-going and self-sustaining, and will benefit these students for years to come.

As a friend of the environment, please join with fellow Long Islanders and associates of Evan Liblit, and honor his memory by making this fund an important part of our region’s environmental future.
The Maze-Landeau Graduate Student Award is a travel award for SoMAS students intended to help full-time graduate students, including Marine Conservation and Policy students, to participate and present a paper or a poster at a national or international professional society meeting.

Although face-to-face conferences and actual travel to meetings are curtailed in these times, an award might be able to cover the registration fee even if the conference is a virtual one. We value the presence of our students at professional meetings, so to encourage further participation in these difficult times, a $100 meeting participation award will accompany a travel award, in recognition of any unknown personal costs. In addition, eligibility is extended to travel for research in the field, to other labs, or to other career-advancing activities. The awards will be competitive and dependent on the availability of funds.

An application contains a brief description of the meeting to be attended, an abstract of the paper or poster (listing all the authors), or the nature of research travel that is needed, including any other appropriate sources of support (e.g. your advisor) the kind and amount requested along with a letter of support from the advisor (should include the importance of the meeting/travel for the applicant, financial need, progress toward degree).

Applications for this award are typically due in late February.
The Pikitch Family Endowed Student Research Award is granted to MS students whose research proposal has been approved by their committee and PhD students who have passed their qualifying exam to support research projects.

The Pikitch Family Endowed Student Research Award reflects Ellen Pikitch, Susan Pikitch, Ruth Pikitch and Allen Zwickler’s commitment to public higher education. All four individuals are the product of public schools and their lives exemplify how public education serves individuals and the nation. Ellen and Susan were the first in their extended family to attend college and they all care deeply about mentoring young people. As a result, they wish to honor the assistance they have received from public education by supporting the research and educational missions of Stony Brook University.

The Pikitch Family Endowed Student Research Award is intended to recognize outstanding research proposals and to encourage the career advancement of MS and PhD students working under the supervision of the faculty of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Award

Eligible students are invited to apply for the Pikitch Family Endowed Student Research Award each Spring. The award will be $4,000, and the deadline for applications is early April.

The application should include the following items:
- A letter of intent of no more than three pages which includes a proposal summary, statement of research needs, a review of her/his qualifications and eligibility for the award and a brief statement of the difference this award would make to the recipient
- A one page budget outlining the intended use of award funds
- One or more faculty letters of recommendation
- Approved MS thesis statement or PhD dissertation proposal
- Curriculum vitae
- Record of grades and academic achievement
For more information on the Pikitch Family Endowed Student Research Award, please contact:

Henry Bokuniewicz
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
211 Endeavour Hall
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000
The Protopopescu Memorial Teaching Award is a $1,000 scholarship, awarded annually to a SoMAS Graduate Student based on demonstrated excellence in teaching, innovation and creativity in instructional plans and materials, and engagement with and dedication to their students.

The award was created in 2012 to honor Nuria Protopopescu, a PhD student at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Nominees must have been an enrolled SoMAS graduate student at the time the teaching occurred.

Teaching must have occurred in the period of June through May of the year being nominated, but need not have occurred at SoMAS or Stony Brook University. Nominated candidates must explicitly state the course, location, date, and role of the nominee (instructor, teaching assistant, etc.).

Applications are due near the end of April.
The Jerry R. Schubel Graduate Fellowship is awarded to outstanding SoMAS graduate students whose research theses and public outreach proposals best exemplify the principals embodied in Jerry Schubel’s vision of a marine scientist in contemporary society.

As a lasting tribute to the countless contributions that Jerry R. Schubel has made to SoMAS, Stony Brook University, the Long Island region, and to the discipline of marine science; and to further his philosophy of using marine science research to solve practical problems and inform public policy, we have endowed The Jerry R. Schubel Graduate Fellowship. This competitive, annual full-time fellowship will provide an annual stipend supplement for SoMAS graduate students committed to translating science into forms that are accessible to the public and/or inform public policy. The program supports a maximum of six fellows at any one time. Approximately two new fellows are named each year.
The Kenneth P. Staudte Award is a $200.00 award made in memory of Stony Brook alumnus Staudte, and is presented to the SoMAS student proposing the most innovative and important project that contributes to the resolution of a complex environmental problem through application of the results of research. Publications and/or theses shall form the basis for selection which shall be made by a committee if distinguished marine and environmental scientists.
The Professor Xiangding Wu Memorial Award is a $500 scholarship awarded to an atmospheric science graduate student for the best performance in the PhD qualifying exam.

The award recognizes the late Professor. Xiangding Wu, a distinguished Dendrochronologist who visited SoMAS many years ago as an exchange scientist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Larry Swanson Memorial Scholarship Fund will provide support for graduate students in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences ("SoMAS"). Students who are eligible to apply for and receive scholarships from this Fund must meet the following criteria:
- Be enrolled as a full-time graduate student in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences as defined by Stony Brook policy.
- Demonstrate good academic achievement as defined by Stony Brook policy.
- Preference given to students who demonstrate financial need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services based upon completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
The Peter K. Weyl Memorial Award in Climate Change Science was created in 2016 to honor the late Professor Peter Weyl, founding faculty member of the Marine Sciences Research Center (now School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences) at Stony Brook University. The award supports research by graduate students (both Master's and Doctoral candidates) in research areas associated with climate change including ocean circulation and mixing, Arctic and Antarctic studies, meteorology, changes in weather patterns and extreme events, rising sea levels & coastal flooding, environmental and ecological issues, and the policy measures that need to be developed and implemented to keep coastal metropolitan regions safe and secure.

The Peter K. Weyl Memorial Award in Climate Change Science will provide support for Stony Brook graduate students in any department/college/school. Students who are eligible to apply for and receive the Peter K. Weyl Memorial Award in Climate Change Science must meet the following criteria:
1. Be enrolled full time as a graduate student in any department/college/school as defined by Stony Brook policy.
2. Demonstrate good academic standing as defined by University policy.
3. Demonstrate excellence in research, innovation and creativity in theoretical, observational or modeling skills. The student's research should contribute to the understanding of climate change science and the welfare of society.
4. The candidate is expected to have undertaken preliminary studies at the time of application in the area of chosen research. Research may be conducted with no restriction on global location, but preference may be given to candidates studying climate science of importance to the State of New York.
Based on the criteria outlined in this section, if an eligible recipient cannot be identified in a given year, the award may be distributed to a student who comes as close as possible to fitting the criteria. If the Peter K. Weyl Memorial Award in Climate Change Science were to ever become unawardable due to changes in Stony Brook academic programs or for any other reasons, the award will be made as closely as possible to the donor's original intent.

Education