Early Start Fellows Program

Starting in Summer 2026, a limited number of awards will support students working with ETN faculty as ETN Early Start Fellows. This program is designed to offset the burden to the faculty and enable newly admitted PhD students to join an ETN faculty lab while providing increased training opportunity for the qualified and interested admitted students.

Pilot Framework for 2026

  • ETN will provide up to 10 awards of up to $5,500 to be applied towards summer support for newly admitted PhD students to participate in PME’s early arrival initiative. The number of awards may be higher depending on the proposed start dates and availability of funds.
  • All awardees will be expected to submit a short report at the end of their internship and participate in the Fall ETN event as an “ETN Early Start Summer Fellow”

Eligibility Criteria

  • All admitted PhD students planning to join the lab of an ETN faculty member prior to fall quarter to engage in research related to the energy sector
  • Incoming PhD students must be committed to working with an ETN faculty member
  • Students must be nominated by the hosting ETN faculty with a cover letter and a resume
  • Nominations will be accepted on a rolling basis starting on April 15th and remain open while funds are available
  • The ETN Early Fellow award is not transferrable – in the event that the student decides to join a non-ETN faculty member’s lab prior to arrival, the ETN fellowship is automatically forfeited

Award Nomination and Details

  • Awards will be provided on rolling basis for 2026 and will be based on nomination by the host ETN faculty member with approval from ETN Leadership.
  • All nominations should be submitted by the ETN faculty via this ETN Early Start Fellow Nomination Form
    • Nominations should include a short paragraph from the nominating faculty, a short description of the nominee’s project for the summer and the nominee’s CV.
    • All decisions will be communicated within one week of receiving a nomination via email to the ETN faculty member and subsequently to the ETN Early Start Fellow
    • Awarded funds will be provided directly to the ETN faculty to be utilized for summer
      support.
  • ETN recommends that awards be disbursed first to summer quarter tuition and fees and then towards stipend evenly across the fellowship.