International Scholarships and Research Funding

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Students pursuing an international degree or research area may be able to take advantage of several special Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources (FER) funding opportunities designated specifically for students with a global focus.

If you are a graduate student, you may also want to review Financial Support in our Graduate Students section and for support opportunities open to international FER students, please visit the NC State Office of International Students.

Study Abroad Scholarships

The department offers scholarships of $400 to $800 for students studying abroad for a semester, summer, or entire academic year. To be eligible for these scholarships, students must apply through the Study Abroad Office, which has two application deadlines every year.

NCSU Graduate Student Association provides up to $250 for travel and lodging expenses for participation at a professional meeting.

NCSU Arthur B. Moss Graduate School International Travel Grant is offered to doctoral candidates.

Swedish Women's Educational Association Scholarships are available to support a person or an organization with ties to North Carolina in their studies or their efforts to advance/share knowledge of Swedish culture, traditions, language, history, or society. However, outstanding scholars in any field of study (from North Carolina-based institutions, pursuing research or studies in Sweden, or vice versa) are invited to apply, as the scholarship is more broadly intended to foster worthwhile scholarly exchanges between Sweden and North Carolina. For more information contact northcarolina@swea.org.

The Hanban (Headquarter of Confucius Institutes in Beijing) has established the Confucius Institute Scholarship for Foreign students who want to learn Chinese, Chinese culture, or study towards a university degree in a Chinese University. Tuition and living expenditure in China will all be covered. If you are interested you may fill out the application form and submit it to the Confucius Institute at North Carolina State University before the end of May. You may also call Guanglin Dai 919-513-2924 (guanglin_dai@ncsu.edu) for more information.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduates with financial need for study abroad, including students from diverse backgrounds and students going to non-traditional study abroad destinations. Established under the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000, Gilman Scholarships provide up to $5,000 for American students to pursue overseas study for college credit.

International Funding for Graduate Students

Gunnar and Lilian Nicholson Graduate Fellowships: awarded to Swedish graduate foresters studying forest genetics and forest management at NC State. Successful applicants receive funding for a period of up to five years to earn a Ph.D. degree. This award includes an $24,000 annual stipend plus all tuition, student fees, and health insurance. Students are also granted one round-trip airfare per year for travel to Sweden for purposes of promoting the Nicholson exchange program. Nicholson Fellows are prepared for international careers through work on cutting edge issues ranging from conservation of genetic diversity in the tropics to tree improvement and silviculture of temperate and northern species. Swedish students who are interested in details may wish to read documents prepared by previous Swedish students on the Nicholson fellowship. For more information on Nicholson Fellowships, please email Dr. Steve McKeand or contact him at (919) 515-6073. The Nicholson Endowment also supports faculty exchange.

Camcore Stipends: Camcore offers three partial stipends for graduate studies at NC State. Students representing CAMCORE companies are given first priority in receiving these stipends to conduct research internationally, but occasionally stipends are made available to individuals not associated with the Cooperative. Graduate studies with CAMCORE emphasize improving our knowledge about tropical and subtropical forest species. For more information on Camcore stipends, please email Dr. William Dvorak or contact him at (919) 515-6426.

Forest Nutrition Cooperative Assistantships: for outstanding individuals pursuing an MS or PhD degree with NC State’s Forest Nutrition Cooperative, one of the world's leading forest research and education programs. Awards are typically available in specific areas of research, some of them international in nature. Please contact Co-Director Dr. Jose L. Stape at jlstape@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-4041 for more information.

The Bruce and Barbara Zobel Endowment for International Forestry Studies was established in 1998 to instill an international perspective in forestry students and to enable them to obtain first-hand experience with forestry in diverse environments around the world. In the past, the Endowment has funded both supplemental scholarships for graduate students and mini-grants to undergraduate and graduate students for travel to other countries. For descriptions of research partially funded by the endowment, see reports by Rodrigo Arriagada, Greg Frey, Rafael Rubilar, Mike Tighe, Susan McIntyre, Dae-Hyun Yoo, Matt O'Driscoll 2007 and 2008, and Sherry Xiong. The endowment offers mini-grants of up to $2,000 to travel to other countries with an agenda that includes silviculture and production forestry. Applications for Zobel Grants to support international travel are being offered in 2008 or 2009 on a rolling basis.

Students in Namibia Matt O'Driscoll in the field, zobel grant

susan hugging a tree, zobel Picture of Sherry in China, zobel grant

Students seeking shade in the desert of Namibia (top left photo). Matt (top right) in Nicaragua with native seedlings soon to be planted on a degraded farm site. Susan (bottom left) hugging a 1000 year old Cedar-of-Lebanon (Cedrus libani) during her study tour of Turkey. Sherry (bottom right) visiting South China Agriculture University during her study tour.