Virginia Tech® home

Engineering Mechanics Graduate Financial Support

Assisted by a faculty member, two BEAM graduate students adjust the equipment in their lab

Graduate Assistantships

The Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics is pleased to offer assistantships to selected graduate students.

Full-time graduate students may be appointed to a graduate research assistantship (GRA) or a graduate teaching assistantship (GTA). The responsibilities of an assistantship are to serve the teaching, research, and public service functions of the department and university.

All students appointed on an assistantship are provided a monthly stipend, as well as a tuition scholarship. Learn more in the University Policy on GTAs and the EM graduate manual.

Departmental Fellowships

BEAM also offers several prestigious and competitive fellowships for graduate study.

Daniel Frederick Fellowship

To be eligible, doctoral students should have completed all of their course work, passed all qualifying and preliminary examinations, have had their dissertation proposal approved and accepted by their committee and be in good standing with the Graduate School. Nomination requirements include a letter from supervising faculty member and a curriculum vitae.

Manuel Stein Fellowship

The Manual Stein Scholarship should be awarded to an outstanding student pursuing graduate studies in engineering science and mechanics. The criteria to be used are those well-reflected in Dr. Stein's own lifetime of service to his profession and commitment to his colleagues and students: the potential for scholarly achievements in teaching and research, and a demonstrated dedication to the welfare and well-being of others. Requirements include a letter from a supervising faculty member as well as a curriculum vitae.

Liviu Librescu Memorial Fellowship

To be eligible, students should have outstanding academic records and have demonstrated strong leadership potential and commitment to professional or community service. Requirements include a letter from a supervising faculty member as well as a curriculum vitae.

Travel Funds

Each year, a limited number of travel grants will be awarded to support Engineering Mechanics graduate students presenting research at conferences or attending important workshops. The purpose of this program is to promote the research being done by graduate students in our Engineering Mechanics program and promote the program itself around the country and the world. For events held virtually, requests can be made for funds to cover the cost of event registration.

It is expected that the application is submitted at least 45 days before the event begins. If this target deadline has passed, contact Mark Stremler to determine if a funding request can still be submitted.

Preference will be given to doctoral students and those who have not received the award recently.

Students receiving a travel grant are expected to highlight their membership in the Engineering Mechanics program and to acknowledge the EM Travel Fund. A post-travel survey must be submitted to remain eligible for additional funding in future fiscal years.

You can submit your request here.

Additional Funding Opportunities

For information about the funding opportunities available outside the department, check out Graduate School Funding Opportunities.

Applicants and current students are encouraged to apply for all non-Virginia Tech scholarships for which they are eligible, especially those offered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG).

Forms

BEAM forms