September 2021
Due to the COVID pandemic, the 12-week Graduate Student Fellowship program was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. We trust that by 2022, the pandemic will be behind us and the program will reconvene to benefit talented graduate students at the Smithsonian Marine Station.
To learn more about the Link Foundation/Smithsonian Graduate Research Fellowships and some of the former recipients, please visit https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/smithsonian-marine-station/news/strongest-link.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The Smithsonian Marine Station (SMS) has a long history of supporting the academic pursuits of students at all levels of education. One of the most successful programs is the 12-week Graduate Student Fellowship program, supported by a grant from the Link Foundation.
The association between the Smithsonian and the Link Foundation extends back to 1953, soon after the Foundation was established by Edwin A. and Marion C. Link. Mr. Link was a skilled aviator and is recognized as a mechanical genius. He is best known for his invention of the first Flight Simulator in 1929, and he later shifted his interest to ocean engineering and marine science and developed the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles.
The Link Foundation aims to support individuals and nonprofit institutions with research goals and interests that align with those of the founders, namely modeling, simulation and training, ocean engineering and instrumentation, and energy resources conservation and development.
The SMS at Fort Pierce, FL, received its first award from the Link Foundation in 1998 in support of graduate student fellowships in the marine sciences. Annual awards from 1998-2021 have totaled $384,000, and have supported 72 graduate students.
The Link Foundation/Smithsonian Institution graduate student fellowships are offered on a competitive basis through the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Fellowships, and supports the research efforts of three to four graduate-level students each year. During the 12-week program, Fellows work in association with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff who are either Marine Station investigators, or marine scientists from other Smithsonian entities who carry out a part of their research at the Station. Students are provided with work space at the station, full access to all the Station’s resources, as well as the guidance and expertise of their appointed research advisor during their fellowship.
Several Link Fellows have gone on to complete doctoral degrees and have returned to SMS as postdoctoral fellows. Others maintain a relationship by continuing to collaborate with SMS researchers or by bringing students of their own.
The staff of SMS looks forward to continuing to provide research opportunities to students through on-going support from the Link Foundation. Graduate students interested in the program should visit https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/smithsonian-marine-station/education-and-fellowships/graduate-fellowships for information on application requirements. The deadline for the next cycle is November 1, 2021.