Graduate Studies Scholarship and Jan Abraham “Braham” Ferreira Scholarship

IEEE PELS Graduate Studies Scholarship and Jan Abraham “Braham” Ferreira Scholarship

About the Award

Multiple scholarships are awarded to promote, recognize, and support eligible students within the Society’s fields of interest. The purpose is to support awardees toward a stay at a foreign university or research institution. The scholarships do not have any country or region restrictions.

One of the scholarships is awarded as the IEEE PELS Jan Abraham “Braham” Ferreira Scholarship, which is named in honor of the late Professor Jan Abraham “Braham” Ferreira, who was a past president of PELS. This scholarship is reserved for the highest-ranked winner from a traditionally underserved country or region in the spirit of providing opportunities to those less able to financially manage the expenses of foreign study.

These scholarships are also funded by the Future Workforce Fund of the IEEE Foundation.

Award Prize:

Up to 7 scholarships are awarded annually. Each recipient will receive the following:

A certificate
An honorarium of USD 5,000
Complimentary IEEE and PELS membership for the following year
Reimbursement of up to USD 1,000 towards the recipient’s necessary conference registration, travel, and accommodation costs incurred to attend the award ceremony

Jan Abraham “Braham” Ferreira

Submitting a Nominee

The following records are to be submitted with an application:

A nomination letter from the candidate’s hosting advisor (acting as nominator) who is a PELS member and is endorsing the stay at the host institution.
A 1-page biographical summary of the candidate.
A 1-page single-spaced statement written by the candidate that outlines the education and research goals and accomplishments concerning his/her current studies.
A 2-page maximum professional or academic CV of the graduate advisor (who is an IEEE member) at the candidate’s home university.
An academic proposal (no more than 5 single-spaced pages) that provides a title page, a study proposal describing the study to be completed, the anticipated type of paper (short or full) for the final report, and the budget for the project.
Certificate of language proficiency (if the host institution is in an area where another language than the candidate’s mother tongue is spoken)
Copies of the candidate’s transcripts (an explanation is needed if the grading system differs from A-F format).
2 letters of recommendation from senior scientists other than the nominator who are familiar with the candidate’s research and education qualifications.

The portal to submit a nomination is now closed.

2023 Honoree:

Qingli Deng

Eligibility Requirements & Criteria

Eligibility: Candidates must be a Member, Graduate Student Member, or Student member of IEEE and PELS at the time of nomination. Students with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent pursuing a higher level graduate degree within the Society’s fields of interest on a full-time basis are eligible. They must plan a stay to study at a host institution in a foreign country for 6 to 9 months and will presumably continue their studies at their home university with the same faculty advisor for 12 months after receipt of the scholarship. Recipients are not allowed to accept another award of the same kind for the same purpose.

Criteria: Judgment of the recipients will be based on the nomination material, including:

The contextual and organizational plan for the stay.
The grades and education career of the candidate.
The quality and impact of the candidate’s material, including the recommendation letters.

Questions?

Please send any questions to the PELS Awards Committee.