Pearl I. Young Scholarship

The NDSGC established the prestigious Pearl I. Young Space Grant Award for a student at the University of North Dakota. This $2500 award honors the ideals of scholarship as exemplified by Pearl I. Young. Undergraduate and graduate students who meet the criteria below are encouraged to apply. Applicants will ideally be involved in a research project of NASA relevance.

Young grew up in North Dakota and attended school there. At age 11 she left home to work as a domestic to attend high school. After attending Jamestown College she transferred to the University of North Dakota. She graduated from UND in 1919 as a Phi Beta Kappa with a triple major in physics, mathematics, and chemistry. Despite her heavy course load, financial necessity dictated that Young work while pursuing her studies. She served as a laboratory assistant in the Physics Department and worked for the U.S. Weather Bureau. After graduation she taught physics for two years at UND. She then accepted an appointment at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia. She was the first woman hired as a technical employee, a physicist of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); that agency later became NASA. She was the second woman hired as a physicist by the federal government. When Young died in 1968 her obituary noted that she had been a scientist, university professor, journalist, lecturer, author, and world traveler.

Funding

• $2,500 per scholarship

Eligibility

The student:

• must be enrolled at the University of North Dakota
• must be a U.S. Citizen
• must be in good academic standing
• must demonstrate high levels of service to underrepresented genders in STEM through various engagements, programming, and/or research
• must be pursuing a STEM or STEM Education degree

Nursing majors are ineligible for NDSGC scholarships, per NASA rules and regulations.

See NDSGC homepage for general eligibility and funding details.

Deadline

Applications open one month prior to deadline:

• February 15^th

How to Apply

Applications for NDSU's Lillian Goettler Scholarship and UND's Pearl I. Young Scholarship will be evaluated using the following criteria. Please review this information prior to submission, and feel free to share these details with your requested recommender.

• Resume, including work and research experience, academic performance, and extracurricular and leadership activities
• Letter of Recommendation, including academic and technical capabilities, student character, and attributes that make this student an ideal candidate
• Essays addressing the following questions, each separate response consisting of 250-350 words:
  • In the context of your STEM community, reflect on a time when you faced a challenging decision that required skills or insights not typically taught in the classroom or workplace. What was the situation, and how did you navigate the obstacle? In hindsight, how could you have made a better decision, and what valuable lessons did you learn from the experience that have shaped your approach to problem-solving in STEM?
  • Letters of recommendations and transcripts are only part of your academic journey. Tell us about your future academic and professional plans and ways you want to be part of your professional community by sharing your academic and career goals, and why you should be a recipient of the scholarship.
  • No community is perfect, and systemic barriers can limit access to education and opportunity, particularly for girls and women. Tell us of a time you overcame adversity in STEM. How do you want to ensure others don't have to overcome the same obstacles in the future?
  • In what specific ways have you already helped to break down barriers for women and girls in STEM fields?
  • If a younger female family member or family friend asked you if she should pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), what would you tell her?

Contact the NDSGC team with questions.

Apply Now!

Past Funding Recipients