Fellowship Program

NOTE: The fellowship program has now closed and fellowships are no longer available.

The Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station and the Southeastern Sun Grant Center created a program for Research Fellowships In BioEnergy & BioMaterials to promote research partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National BioEnergy Center (National Renewable Energy Laboratory).

The Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station is committed to assuming a leadership role in the Nation’s research effort around biofuels and bio-based materials. The scope and complexity of this research challenge demands renewed emphasis on establishing collaborative research and formal partnerships with external organizations such as The Department of Energy’s National Laboratories. To facilitate this, a fellowship program was made available to provide support for research experience at one or more of the sites listed above.

These collaborations addressing research, development, and demonstration of biomass based products, bioenergy, biofuels, biopower, and related processes. This funding opportunity was intended to promote greater innovation and development related to biomass, and to establish working relationships with national laboratories conducting research for greater use of biomass-based products, feedstock production, and processing and conversion.

The fellowship supported all travel and living expenses for research experience ranging from 2-4 weeks (alternative time spans are subject to negotiation) at ORNL and NREL. The applicant was responsible for identifying potential collaborators to participate in a project of mutual interest and benefit. Also, all details of the travel and research partnership were arranged by the applicant. Importantly, research costs were not be incurred by the sponsoring laboratory, but were included in the budget request.

The program builtrelationships with our national lab partners, focused on projects designed to advance the development of the bio-based economy. The research generated data for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Also, it was expected that the DOE collaborator visited the participating university’s campus for further interaction with faculty, and to present a seminar on recent research activities and opportunities.

For more information, contact Dr. Tim Rials, Professor and Director, Southeastern Sun Grant Center at 865-946-1129 or trials@tuk.edu.

Funded Fellowships