Emergency and Experience Grants (EMERGE) Fund

The National Mentoring Community will begin accepting applications for EMERGE Grants beginning Jan. 13, 2025.

The NMC Emergency and Experience Grants (EMERGE) Program supports National Mentoring Community (NMC) mentees in their pursuit of earning a physics degree by providing funding for:

Timeline

The National Mentoring Community will begin accepting applications for EMERGE Grants beginning Jan. 13, 2025. Students can apply on a rolling basis and if approved, receive funds within two weeks. You must be actively participating in the NMC mentorship program during the time you apply for the EMERGE Fund.

Eligibility

To apply for EMERGE Funding, you must:

  • Be registered as an NMC mentee​ enrolled in a physics or closely related degree​ program, such as engineering physics, applied physics, astrophysics, or biophysics​
  • Have matched with an NMC mentor or have contacted the NMC directly if you need help matching with a mentor, as you may still be eligible for funding
  • Only receive funds once per semester (fall, spring, summer)
  • Complete the application
  • Not have outstanding receipts or impact statements from previous EMERGE Funds or from the Bringing Emergency Aid to Mentees (BEAM) Fund
  • Not exceed the $5,000 maximum lifetime limit for emergency funding, except in dire circumstances reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and not exceed the $4,000 maximum lifetime limit for experience funding
Please note that although the NMC seeks to center the experiences for marginalized students who identify as Black/African American, Latino, and Indigenous, we welcome all interested students into our community.

Additionally, to ensure your situation meets criteria for funding, please review the emergency grant criteria and allowable expenses or the experience grant criteria and allowable expenses as appropriate.

Requesting funding

NMC mentees requesting funding should review the amount limits, contact their mentor, complete and submit the application, along with any applicable supporting documents. Mentors may also submit an additional statement of support to accompany their mentee’s application.

If you have not yet been matched with a mentor and are facing special circumstances, you may still be eligible for funding through EMERGE, at the discretion of NMC staff and the review committee. Please contact the NMC for more information. 

Funding amount limits

There are lifetime funding amount limits for both emergency grants and experience grants, but receiving an emergency grant will not impact your funding limit for receiving an experience grant and receiving an experience grant will not impact your funding limit for receiving an emergency grant.

Please review the emergency grant criteria and allowable expenses or the experience grant criteria and allowable expenses as appropriate for more information about funding amount limits.

The EMERGE Fund application process

Once you complete and submit the application, you will be notified of the committee's decision within 7 to 21 business days. If approved for funding, you should submit payment forms, relevant receipts, and a brief statement describing how the EMERGE Fund helped you in your situation to the National Mentoring Community team.

Speak with your NMC mentor

Speak with your NMC mentor about your financial emergency or professional experience opportunity. They may have access to resources that can help alleviate your financial need more quickly. Your NMC mentor may be asked to provide additional information to the EMERGE fund review committee on your behalf, so this is an opportunity to share details with them.

The EMERGE fund review committee is composed of members from the APS Committee on Minorities in Physics and APS staff.

Complete the application

To access the application, please review the instructions on the emergency grant information or the experience grant information as appropriate.

Application review and notification

The EMERGE Fund review committee reviews completed emergency grant applications once a week, and you will be notified within 7-10 business days of their decision. The committee reviews completed experience grant applications bi-weekly, and you will be notified within 14-21 business days of their decision.

Submit payment forms

If your application is approved, you will need to complete and submit payment forms, provided to you by the National Mentoring Community team at APS.

Submit relevant receipts and a brief statement

Thirty days after receiving funds, you will need to provide relevant receipts and submit a brief statement describing how the EMERGE Fund helped you in your situation.

Thank you to our supporters

The EMERGE Fund is made possible, in part, through generous support from Kenton and Amy Brown.