Emergency and Experience Grants (EMERGE) Fund: Experience Grants

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

Timeline

After applications open 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.

Experience grant criteria and allowable expenses

To receive experience grant funding, the professional development opportunity must be:

  • Directly related to your post-degree career aspirations in physics or a related field
  • Not fully funded by other grant sources, such as IGEN Travel Grants, departmental funds, etc.
  • Taking place no more than 90 days in the future
  • Virtual, hybrid, or in-person
  • An allowable expense
Please note that if you are an NMC graduate student mentee, you are eligible for the IGEN Travel Grant. If you are ineligible for the IGEN Travel Grant, your proposed activity does not meet the criteria for the IGEN Travel Grant, and/or the IGEN Travel Grant does not fully fund the proposed activity, you can apply for an NMC EMERGE Grant.

EMERGE experience grant funds can be used toward the following allowable expenses:

  • Registration fee(s) for attendance at regional, national, or international disciplinary conferences and annual meetings, such as National Society of Black Physicists, National Society of Hispanic Physicists, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, American Astronomical Society, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, etc.
  • Travel support to attend conferences and annual meetings (transportation, lodging, meals at per diem)
  • Professional licensure or certification exam registration fee(s) 
  • Graduate school entrance exam registration fee(s) (GRE, LSAT, MCAT, etc.)
  • Graduate school application fee(s)
  • Travel to visit prospective graduate schools
  • Travel to attend a summer internship, REU, or similar opportunity 
  • Courses, seminars, and workshops not for academic credit (ex: technical writing courses, business management programs, technical skill workshops)

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. The duration of the mentoring relationship is not a factor when reviewing EMERGE applications. 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 experience grants. Receiving an emergency grant will not impact a mentee’s experience grant funding limits. For experience grants, there is a lifetime limit of $4,000.

NMC mentees can request up to $2,000 at a time.

Additionally, when requesting funding, please be aware that:


  • EMERGE funds are considered taxable income and may affect your financial aid package. We advise each student to check the impact of their request with your financial aid office.
  • If the cumulative amount distributed to a student is greater than $500, the APS Accounting Department will need to issue you a 1099 tax form, since these are taxable expenses.

The EMERGE Fund application process

Once you complete and submit the application, you will be notified of the committee's decision within 14 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 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 follow these instructions:

  • Select your mentor from the home login screen
  • Select “milestones”
  • At the end of the milestones list, you will see the EMERGE Fund application, which you can then complete

If you have more than one mentor, do not submit the same application multiple times to each mentor.

If you would like to provide any supporting documents, such as bills or emails to be shared with the review committee, please email them as one PDF document to the APS National Mentoring Community team.

Application review and notification

The EMERGE Fund review committee reviews applications every other week 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.