Each Stanford Graduate Fellow will receive an annual stipend ($18,500 in 1999-2000), and tuition to cover Stanford's minimum full-time enrollment (nine units) for four quarters each year. The Fellowship is a three-year award, with subsequent years' stipend and tuition payments adjusted for inflation.

The value of the tuition payment is approximately $18,000 (for 1997-98); tuition will be paid in part by the Fellowship and in part by other Stanford funds.

There will be no strings attached, no requirements to pursue a particular topic or to do research in a particular lab. Each Fellow will be free to choose a mentor based on mutual interest rather than availability of funds. Fellows will, of course, be expected to meet the same university and program requirements as all other students.

While experiences in different departments vary, it is not unusual for a Ph.D. program to encompass six years. With the benefit of three years of funding, these top students will be in a strong position to secure departmental and faculty research funds to complete their education.

"Guaranteed funding meant I could focus on my research," says Melissa Lamb, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Geological and Environmental Sciences. "Funding not tied to a particular research project is especially appealing because you can work on a project that is truly your own and potentially groundbreaking work. A full-time fellowship allows for the exploration that is so key to growth and diversity within science."

Simon Clemett, from Portsmouth, England, did his undergraduate work at Oxford. Having earned his Ph.D. at Stanford in Chemistry, he will continue his affiliation with Professor Richard Zare's lab as a post-doctoral fellow in order to complete his research on the Martian meteorite ALH84001. He plans a career in teaching.