EREF Scholarships

Scholarship Sponsored by Environmental Research & Education Foundation

Intro
The Foundation awards scholarships to graduate students who show outstanding potential in master’s or doctoral research focused on solid waste. Recipients receive a stipend that can be renewed annually if they make satisfactory academic progress and remain engaged in solid waste research. While funded, scholars undertake projects that contribute to understanding critical topics in the field. EREF staff help connect scholars with the industry by facilitating participation in conferences and fundraisers and arranging visits to companies.

Who is eligible
Applications are open to applicants who:
- Are currently enrolled full-time, or will be enrolled full-time during the award year, in a master’s or doctoral program.
- Have a clearly demonstrated research interest in solid waste management. For the purposes of these scholarships, solid waste management includes municipal solid waste, construction & demolition waste, industrial wastes (for example, coal ash), WTE ash, and similar materials. Agricultural wastes and wastewater treatment plant sludge are excluded from this definition.

Graduate students pursuing research and education in solid waste management are eligible, and candidates studying outside the United States or enrolled at foreign institutions will be given equal consideration.

Selection criteria
Awards are made based on:
- Academic performance
- The relevance of the applicant’s research to advancing the science of solid waste management
- The candidate’s potential for future success and contributions to the field

Award amounts and conditions
- Doctoral scholarships: up to $16,000 per year, paid monthly, with the possibility of extension until degree completion.
- Master’s scholarships: up to $10,000 per year, with the possibility of extension until degree completion.
- Renewal of a scholarship each year depends on satisfactory progress as judged by the student’s academic advisor.
- Award size also takes into account the recipient institution’s tuition costs and any other funding the student receives. Applicants receiving full-tuition scholarships from other sources (not including direct university assistance such as tuition remission or assistantship income) may not receive a full scholarship from EREF, though partial awards remain possible.

How to apply
- Complete and submit the online application and provide three references by the competition deadline. Reference letters must be submitted by the deadline for the application to be considered complete.
- All applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on March 2, 2026. Incomplete applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Review process and timeline
- Submitted applications are first screened by EREF staff to confirm eligibility and ensure the research aligns with EREF’s mission.
- Eligible applications are forwarded to the Scholarship Committee, which recommends a shortlist of candidates to the Board of Directors.
- After Board approval, applicants are notified of award decisions in mid-to-late August.
- Scholarship funding begins in September of the award year. Therefore, students who will graduate in December of that same year are not eligible to apply.

Important note about references
Your advisor or references will not receive instructions for submitting recommendation letters until you either (1) submit your application, or (2) save your application and click “Send Letter Request” to each reference.

2025–2026 application window
- The application period opens December 15, 2025 and closes March 2, 2026 (deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern Time).