Scholarships and Awards

awards_scholarships

Annual Awards Ceremony

Each spring, we give several scholarships and awards to deserving undergraduate and graduate students at our annual awards ceremony. We are proud of our students with outstanding academic and research accomplishments and grateful that we can recognize some of them. Awardees are chosen by committees composed of faculty and/or students who evaluate nominations and applications for the various awards. Most of the awards come from donations by alumni to the NIU Foundation in the name of various scholarships. Read more about NIU scholarships.

Email annualawards@mail.niu.edu for queries. Learn more about several of our scholarship opportunities below.

Available Scholarships

The following scholarships or awards are chosen by the BIOS scholarship committee:

Juniors Only

  • Harvey A Feyerherm Award
  • Jerrold H. Zar Endowed Scholarship in Biology
  • The Dennis Larsen Memorial Scholarship in Biology
  • Patricia Vary Scholarship in Biological Sciences

Seniors Only

  • Deans Award

Junior or Senior

  • Alumni Scholarship in Biological Sciences
  • Amanda Mangold Scholarship
  • August M Gorenz, Ph.D. Scholarship Fund
  • BELONG in STEM*
  • David and Karen Nargis Student Scholarship in Biology
  • Phi Sigma Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award*

*Not chosen by the BIOS scholarship committee.

To Apply

These scholarships are generally based on academic performance, though some have additional criteria. In order to qualify, you must have a GPA of 3.00 or greater. Currently, scholarships are available for juniors and seniors only.

To apply, fill out the application form by Feb. 20. You'll need to provide the following:

  • Your cumulative GPA and biosci GPA (your GPA in BIOS courses plus courses required for the BIOS major).
  • Your class status (freshman, sophomore, junior or senior).
  • The approximate number of hours per week you've worked in the last two years to pay for college.
  • Your research experience, extracurricular activities and career goals.
  • The name of a biology faculty member who's agreed to serve as a reference.
  • Dissertation Completion Award
  • Elwood and Ruth Briles Memorial Scholarship
  • George L. Terwilliger Memorial Scholarship Fund - Endowed
  • Phi Sigma Outstanding Graduate Research Award*
  • Sidney A. Mittler Award
*Not chosen by the BIOS scholarship committee
  • Charles Montgomery (teacher prep program)
  • David R. Layman Scholarship Fund
  • Jerrold H. Zar Endowed Scholarship in Science Education
  • Hubbard Award for Excellence in Human Anatomical Sciences

Support for these scholarships would not be possible without the financial support from our alumni and friends. If you would like to contribute to scholarships that assist students in earning their degrees, establish new scholarships or support our ongoing research program you can do so by going to our giving page.