Six doctoral students attending The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recently received prestigious awards from the Alabama Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ALEPSCoR) Graduate Research Scholars Program (GRSP). A total of 36 graduate students from seven universities across the state of Alabama are round nine GRSP awardees, receiving a total of $849,370. "Part of being a graduate student is working with a mentor to learn how to be a future faculty member or researcher, and proposal writing is an important part of that process," said Dr. David Berkowitz, Dean, UAH School of Graduate Studies. "We are very excited these students are able to demonstrate their ability to write proposals that are funded. This will enhance their career opportunities and is a testament to the quality of the mentorship students have with our faculty." Each of the six UAH graduate students wrote a proposal for external research funding in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) discipline. The student awards are being funded for the fall 2014 academic year. Students will work with their faculty advisors, during the award period. Additionally, students are expected to make formal presentations of their GRSP research findings at nationally recognized technical meetings and/or an Alabama EPSCoR meeting.