SPIE Optics and Photonics Education Scholarships

SPIE Optics and Photonics Education Scholarships are available to students located anywhere in the world, in high school (pre-university/secondary), community and technical, undergraduate and graduate programs, who are studying in a related field of optics and photonics.

The scholarship award amount ranges from US $3,000 to US $11,000 and supports tuition and fees, textbooks, supplies, and equipment required for courses of instruction, and computer upgrades. Included in this scholarship are the following named scholarships:

• SPIE D.J. Lovell Scholarship, US $11,000
  • The D.J. Lovell Scholarship is the Society's largest and most prestigious scholarship. This scholarship is sponsored by SPIE.
• John Kiel Scholarship, US $10,000
  • This scholarship is in honor of SPIE founding member, John Kiel, in recognition of his long-standing and significant contributions to the Society. This scholarship is sponsored by SPIE and is awarded for student's potential for long-term contribution to the field of optics and optical engineering.
• Laser Technology, Engineering and Applications Scholarship, US $5,000
  • The Laser Technology, Engineering, and Applications Scholarship is awarded in recognition of a student's scholarly achievement in laser technology, engineering, or applications. Funds are provided in part by a gift from the former Forum for Military Applications of Directed Energy, and in part by SPIE.
• Teddi Laurin Scholarship, US $5,000
  • SPIE partners with Photonics Media to fund the Teddi Laurin Scholarship to raise awareness of optics and photonics and to foster growth and success in the photonics industry by supporting students involved in photonics. This new scholarship is in memory of Laurin Publishing and Photonics Media founder Teddi Laurin.
• Optical Design and Engineering Scholarship, US $5,000
  • The Optical Design and Engineering Scholarship was established in honor of Bill Price and Warren Smith, both well-respected members of SPIE's technical community. This scholarship is awarded to a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in the field of optical design and engineering.
• More than 70 additional Optics and Photonics Education Scholarships, ranging from US $3,000 to $5,000

Requirements and eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements and eligibility in order for the application to be forwarded to the Committee for consideration.

• You must be a Student Member of SPIE. The standard Student Membership Fee is US $20.
• Your Membership must be in good standing throughout the review process (February 15 - June 30). Should your Membership expire during the review process, your application will be removed from further consideration.
• High school, pre-university, secondary school students will receive a one-year complimentary Student Membership. Fill in the Pre-College Membership Application Form and return to scholarships@spie.org
• You must be enrolled in a program related to the field of optics and photonics.
• You must be in school for the full academic year beginning Fall 2022 (between Aug 2022 and July 2023)
• Two (2) recommendations are required. Family members, relatives, and students are not eligible to submit a recommendation. NOTE: Recommendations must be received before you can submit your application.
• If applicable, your Annual Scholarship Report(s) must be on file with SPIE if you received a scholarship(s) in previous years. Please contact scholarships@spie.org to confirm that your report is on file (if applicable).
• If awarded an Education Scholarship, funds must be used for the 2022-2023 academic year.
• Students are eligible to receive one (1) Education Scholarship for each academic level including high school, community and technical, undergraduate, Masters, and PhD.
• Preference may be given to those who have not received any previous awards from SPIE.
• Applicants who have received a terminal degree (MD, JD, PhD, etc.) are not eligible to apply.
• Incomplete applications will not be submitted for consideration.

All applicants will be notified via email of the results of their application in May.

Before applying, please make sure you have your SPIE login credentials to access the application. If you have forgotten your account information, please open this link and click "Forgot Username" and/or "Forgot Password" or contact scholarships@spie.org should you have any questions.

Evaluation criteria

The key criterion in evaluating and ranking applications is the "prospect for long-term contribution that the granting of an award will make to the field of optics, photonics or related field." Need, in and of itself, shall not be considered as a criterion.

All scholarship applications are judged on their own merit, based on the experience and education level of the individual student. High school (pre-university, secondary school), community and technical, undergraduate, and graduate students will be judged relative to other applicants with similar educational backgrounds.