Air Force gears up for science, engineering review session Published Feb. 13, 2008 By Molly Lachance Air Force Office of Scientific Research Public Affairs ARLINGTON, Va. -- As part of the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship, Air Force Office of Scientific Research officials are preparing for the 2008 application review meeting, which will take place Feb. 15-17 in Arlington. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate, or NDSEG, is a Department of Defense fellowship program that funds graduate students to improve science and engineering education within the United States. AFOSR, the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, and the High Performance Computing Modernization Program are co-sponsors. During the review, experts are split into 15 disciplinary panels. The panels judge each application based on the student's academic abilities relative to other applicants. Each panel then generates a prioritized list that is submitted to DoD for a final decision. According to Dr. Kathleen Kaplan, AFOSR Deputy Chief, External Programs, the importance of NDSEG is that it increases the number of individuals within DoD and the Air Force who have earned a Ph.D. Recent students selected through this program are striving to help the Air Force. Jenna Scisco received the NDSEG award in 2007 after AFOSR chose her application from over 3,400 submissions. She is investigating the effects of stress on human performance. "My research will benefit the Air Force of the future by improving performance of military personnel when they interact with complex technological systems or face highly demanding situations," Ms. Scisco said. By funding research programs like the NDSEG Fellowship, AFOSR continues to support graduate education, train personnel to conduct high-quality research, and stimulate mutual research interests between the Air Force and colleges and universities.