HUNTSVILLE, AL – The Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama system, has officially announced the opening of 2023 applications for STEM apprenticeships and fellowships.

This program directly benefits the mission of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) without a requirement for military service.

The deadline for applying is March 5. The Army Educational Outreach Program offers summer, semester and year-round apprenticeships for undergraduate students throughout the country.

AEOP is an Army and DoD-funded program that reaches out to high school through postdoctoral individuals interested in STEM fields to provide participants the opportunity to work alongside world-renowned scientists and engineers at facilities across the country.

The program is administered through the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY., and local university sites.

These paid experiences put students directly in touch with hands-on research and innovation by working on projects they’re most passionate about in science, technology, engineering and math.

Joining AEOP enables participants to prepare for competitive college admissions with the opportunity to earn a stipend and connect with STEM professionals and mentors. An apprenticeship or fellowship helps participants work on cutting-edge research in a state-of-the-art facility, learn about the culture of STEM and lab research and participate in webinars on topics relevant to their particular field.

The program hosted at UAH is open to high school students or those up to 60 months after high school graduation who have not been enrolled in an undergraduate program. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident to be eligible. Some AEOP sites are designed to focus particularly on participants from underserved groups.

An additional benefit to applying for an AEOP apprenticeship or fellowship is that it provides the student the opportunity to be eligible for a SMART scholarship through the DoD.

DoD SMART scholarships not only pay for a student’s education and education-related expenses, but also provide them with a guaranteed job after graduation within the Department of Defense doing work that complements their degree or field of study.

The two AEOP projects hosted by UAH include projects in biology and chemistry. In the biology project, participants will be studying multidrug resistant bacteria and trying to find novel and efficient ways to prevent or treat infections caused by such bacteria.

Participants will analyze how bacteria become drug-resistant, how such pathogenic bacteria behave and how the human microbiome interacts with these pathogens.

In the area of chemistry, UAH project participants will perform the synthesis of metal nanoparticle porous metal organic framework composites and study their applications in environmental remediation using both experimental and computational approaches.

For more information, email aeopapprenticeships@rit.edu, call (585) 475-7177 or visit USAEOP.