Education Overview
The STC supports three fellowship programs in which students are required to actively participate in research projects. The fellowship programs are designed to recruit and retain students of the highest quality, to increase the number of students supported, and to increase the diversity of the pool of students in the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and Transportation Technology & Policy (TTP) programs, in addition to fostering research training.
Dissertation Fellowships
Dissertation fellowships support the research of Ph.D. students who have advanced to candidacy and are working on their own original research. The purpose of these fellowships is to support work that is not otherwise funded and to provide more freedom to PhD students to choose dissertation topics independent of the work of their dissertation chairs. Funding generally lasts no more than one year, although students can request an amount of time less than that. Calls for proposals are due April 1st and November 1st of each year, unless otherwise specified.
Current Dissertation Fellowships
Year 3 Dissertation Fellowship (doc)
Dissertation Call For Proposals (doc)
Dissertation Proposal Budget Template (xls)
Program Award Fellowships
Program fellowships are used primarily to recruit incoming students in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Transportation Technology and Policy (TTP), or other related graduate programs. All fellowship students, even those fully supported, are required to conduct research under the direction of a member of the faculty or research staff. These fellowships are awarded based on the application for admission and nominations by faculty, in consultation with the directors of the CEE and TTP programs. Only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible for these fellowships.
Current Program Fellowships
Year 2 Program Fellowships (doc)
Undergraduate Research Fellowships
Outstanding students with upper-class standing are eligible to receive undergraduate research fellowships. The recipients will work part-time during the school year and/or full time during the summer on a research project directed by a member of the faculty or research staff.
To be considered for a fellowship, the application must be received no later than April 15th by Annemarie Schaaf, ITS Graduate Student Coordinator (email: aschaaf@ucdavis.edu; phone: (530) 752-0247)
Undergraduate Fellowship Brochure (doc)
Undergraduate Fellowship Application (doc)
Transportation Courses
STC supports the development of new courses to complement the existing transportation curricula at UC Davis. Proposals are solicited each year, and the funding allocated based on the merits of the proposals by the STC Director and with the approval of the STC Executive Committee.
Proposals for new transportation courses are due by 5pm on May 1st.
Call for Proposal (doc)
FRG Budget Template (xls)
Courses selected for 2009/10 are:
TTP 289A
Improving Community and Landscape Connectivity
Instructor: Fraser Shilling
2 units; CRN: 44073; Meets Mondays 12:10-2:00; 141 Olson Hall
Seminar Schedule.
Fall Quarter
TTP 289A
Public Transit Policy and Management
Instructor: Anthony Palmere
3 units; CRN 64053; Meets T/R 4:40 - 6:00; 263 Olson
Winter Quarter
TBA
Spring Quarter
Outstanding Student of the Year
Each year, the STC awards one student who excels in research, academic performance, and professionalism and leadership. Evidence of merit is based on faculty nomination and evaluation of submitted papers or reports. Academic performance is based upon courses attempted and grades attained. Evidence of professionalism and leadership is measured in presentations at professional society meetings and symposia, and leaderships in student professional activities. Eligible candidates must have a GPA in excess of 3.25.
The winning student receives a $1,000 award and funds to cover the costs of attending an award ceremony in Washington, DC, during the annual winter meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).
For more information, please see our criteria.
Nathan Parker: STC Outstanding Student 2009-2010
Nathan is a Ph.D. student in the Transportation Technology and Policy (TTP) program and specializes in assessing the potential for greater use of biofuels in California and nation-wide. The STC awards this honor in recognition of his excellent performance in the classroom, his innovative and independent research program, and his demonstrated leadership potential.
His work has already significantly influenced the transportation and energy arena, furthering one of its most important debates: how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. One of Nathan’s first projects as a graduate student, a statistical analysis of gas pipeline transportation costs, was so clear and concise that it was adopted by the US Department of Energy Hydrogen program as the best review of this topic, and is used the basis for their models. Nathan’s Masters' thesis found low-cost solutions for transportation fuel production from crop wastes in California and showed that a widely-cited study was unduly pessimistic about this renewable energy option. Nathan was invited to speak about this work to a special seminar at the California Energy Commission, an unusual invitation for a graduate student. He is now participating in a national study of biofuel resources and economics with a team of researchers from National Laboratories and the US Department of Energy. Since arriving at UC Davis in 2003, Nathan has demonstrated leadership, such as when he started an ad-hoc research group of students and researchers on non-linear optimization methods among his peers, and he has managed to produce ten conference papers, four major technical reports, and four peer-reviewed journal publications, including articles recently published in top-tier journals.
Wayne Leighty: STC Outstanding Student 2008-2009
Wayne recently completed his Masters of Science in Transportation Technology and Policy and is now simultaneously pursuing a PhD and an MBA at UC Davis. Before coming to UC Davis, he completed dual degrees in environmental science and economics at Brown University, where he won numerous honors, and served for three years as Chief of Staff for an Alaskan State Senator, a position in which he worked on energy issues. Wayne’s master’s thesis “Modeling of Energy Production Decisions: An Alaska Oil Case Study,” models and analyzes the dynamic optimality of oil production decisions in Alaska, and assesses the effects of government tax and regulatory policy on production decisions and their optimality. He is currently working with the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways program and as an emerging venture analyst with the Energy Efficiency Center at UCD Davis. He is an avid outdoorsman, whose activities include whitewater kayaking and rafting, sea kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing, and snowshoeing. He is passionate about using his skills and knowledge about energy, transportation, science, economics, and public policy to make a positive impact on the world.