WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced that the University of Virginia (UVA) will receive a $246,140 grant from the Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Program. This program provides fellowships to assist graduate students who have excellent records, demonstrate financial need, and plan to pursue the highest degree available in a field designated as an area of national need.

“Virginia can help lead the nation in preparing a team of expert engineers that will know how and when to best respond to our nation’s growing infrastructure needs,” said Sen. Warner. “This funding will help prioritize an area of study that deserves more investment and provide our brightest students in need a way to explore their full potential in this field.”

The funds will help UVA establish six doctoral fellowships in the Department of Engineering’s doctoral training program in the critical area of resilient infrastructure design. The topic of resilient infrastructure design integrates the target areas of engineering; computer and information sciences (e.g., “Big Data”); mathematics; and area, ethnic, and cultural studies. The fellowships will seek to increase the number of students prepared to seek academic positions pertaining to resilient infrastructure design and to train a new generation of engineers who can grapple with the vexing energy, water, transportation, and infrastructure problems that threaten our nation’s future competitiveness and continued quality of life.

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