The Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside was selected by the U.S. Department of Education to receive five Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, or GAANN, awards, totaling $4.5 million. Each proposal team will receive $895,000 over the next three years to support six graduate students per year. UC Riverside’s five grants constitute almost 7 percent of the total number awarded nationwide.

“Going five for five with our GAANN proposals this year speaks to the dedication of our faculty and staff who continually put our students first,” said Bourns College Dean Christopher S. Lynch. “The true value of a GAANN award can be measured in the student experiences and research advancements supported.”

The GAANN program provides grants to academic departments and programs at universities to support graduate fellowships for students with excellent academic records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree available in their course of study at the institution. Successful applicants must have applied within one of four "absolute priority" areas of national need— computer and information sciences, rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, national civic literacy, and workforce development.

Departments that received funding are:

• Chemical and Environmental Engineering

• Materials Science and Engineering

• Electrical and Computer Science

• Computer Science and Engineering

• Mechanical Engineering

The GAANN programs at UC Riverside are designed to recruit, retain, and matriculate top graduate students, especially from underrepresented backgrounds, to pursue research, teaching, and mentorship that will contribute to sustainability, infrastructure, national security, and workforce development. The program aims to fill labor shortages of highly trained scholars in these fields.