How to Apply

New co-Principal Investigators may not be added within 7 days of the application closing date of 1/8/2025. If your co-Principal Investigator is not listed above after 1/1/2025, you are ineligible to apply.

Application is now open for the Summer 2025 Term. Applications are due January 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM ET.: Access to the online application system is available here.

Application Resources: Assistance Workshops and Office Hours Events

Upcoming Workshops and Office Hours for the Summer 2025 Term:

Application Workshops: November 22, 2024 at 2:00 EST: Learn strategies to submit a compliant and competitive application for the Summer 2025 term and get answers to your questions.
Click to view presentation.

Alumni Workshop - December 5, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. EST: Hear the stories of alumni and review panel discussion about their internship experience.
Click to view presentation.

Office Hours Events
Office Hours - December 10 and 17, 2024 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm EST: Got questions? VFP applicants and letter of recommendation writers are invited to attend office hours to answer administrative questions such as those pertaining to uploading transcripts, submitting letters of recommendation, and general inquiries. Connect to virtual office hours on December 10 and 17th. Registration (register here) is required for attendance.

Click here to view Previous Workshop Recordings

Application Requirements

All applications to the VFP program must be completed through the online application system.

***Invited student for the summer term must wait for the invitation to apply has been emailed to them by the faculty applicant. Faculty applicants will be able to invite students within their application to the VFP program.

Invited students should not generate accounts to the VFP program. Student accounts will be created through the faculty invitation.

PLEASE NOTE: Students must be invited by the faculty member within the application system until 7 days prior to the application closing date of 1/8/2025. No student participants may be added after this deadline.

First time Faculty Applicants:

As soon as you have decided on the national laboratory to which you will apply and have identified your laboratory co-investigator, create an account for your application here and email the laboratory’s VFP point of contact to request that a “WARS account” be created for your co-investigator. It is important to do this early in the application process.

PLEASE NOTE: New co-Principal Investigators may not be added within 7 days of the application closing date of 1/8/2025. If your co-Principal Investigator is not listed for selection within the application after 1/1/2025, you are ineligible to apply.

The VFP Program Applications Requirement Include:

Faculty Requirements:

Required Fields of the Online Application System
Current Curriculum Vitae (CV) (Submitted Online)
Two Letters of Support
Research Proposal

Student Requirements:

Required Fields of the Online Application System
Undergraduate Transcripts (Submitted Online)
Two Letters of Support

Faculty Requirements: Required Fields of the Online Application System

Completion of all required fields in the applications, including:

Contact and Education Information
Citizenship Status
Laboratory/facility choice and research interests
Essays
Student Participation (Optional)
- Students must be invited by the faculty member within the application system until 7 days prior to the application closing date of 1/8/2025. No student participants may be added after this deadline.

Applicants should create an account on the VFP online application system well before the application deadline and become familiar with the application information requested.

The online application system will guide applicants through the application requirements.
Only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be considered for the VFP Program will be advanced for merit review and selection.
Materials uploaded into the application system will provide the sole basis for evaluation.
For additional information on the selection process, please review Application Selection Process and Notification.

***For guidance towards the completion of your application please review Application Workshops, Pass Work Recordings, and Attend Office Hours.

Current Curriculum Vitae (CV), submitted online

Submitted materials must have all social security numbers and/or dates of birth removed (blanked out, blackened out, made illegible, etc.) prior to uploading into the application system. Any applications found to contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the form of Social Security numbers and/or dates of birth will be deemed non-compliant and will not be released to host laboratories or facilities for review or consideration.

Two Letters of Support

Recommendations for the VFP Program are submitted online by recommenders.
Recommendations can be requested before your application is submitted. From your VFP account, you can navigate to the tab titled “Request Recommendations” to begin listing your recommenders for your application recommendations. Once your recommenders are listed, the requests can be sent immediately.

Applicants are encouraged to make the requests for recommendations as soon as possible. It is the applicant’s responsibility to inform their recommenders that they must submit their recommendation using the online system by the application deadline. Additionally, it is suggested that the applicant discuss this request in advance with potential recommenders, and allow adequate time for the recommender to act on this request.
Based upon recommender contact information entered as part of the application process, the application system automatically sends an email message to recommenders with information on how to access and submit their recommendation. Requests for recommendations can be made by using the “Final Submit” action in the recommendation request section.

Recommendation Requirements

Eligibility for the VFP program requires the following for recommendations:

Applicants must have two recommendations submitted in support of their application. Recommendations from individuals familiar with the applicant’s education, training, experience, aptitude, or promise relevant to the VFP Program are suggested.
Note: Applicants to the VFP Teaching Experiencing Track must submit at least one recommendation from their department head or dean. The recommendation must indicate explicitly the department head or dean’s approval of the faculty member’s application and participation in the program.
Recommendations are not allowed from family members, friends, or friends of family members.
WDTS will not accept any mailed or emailed recommendations.
Applicants may solicit a minimum of two, but up to three, recommendation requests from individuals familiar with the applicant’s education, training, experience, aptitude, or promise relevant to the VFP Program. The first two recommendations that are completed in the system will be the only ones included with your application.

Research Proposal

A research project proposal that is co-developed with the research staff located at the host DOE laboratory, submitted online (see proposal guidance)
PLEASE NOTE: New co-Principal Investigators may not be added within 7 days of the application closing date of 1/8/2025. If your co-Principal Investigator is not listed for selection within the application after 1/1/2025, you are ineligible to apply.

Invited Undergraduate and Graduate Student Application Requirements

Students are eligible to participate in the VFP program during the Summer Term only.
Students cannot be invited during the Spring or Fall VFP terms.
PLEASE NOTE: Students must be invited by the faculty member within the application system until 7 days prior to the application closing date of 1/8/2025. No student participants may be added after this deadline.

Required Fields of the Online Application System

Completion of all required fields in the applications, including:

Contact and Education Information
Citizenship Status
Laboratory/facility choice and research interests
Essays

Applicants are invited by email by the faculty applicant. The email sent to the students will have a unique application link that is associated with the faculty’s application. Students should not generate VFP applications prior to receiving the email invitation.

Once the email invitation is sent and received by the student, the student selects the invitation application link in the message to generate their account for the VFP program. Once the student generates the account, they should become familiar with the application information requested and complete the application before the application deadline.

The VFP Student online application system will guide applicants through the application requirements.

Only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be considered for the VFP Program and will be advanced for merit review and selection.
Materials uploaded into the application system will provide the sole basis for evaluation.
For additional information on the selection process, please review Application Selection Process and Notification.

***For guidance towards the completion of your application please review Application Workshops, Pass Work Recordings, and Attend Office Hours.

Undergraduate Transcripts (Submitted Online)

Transcripts for the VFP program are submitted through the VFP Student online application system.

Submitted transcripts must have all Social Security numbers and/or full date of birth including month, day, and year removed (blanked out, blackened out, made illegible, etc.) prior to uploading into the application system. Any applications found to contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the form of Social Security numbers and/or dates of birth will be deemed non-compliant and will not be released to host laboratories or facilities for review or consideration.

Official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable. Submitted transcripts must contain the following:

Applicant's name
Name of the university/college,
All courses including grades, and
Cumulative GPA

*** Degree audits and transcripts that specifically state they are advising reports are unacceptable.

Please review the following eligibility requirements for submitted transcripts:

Eligibility requires submission of the transcript from an applicant's current or recently-graduated undergraduate institution. This must be the most recent transcript available at the time of application. Recent is defined as the transcript printed or accessed no earlier than the opening date of the application.

Eligibility also requires that the applicant submit undergraduate transcripts from all other undergraduate academic institutions attended as a matriculated postsecondary student during the 5 years preceding the start of the current enrollment. This includes transcripts for transfer credits earned from previously attended colleges/universities.

Uploading Transcripts:

Transcripts must be uploaded as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files into the application system. Uploaded transcripts must meet the following requirements:

must be clearly legible (ensure that your transcript is not blurry or faded)
must be labeled with your name and the name of the university/college,
and must clearly show all courses, all course grades, and a cumulative GPA.

The application system provides an easy-to-use upload feature. The upload feature does provide a redaction tool to assist in redacting your PII from your transcript. It is your responsibility to ensure that your PII is redacted or removed from your transcript.

Do not mail or email transcripts directly to DOE - they will not be considered.

Acceptable Transcripts:

Acceptable transcripts may either be:

(i) a hard-copy transcript issued to you suitably scanned and saved for uploading as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file,
and/or (ii) an unofficial transcript provided electronically to you directly from your university/college either via a website or email suitably saved for uploading as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file.
Screenshots of transcripts are not allowed.

Two Letters of Support

Recommendations for the VFP Program are submitted online by recommenders.

Recommendations can be requested before your application is submitted. From your VFP Student account, you can navigate to the tab titled “Request Recommendations” to begin listing your recommenders for your application recommendations. Once your recommenders are listed, the requests can be sent immediately.

Applicants are encouraged to make the requests for recommendations as soon as possible. It is the applicant’s responsibility to inform their recommenders that they must submit their recommendation using the online system by the application deadline. Additionally, it is suggested that the applicant discuss this request in advance with potential recommenders, and allow adequate time for the recommender to act on this request.
Based upon recommender contact information entered as part of the application process, the application system automatically sends an email message to recommenders with information on how to access and submit their recommendation. Requests for recommendations can be made by using the “Final Submit” action in the recommendation request section.

Recommendation Requirements: