Geospatial Information Sciences

UT Dallas > School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences > About > Programs > Geospatial Information Sciences > GIS – The Pioneer Scholarships

In order to establish a strategic partnership between the UT Dallas Geospatial Information Sciences (GIS) program and Pioneer Natural Resources, a series of scholarships have been established through Pioneer’s generous donation. These scholarships are designed to enhance the strength of the UT Dallas GIS program by offering practical, career-focused instruction that greatly enhances the employability of our graduates. Additionally, they support cutting-edge academic research, elevating our faculty and research-oriented students to the forefront of the field. This strategic initiative includes expanding the size of the undergraduate program and encouraging the most promising undergraduates to pursue master’s and doctoral programs in GIS at UT Dallas.

Pioneer GIS Scholars & Mentors

Fellowship and Scholarship Mentors

With Pioneer GIS employees agreement, we will assign each Pioneer GIS Scholar, a Pioneer mentor. Students will be required to check in with their mentor at least once a month either via, phone, internet or in person.

Fast-track Graduate Fellowships

Award Pioneer GIS Fellowships of $3,000 each to promising full-time students who are pursuing graduate degrees. The fellowship will be renewable for the following year, providing grades are maintained and they keep up their mentor relationship with Pioneer. This would provide a total award per student of $6,000, an exceptional award for deserving, high-quality students. Students receiving the Pioneer Fellowship must be U.S. citizens.

Application for Pioneer Fast-track Graduate Fellowships

Graduate Fellowships

Award Pioneer GIS Fellowships of $2,500 each for graduate students applying from other universities. This will allow UT Dallas to attract excellent candidates from other states and regions. These scholarships will also allow the qualified masters and Ph.D. students to be eligible for in-state tuition rates for their first year of study, should they come from another state. We would encourage a familiarity for these students with the earth sciences by encouraging research collaboration with Pioneer. The fellowship will be renewable for the following year of graduate school, providing grades are maintained and they keep up their mentor relationship with Pioneer. Students receiving the Pioneer GIS Fellowships must be U.S. citizens.

Application for Pioneer Graduate GIS Fellowships

Transfer Student Scholarship

Award Pioneer Transfer Scholarship for GIS of $3,000 to a student with a high GPA at a local community college. The scholarship will be renewable for the following year, providing grades are maintained and they keep up their mentor relationship with Pioneer. This scholarships will encourage a high performing student with an associate degree to continue his or her education by obtaining a bachelor’s degree. The student receiving the Pioneer Transfer Scholarship for GIS must be a U.S. citizen.

Application for Pioneer Transfer Student Scholarship

Pioneer Student Research Scholarship

To encourage graduate students to pursue research projects, we will utilize a portion of Pioneer’s generous gift to support students’ needs in purchasing data, software, and/or hardware, traveling for field trips or academic conferences. These activities would be in support of their workshop, master’s project or thesis, and dissertation research. We believe the student research fund will increase their interest in research projects, and prepare them for solving challenging real world problems in their future workplace.

Application for Pioneer Student Research Grant

*The scholarships would be awarded based on student performance as measured by GPA, letters of recommendation and SAT/GRE exam scores.