College students across Ohio to share $22.7 million in first round of Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program funds

As part of the Ohio General Assembly-created Ohio Innovation Partnership, scholarships are designed to significantly strengthen Ohio's competitiveness in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEM) and STEM education

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced the State of Ohio's first collaborations to receive funding under the state's Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program. More than $22.7 million for student scholarships in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medical fields (STEM), and STEM education will be directed to 21 Ohio public and private colleges and universities across the state to be used specifically to attract, retain and graduate more than 2,000 new STEM students over the next five years.

Read Press Release

Ohio Innovation Partnership

Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program

The primary objectives of the Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program (COFSP) are to support increased higher education participation and success of Ohio students majoring in STEM, STEM education, and medicine fields and, in so doing, to advance the economic growth of each region of the state. By increasing the numbers of STEM and medical graduates, as well as the professional sophistication of Ohio’s technical workforce, it is anticipated that new technology-based business opportunities will be created and new technology-based companies will be attracted to Ohio, each of which will have beneficial economic impacts for the regions of the state. This program advances these purposes by providing direct scholarship support to current and future higher education students who are pursuing STEM, medical, and STEM education degrees. The Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program is complementary to the other program included in the Ohio Innovation Partnership, the Ohio Research Scholars Program. Both programs develop human talent and statewide capacity for sustained innovation, technology advancement, and the commercialization of new technologies.

Student Access to Choose Ohio First Scholarships

The Chancellor has announced the institutions selected for funding in the first round of competition. Awarded institutions will enter into an agreement with the Chancellor and funding will be allocated after July 1, 2008 for academic year 2008-2009. After the universities and colleges that have successfully competed for new funds have identified the merit based students, scholarships will be awarded through each institution’s financial aid system. For more information on scholarship eligibility at a specific institution, please contact the chief academic officer or financial aid office at the institution of interest. A second round of competition is currently in progress. Awards will be announced on or before June 26, 2008.

Ohio Research Scholars Program

Jointly funded and administered by the Ohio Department of Development and the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, the ORSP provides grants to strengthen and increase the number of clusters of research excellence, led by Ohio's academic institutions that support regional economic priorities. The ORSP will achieve this through 1) aggressive investment in the attraction of senior research talent and related facilities and equipment, and 2) promotion of unique collaborations needed to build and sustain scientifically and commercially promising lines of research. The ORSP is placing high priority on building a critical mass of research scientists and engineers in the five targeted technology/research focus areas identified below. The emphasis of this program is on the recruitment of research talent from outside Ohio. However, some funding will be available to support the retention or hiring from within Ohio of personnel that are important to the growth of a research cluster. The RFP was opened on October 29, 2007, and the Statements of Intent were due on January 7, 2008. The ORSP accepted proposals from Ohio's universities and colleges. (No Longer Accepting Letters of Intent or Proposals) Each proposal must define the technology/research focus area of the research cluster and the areas of investigation to be pursued by the newly hired scholars in one or more of the state's targeted technology/research focus areas: 1) Advanced materials; 2) Biosciences; 3) Instruments-controls-electronics; 4) Information technology; and 5) Power and propulsion (includes Advanced energy). Awards will be made in the range from $2.5 million to $50 million. For more information visit the Ohio Department of Development's web site at: www.thirdfrontier.com.