Call for Application: Graduate Research Assistantship

The Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) provides support for several Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs) every year. The support is provided to outstanding, incoming Master of Science (MS) students, domestic or international, in the UMD FPE Department and is awarded on a competitive basis. The support goes to individuals who have already applied or will be applying to the FPE MS program. For this particular Call, incoming students are defined as students who intend to start their MS program in Spring 2027.

We have the following opportunity:

One UL Fellowship: this GRA Fellowship is funded by UL Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI). The UL Fellow is expected to complete his/her proposed research project under the supervision of FSRI research engineers with advising/support from a member of the Faculty of the FPE Department. The duration of the Fellowship is up to 16 months. The research work is typically performed off-campus, at the FSRI office located in Columbia, MD; some of the work could involve travel (which would be supported by UL).

Identification of a research project is welcome but is not required during the application process. The research project will be defined by engineers from UL FSRI in collaboration with members of the FPE Faculty.

Interested applicants should provide a one-page statement of purpose explaining their interest in the FPE MS degree program in general and in fire research in particular. Applicants should also provide an updated résumé and (official or unofficial) copies of transcripts. Applications should be submitted via email to Dr. Arnaud Trouvé, Professor and Chair in the FPE Department (atrouve@umd.edu). The deadline for application is Friday October 16, 2026. Decisions on applications will be made by a Selection Committee made up of members of the FPE Faculty and engineers from UL FSRI. Decisions will be made in late October.

Published September 24, 2026