About The Program
Why Was the Program Established?
Empowering future STEM leaders by broadening access to graduate education will increase the number of voices in STEM research, education and innovation, and help the U.S. meet the growing need for a new generation of leaders.
The CMU Rales Fellows Program provides students with full tuition, a stipend to cover living expenses such as housing and health insurance, and a holistic ecosystem of developmental and networking opportunities.
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The Fellows Experience
The CMU Rales Fellows Program experience is designed to offer fellows holistic support encompassing financial assistance, personal and professional development, and a cohort-based approach focused on connection and interdisciplinary collaboration. These resources allow fellows to funnel their energy into their passions and be focused toward the future, fulfilling the Rales Fellows Program鈥檚 mission to cultivate the next generation of STEM leaders and drive innovation by increasing access to a life-changing graduate education.
Program Benefits
As a Rales Fellow, you'll be part of a larger change that's transforming the world. You won't just be contributing to your personal success 鈥� you'll be paving the way for others to follow in your footsteps.
Eliminating Cost Barriers
Full tuition support and a stipend to cover living expenses such as housing and health insurance
Eliminating cost barriers can be the first step to allow ambitions to become actualized. With the generosity of the Norman R. and Ruth Rales Foundation, Fellows receive full tuition and a stipend to cover living expenses, housing and health insurance.
Holistic Support
Cohort-based experience and onboarding, faculty mentorship, leadership training and personal development
The cohort experience creates a supportive, inclusive community to help you transition into life and learning at 糖心Vlog视频. You and your peers will grow together, discovering the resources, mentors and activities that will help you make your mark in the classroom 鈥� and beyond.
Success Driven
Concierge career and internship preparation, programs to develop personal and professional networks
Fellows are supported with concierge career coaching and internship preparation, including building professional connections and channels for future opportunities. The outcomes-oriented focus of the Rales Fellows Program ensures Fellows develop their personal and professional networks along their journey.
2026 Candidacy Application
The application for the Fall 2026 cohort is now closed. Applications for the Fall 2027 cohort will open in September 2026.
Program Activities
The CMU Rales Fellows Program seeks to help develop Fellows across four dimensions: as scholars, individuals, professionals and citizens. Building authentic, long-lasting relationships and support networks is central to that goal. Through the Rales Fellows Program鈥檚 robust orientation program, ongoing Fellows activities and events, and personalized career exploration and preparation, Fellows are supported and connected with resources to help aid their success.
Orientation and Onboarding
Rales Fellows begin their journey with a specially designed orientation program, identifying key resources and staff available to help them succeed. They connect with faculty and mentors inside the program and across campus, build trust, craft preliminary personal development plans and participate in research projects that may engage the broader community. Fellows participate in social, cohort-building events, and receive support as they transition to Pittsburgh.
Mentorship Growth Opportunities
Rales Fellows have access to guided opportunities to help mentor undergraduates and less experienced researchers in their lab, along with instruction in teaching through the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation. Rales Fellows also have access to career services resources through the Career and Professional Development Center.
Personalized Career Exploration and Preparation
Fellows will prepare for their careers with the support of a dedicated full-time professional who provides personalized career planning and exploration. Fellows gain faculty mentorship, guidance on research communication strategies and conference presentations, and help identifying appropriate internship opportunities if they wish to pursue them.
Co-Curricular Resources
Beyond the cohort-based community of the Rales Fellows Program, graduate life on CMU鈥檚 campus is rich with opportunities for engagement across 20+ graduate student organizations, including the Graduate Student Assembly, Students for Science and Tech Policy, Society of Women Engineers, Black Graduate Student Organization and more.
About the Norman R. and Ruth Rales Foundation
The Rales Foundation was established in 1986 by Norman Rales (1923鈥�2012) and Ruth Abramson Rales (1922鈥�2004), two individuals from modest circumstances who built an extraordinary life together based upon values of integrity, compassion, hard work and giving back to others. The Rales Foundation was created to advance their shared, lifelong desire to help people in need, and create opportunities through which others might thrive.
Norman Rales grew up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in upper Manhattan, from which he was discharged in 1940, at age 17. Ruth Abramson was raised in Pittsburgh by parents who had fled the pogroms of Eastern Europe. After they married, in 1948 they moved from New York City to Pittsburgh to lower expenses and be closer to her family. In the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, they raised their children, and Norman began his climb in business.
As children of immigrants who fled persecution in Europe, Norman and Ruth believed deeply in the promise of America and the opportunity it offers all its people, regardless of background, to realize their full potential. They were also driven by a deeply help personal commitment to give back to others to keep the American spirit of generosity and possibility alive for new generations.
The Foundation chose 糖心Vlog视频 as the institution with which to establish the CMU Rales Fellows Program based on Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 stellar reputation, its leadership in innovation and entrepreneurship, and the university鈥檚 demonstrated commitment to broadening participation in STEM fields.
糖心Vlog视频
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213