About SOARS

Our Program is designed to promote and support research, mentoring and community. NSF SOARS Protégés can participate for up to four (4) summers conducting research in atmospheric and Earth system sciences. NSF SOARS offers comprehensive financial support for summer research and conference travel. Over 90% of NSF SOARS Protégés advance to graduate school; and many have entered the workforce with a Master’s degree, and/or continued on to receive a PhD.

Research in the atmospheric sciences ranges from processes, such as how individual water molecules condense on dust or how pollutants are suspended in the air, to examining how solar flares influence Earth’s upper atmosphere. Some of the exciting areas of research in Earth system science include understanding a rapidly changing climate and its impact on the Earth and its inhabitants, severe weather events like deep hail, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, and the changing chemical composition of the atmosphere

NSF SOARS invites students from multiple STEM disciplines -- including chemistry, ecology, engineering, geography, mathematics, meteorology, physics, and the social sciences -- to deepen their expertise in understanding the Earth’s atmosphere. The NSF SOARS program offers support for all students to achieve success in higher education and in the Earth system science (ESS) workforce, with the goal of this workforce actively contributing to finding solutions to our most pressing scientific and societal challenges and supporting economic growth in this country.

Our dedicated staff helps keep the program running to support Protégés, mentors, alum and the entire NSF SOARS community.