Scholarship Program

Purpose: To provide scholarship to 5 deserving full time students attending a four-year college.

Award Components: Five(5) $4,000 scholarships awarded to students selected by the Heinlein Society Scholarship Committee.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Applicant must plan to attend an accredited college that awards Bachelor of Science degrees as a full-time undergraduate student for the 2026 – 2027 academic year as a sophomore, junior, or senior.
2. Major must be Engineering, Math, or Physical or Biological Sciences.
3. Open to residents of any country.
4. Previous applicants, including winners, may enter again, but must write on a different topic than their previous entry.
5. Candidates cannot have previously been awarded a bachelor’s degree in any subject.

Application Process

Applicant must submit the following items:

1. Completed application form, which includes items 2 & 3.

2. A brief explanation of career goals and biographical (background) information.

3. A 500 – 1,000 word essay on one of the following subjects:

A. How did Robert Heinlein influence your career choice? What Heinlein writings would you use to illustrate how he sparked your interest in science and technology?
B. The expansion of social media has led to widespread placement of devices by which your movement and private conversations can be monitored. Social media has also accelerated the clustering of like-minded interests into largely non-interacting ‘tribes’—the so-called ‘metadata’ gathering. Can you find and comment on the Heinlein stories that predicted these phenomena?
C. Robert Heinlein said “The Age of Science has not yet opened.” Evaluate this statement compared to your technical field. Do you expect to see this golden age in your lifetime?
D. Heinlein is credited for inventing, or inspiring, many items we now take for granted, including waterbeds and cellphones. Using specific examples from his writings, share how his projections became realities in modern life.
E. Heinlein has been criticized periodically for his depictions of female characters. Is this a fair criticism, or merely a reflection of how society has changed in seventy years? Discuss his depiction and treatment of females, using characters from at least two different novels as examples.
F. Heinlein said, “Specialization is for Insects.” Specialists are, of course, necessary. However, many scientific breakthroughs have been the result of collaborative efforts. How might some knowledge of other disciplines benefit you in your chosen field?

Deadline for the application is 11:59 p.m. PDT, April 1, 2026. Applications emailed after this date/time will not be considered.

Please email completed application PDF to:

 

July 7, 2025

2025 Scholarship Winners

We had a small increase in applications this year (289) compared to last year (235). There was also an increase in international applicants from 40 to 50, including 7 who had multiple citizenship. There were applicants from 31 different countries, from Australia to United Kingdom.

Some things never seem to change. Once again, we had far more female than male applicants. There were 217 female, 62 male, 1 non-binary and 19 who made no selection or declined to state. Ethnically our numbers were: 116 White, 53 Black, 34 Asian, 25 Hispanic, 13 Middle Eastern, 3 Caribbean, 12 Pacific Islander, 1 Native American, 23 multi-racial and 17 who made no entry. Applicants who supplied their age ranged from 17 to 41 years old.

There were, however, some unique things about this year’s finalists. All of them were female, which hasn’t happened before. Also, half of the finalists were not from the U.S.

Here are our four winners:

Kat Crawford – Kat is our Virginia “Ginny” Heinlein Scholarship recipient. Kat will be attending Stanford University as a sophomore, majoring in mathematics. She is working in parallel on a computer science degree through Stanford’s co-term program. She founded “Easy as Py”, an after-school coding program for elementary students, and cofounded the Elementary Math Alliance to similarly teach math. Her goals are to be a professor of theoretical computer science and start a non-profit dedicated to expanding STEM education opportunities.

Nora Kane – Nora is the Robert A. Heinlein Scholarship winner. She is entering her sophomore year at the California Institute of Technology with a dual major of Physics and English. Nora has spent hundreds of hours providing free tutoring to STEM students unable to afford professional tutoring. After she completes her undergraduate degree, she plans to pursue a PhD focused on the geometry of space time with the end goal of becoming a physics professor.

Nivriti Varanasi – Nivriti wins the Dr. Jerry Pournelle Scholarship. She is majoring in medicine at the University of Missouri Kansas City and will be a sophomore in the fall. While attending college she works as a medical scribe for ES Disability Exams, teaches yoga, and helps provide care at Sojourner’s Free Medical Clinic. Her goal is to become an ophthalmologist and provide much needed specialist care in rural communities.

Natalie Yen – Natalie is the winner of the Dr. Yoji Kondo Scholarship. In the fall she begins her sophomore year at Columbia University as a chemical engineering major. In high school she helped coordinate a Women in STEM poster contest for grades K-12 and is currently a member of Scientists and Engineers for a Better Society, volunteering in local elementary schools to encourage an interest in STEM. She hopes to use her degree to help develop safer consumer products, especially skin care products.

Our other top finalists are:

• Sharanya Chatterjee
• Amadie Gajanaike
• Madison Mobach
• Olivia-Nicole Okonta
• Vanshika Sharma
• Aleksandra Vlasova

We wish our winners, and indeed all of the applicants, great success in their academic pursuits and in their future careers. We have no doubt that they will use their knowledge as a springboard to Pay It Forward.

 

January 3, 2025

2025 Scholarships Now Open

Our 14th annual scholarship essay contest for the 2025 – 2026 academic year is now open. As we did last year, we will be awarding four $4,000 scholarships to undergraduate students of accredited 4-year colleges and universities. The “Virginia Heinlein Memorial Scholarship” is dedicated to a female candidate majoring in engineering, math, or biological or physical sciences. The Robert A. Heinlein, Dr. Yoji Kondo, and Dr. Jerry Pournelle scholarships may be awarded to a candidate of any gender. Winners will be announced on July 7, 2025.

Note: We do not accept incoming freshmen for the scholarship. Applicants must be entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year.

To apply, download and fill out the PDF application below and email to .

THS-Scholarship-Application-Form-2025.pdf

Deadline for scholarship applications is 11:59 p.m. PDT, April 1, 2025.
Refer to criteria below for eligibility requirements.
If you have any questions about the application, please email .

Purpose: To provide scholarship to 4 deserving full time students attending a four-year college.

Award Components: Four(4) $4,000 scholarships awarded to students selected by the Heinlein Society Scholarship Committee.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Applicant must plan to attend an accredited college that awards Bachelor of Science degrees as a full-time undergraduate student for the 2025 – 2026 academic year as a sophomore, junior, or senior.
2. Major must be Engineering, Math, or Physical or Biological Sciences.
3. Open to residents of any country.
4. Previous applicants, including winners, may enter again, but must write on a different topic than their previous entry.
5. Candidates cannot have previously been awarded a bachelor’s degree in any subject.

Application Process

Applicant must submit the following items:

1. Completed application form, which includes items 2 & 3.

2. A brief explanation of career goals and biographical (background) information.

3. A 500 – 1,000 word essay on one of the following subjects:

A. How did Robert Heinlein influence your career choice? What Heinlein writings would you use to illustrate how he sparked your interest in science and technology?
B. The expansion of social media has led to widespread placement of devices by which your movement and private conversations can be monitored. Social media has also accelerated the clustering of like-minded interests into largely non-interacting ‘tribes’—the so-called ‘metadata’ gathering. Can you find and comment on the Heinlein stories that predicted these phenomena?
C. Robert Heinlein said “The Age of Science has not yet opened.” Evaluate this statement compared to your technical field. Do you expect to see this golden age in your lifetime?
D. Heinlein is credited for inventing, or inspiring, many items we now take for granted, including waterbeds and cellphones. Using specific examples from his writings, share how his projections became realities in modern life.
E. Heinlein has been criticized periodically for his depictions of female characters. Is this a fair criticism, or merely a reflection of how society has changed in seventy years? Discuss his depiction and treatment of females, using characters from at least two different novels as examples.
F. Heinlein said, “Specialization is for Insects.” Specialists are, of course, necessary. However, many scientific breakthroughs have been the result of collaborative efforts. How might some knowledge of other disciplines benefit you in your chosen field?

Deadline for the application is 11:59 p.m. PDT, April 1, 2025. Applications emailed after this date/time will not be considered.

Please email completed application PDF to: