MSA Graduate Fellowship, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, and Backus Award
Forecasted
MSA Graduate Fellowship, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, and Backus Award support PhD candidates in mycology, funding graduate studies and research to further their work and development as mycologists.
This grant was recently updated
The 2026 NAMA Award application link now displays a deleted-file error instead of a notice that the form is no longer accepting responses.
Funder: Mycological Society of America
Due Dates (Anticipated): February 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Supplementary grants in addition to other fellowship or assistantship support
Summary: Annual fellowships and awards support PhD candidates in mycology in furthering their graduate studies and research.
Key Information: Applicants must be MSA student members or membership applicants and must have passed qualifying exams.
Description
The Mycological Society of America (MSA) provides annual supplementary support to promising graduate students in mycology through its Graduate Fellowships, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, Backus Award, and Donald H. Pfister Graduate Fellowship. Administered by the Student Awards Committee, these awards recognize scholastic merit, research ability, and promise as a mycologist. Recipients may use the support to further their graduate studies alongside fellowship or assistantship funding from other sources.
The Pfister Fellowship, introduced in 2026, supports work in fungaria or fieldwork generating collections for publicly accessible fungaria. Projects may document fungal biodiversity, occurrence over time or space, or ecological questions using collections and vouchered specimens; they need not be taxonomic. The NAMA Memorial Fellowship commemorates an amateur or professional mycologist designated annually by the NAMA Board of Trustees.
