MSA Graduate Fellowship, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, and Backus Award
Forecasted
MSA Graduate Fellowship, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, and Backus Award support promising PhD candidates with supplementary funding for graduate studies and research to further their work in mycology.
Funder: Mycological Society of America
Due Dates (Anticipated): February 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $1,000 each for Pfister and Backus awards; $2,000 each for MSA Graduate and NAMA Memorial fellowships
Summary: Annual supplementary awards support promising PhD candidates pursuing graduate studies and research in mycology.
Key Information: Applicants must be current or pending MSA student members and must have passed qualifying exams.
Description
The Mycological Society of America (MSA) offers the MSA Graduate Fellowships, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, Backus Award, and Donald H. Pfister Graduate Fellowship to promising graduate students in mycology. Administered by the Student Awards Committee, these annual awards recognize scholastic merit, research ability, and promise as a mycologist. They provide supplementary support alongside fellowships or assistantships from other sources.
The Pfister Fellowship, introduced in 2026, supports work in fungaria or fieldwork generating collections for publicly accessible fungaria. Its emphasis is documenting biodiversity through institutional collections and field observations. Projects need not be taxonomic: they may examine fungal occurrence over time or space, or address ecological questions using existing collections or voucher specimens. The NAMA Memorial Fellowship commemorates an amateur or professional mycologist designated annually by the NAMA Board of Trustees.
