Application Review and Selection Process

Application Eligibility and Compliance:

• To be considered for this program, an applicant must meet all eligibility criteria and submit an application comprised of all required materials by the application deadline.
• To assess eligibility, and prior to the merit review, an initial review of all applications will be conducted by the AEF Program to verify applicant eligibility and ensure all the required application materials have been provided.
• Only those applications meeting all requirements will be advanced for merit - based evaluation and selection. The application materials uploaded and received through the online application system will provide the sole basis for the evaluation and selection.

Application Merit Review

• The merit review of applications will comprise a thorough, consistent, and objective examination of eligible applicants based on pre-established criteria. Application evaluators must be independent of the applicants and of the sponsoring agencies, and must comply with all applicable DOE rules or directives concerning evaluation and merit review.
• Applications will be evaluated in the following areas: applicant’s teaching experience, professional accomplishments, demonstrated leadership qualities, and interests as they relate to participating in the AEF Program.

Selection and Placement:

• The number of Fellowships awarded is contingent upon the availability of funds by the sponsoring agencies.
• Following the merit review, highly reviewed applications are viewed by the Federal agency sponsors. They evaluate the applications on the 1) overall professional experience and demonstrated leadership qualities of the applicant; 2) applicant’s interest in and preparedness for the fellowship; 3) alignment of the applicant’s experience and subject matter expertise with the interests of the host office; 4) and quality of recommendations. From this process, agency sponsors select the top candidates as semi-finalists to interview in Washington, D.C.
• Semi-finalists are invited to Washington, D.C. for three days for individual interviews and information sessions with one or more sponsoring agencies and/or host offices.
• Following the semi-finalist interviews, final selections are made at the discretion of the sponsoring Federal agencies. Finalists will be contacted by ORISE regarding offers from the Federal agencies.
• DOE will select the finalists for Congressional office placements. Candidates who accept Congressional fellowship appointments will return to Washington, DC in the June-July time frame for placement interviews with Congressional host offices. The AEF Program coordinates the interviews with Congressional offices.
• DOE employees must comply with regulations governing conduct of employees codified in 10 CFR Part 1010 and Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 CFR Part 2635. Other sponsoring agencies and host offices must comply with analogous regulations governing federal employees.
• Recruitment and selection of participants is done without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, mental or physical disability, or status as a veteran.