Active Duty

The Purdue Military Research Initiative (PMRI) program started in the Fall of 2014.  This effort supported by Purdue’s President Daniels, partners with the Army, Navy and Marines, and the Air Force to support 10 graduate tuition scholarships annually for active duty officers entering our graduate in-residence programs (officers must be returning to active duty upon degree completion). The initiative focuses first on PhD candidates, but will consider MS applicants as well and attempts to match students with Purdue faculty working DoD funded projects (other faculty research projects that parallel DoD interests will also be considered).  Tuition is paid in full via Tuition Scholarships by Purdue's Graduate School, with remaining departmental and student fees the responsibility of a student’s Faculty Advisor.  All tuition costs and fees applicable to completing the intended degree are without cost for both the Service and the student (please note, this does not include books).  Students receive funding for up to 3 years to complete a PhD or up to 2 years to complete a MS (note, completion timelines for MS degrees may be shortened by the Services).   We fully vet faculty to ensure they are aware of and are willing to support the accelerated program timelines. 

As to specific fields of study, our focus is on STEM majors with application to DoD research or potential application to DoD research.  We work with students to identify a faculty advisor in their area of study that is either doing DoD research today, is expecting to conduct DoD research in the future, or is conducting research in areas that have DoD potential interest.  Most importantly, the program provides a win/win for the nation, for Purdue, and for the military and officer.