Dissertation Research Support from the Graduate School

The Graduate School currently is accepting nominations for three (3) fellowships and four (4) travel awards in support of dissertation research (ABD students only) to be undertaken during the 2008-09 academic year:

• Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowships:  Nominations are invited for three (3) non-service fellowship stipends of $20,000 each to be awarded by the Graduate School for the 2008-09 academic year.  Each award will also include two semesters of Thesis Research scholarship support.  These "capstone" awards are intended for doctoral candidates who are in the final stages of their researching and writing, and who have a reasonable expectation of graduating in May 2009. 
  
  Nominees must have completed all course-work and language requirements for their program, passed their comprehensive examinations, and have an approved thesis proposal on file with the Graduate School by the nomination deadline. 
  
  Fellows will be expected to work full-time on their dissertations:  There will be no duties associated with these awards, and Fellows will normally be expected to hold no other teaching or research appointments or responsibilities during the award period. 
  
  Each Main Campus doctoral program may nominate one doctoral candidate for a Dissertation Fellowship.  Nominations will consist of three items submitted in a single packet by the department:  a proposal from the student plus two letters of support from the faculty.  In particular:
• The student's proposal should describe the dissertation research in no more than 3 pages of text.
• One letter of support, no more than two pages in length, must be from the student's thesis adviser.  This letter should not describe the student's research, as that will be evident from the student's proposal, but should discuss the significance of the student's dissertation to the discipline.  It should also describe the student's progress to date on the research and writing of the dissertation, as well as the basis for the adviser's confidence that the student will complete the dissertation during the next academic year. 
• The second letter of support, no longer than one page, should be from another member of the ordinary faculty who is familiar with the student's work.  

All nominations will be judged solely on academic merit.  Dissertation Fellowship awards cannot be deferred. 

Payment of the Dissertation Fellowships will be processed by the Graduate School.  Funds awarded under this fellowship program will be provided in addition to the regular Graduate School financial aid allocation provided to the student’s academic department or program. If one of your students receives an award, it may therefore free up one stipend "slot" in your allocation for 2008-09. Those freed-up funds may be used to support a qualified but otherwise unfunded student on an assistantship or non-service fellowship for one year (2008-09). 

At the conclusion of their year of support, all Dissertation Fellows will be asked to provide a short written report of the progress they have made toward completion of the dissertation. 

• Doctoral Dissertation Research Travel Awards:  Nominations are invited for travel awards of up to $5,000 each;  the actual amount awarded will depend on budgets submitted by nominees.  These awards will support the travel costs of doctoral students engaged in archival or field research outside the U.S.  The number of awards will depend on the available funds, but we hope to be able to make four (4) such awards.

Nominees must have completed all coursework and language requirements for their program, passed their comprehensive examinations, and have an approved thesis proposal on file with the Graduate School by the nomination deadline. 

Each Main Campus doctoral program may nominate one doctoral candidate for a Dissertation Research Travel award.  Nominations will consist of three items submitted in a single packet by the department:  a proposal from the student plus two letters of support from the faculty.  In particular:

• The nominee should provide an outline of the travel plans, a travel budget, and a statement explaining the importance of the research travel to the dissertation, all no more than three pages in length.
• One letter of support, no more than two pages in length, must be from the student's thesis adviser. 
• The second letter of support, no longer than one page, should be from another member of the ordinary faculty who is familiar with the student's work.  

All applications will be judged solely on academic merit.

The research travel must be initiated during the 2008-09 fiscal year; awards cannot be deferred.  Actual payment of the award will be timed to accommodate the individual’s needs.

Upon their return, awardees will be asked to provide a short written report of their research travel activities and their overall progress to date toward completion of the dissertation. 

Deadlines:  Departmental nominations and complete applications are due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.  Please note that same student may not be nominated for both awards.  Nominations will be reviewed by a committee of faculty, which will make its recommendations to the Dean.  We hope to be able to notify awardees by mid-April.  Awards will be disbursed after July 1, 2008.