Graduate Student Funding
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All students admitted to the Ph.D. program receive five years of support, and all master's students receive two years. This support may be a combination of graduate teaching assistantships, research assistantships, curatorial assistantships, and fellowships.
EEB encourages students to seek external funding for their research and graduate studies, when feasible. Faculty in the department offer courses in proposal writing that are specifically targeted at two of the more common funding avenues: NSF DDIG awards and NSF Graduate Research Fellowships (see below).
Link to Additional Graduate Student Funding Opportunities
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Click here to read the NSF announcement about an important change in eligibility
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study. The current stipend for NSF Graduate Research Fellows is $34,000 per academic year plus an annual $12,000 education allowance to cover tuition and fees. Applications are generally due the middle of October. For more information visit http://nsfgrfp.org/. Dr. Jennifer Gleason teaches a BIOL 702 course titled "Writing the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship" to help students improve their odds of obtaining this funding.
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG)
DDIG grants are awarded in selected areas of the biological sciences and provide partial support of doctoral dissertation research to improve the overall quality of research. Allowed are costs for doctoral candidates to participate in scientific meetings, to conduct research in specialized facilities or field settings, and to expand an existing body of dissertation research. Grants typically do not exceed $20,000. Proposals are due the second Thursday in October. For more information visit https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5234&org=BIO.
