UCSD Graduate Funding

Site Migration!

2009-04-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

* * We've moved! * *

Find the new graduate funding site at http://ucsdgraduatefunding.wordpress.com/. The new site features a search function, tags, and categories. As always, your feedback is always appreciated.

See you at the new site!

China Scholarship Program Opportunity for UC Students

2009-03-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

Chinese government scholarship program available for foreign, e.g. non-Chinese, undergraduate students, graduate students and “scholars” to study and conduct research in selected Chinese universities. See below for the program description and application forms (in both Chinese and English). More information can also be found at:
http://www.csc.edu.cn/Lianhua/b9284d4ed8144529bc880978a1b0c97a.shtml (Please note that you need to scroll down past the initial Chinese section to get to the English program description). While the amount of financial support is rather limited, this program may be of significant interest particularly to UC students planning to spend time in China.

* * The application deadline is April 15 for 2009/2010 academic year. * *

The application materials should be mailed to the addresses below, and applicants can contact the Education Offices directly if they have further questions.

Please read the Program_description.doc for more details (Please note that you need to scroll down past the initial Chinese section to get to the English program description).

Fill out both application_form1.pdf and application_form2.pdf and mail to the contacts listed below.

Northern California:
Ms. Yan Li, Consul
Education Office
Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
San Francisco，CA94115
1450 Laguana Street.
Phone contact: 415-674-2957

Southern California:
Education Office
Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles
443 Shatto Place
Los Angeles, CA90020
Phone contact: 213-807-8023

DoD Autism Research Program - Funding Opportunities

2009-03-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) Defense Appropriations Act provides $8 million to the Department of Defense Autism Research Program (ARP) to support high-impact, innovative research to improve the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorders now. This program is administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command through the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). The Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) Department of Defense Autism Research Program (ARP) has released the following funding opportunities:

Submission Deadlines:

Clinical Trial Award
Pre-Application (Preproposal): March 17, 2009
Invited Proposal: July 22, 2009

Idea Award
Pre-Application (Preproposal): March 17, 2009
Invited Proposal: July 22, 2009

Concept Award
Pre-Application Letter of Intent: June 24, 2009
Proposal: July 15, 2009

For more information and instructions, please see the FY09 Autism Research Program (ARP) Announcement. Best of luck!

REMINDER: DoD Pre-Application Deadlines this week!

2009-03-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

Pre-application deadlines for various DoD Funding Opportunities are this week! See below for application links and instructions.

* * * * * * * * *

Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship

2009-03-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship - Mini Grants for Japanese Studies

Details:
The Program in Japanese Studies is pleased encouraging graduate students in Japanese Studies to apply for a Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship. These mini-grants are intended for summer and academic research for 2008-2009. Applicants can apply for up to $10,000 to support research and study on Japan.

Deadline: Friday, May 8, 2009
Award Amount: $10,000

Please submit: 4 sets of copies containing your CV, grant proposal, budget (rough estimate of how you plan to spend the money if awarded), two letters of recommendation from UCSD faculty, and other sources of funding (pending or committed. Please include any financial aid you are currently receiving or will receive)) by Friday, May, 8, 2009.

Mail proposals to:
UCSD, Program in Japanese Studies
9500 Gilman Drive #0104
La Jolla, CA 92093-0104

Contact:
Kinuko Kanda
(858) 534-3598
japan@ucsd.edu

NIH deadline coming up - IMPORTANT UPDATES!

2009-03-24T14:16:00.001-07:00

For all graduate students who are planning to submit NIH/NRSA applications for the April 8th deadline, we need those forms to review 2 weeks PRIOR to the NIH deadline. That means you need to get them to me by tomorrow; Wednesday, March 25.

To view the forms you will need, please go here. You can also download and review the instructions from that page.

Also, OGS will now require the NRSA assurance form, which can be found here.

Please email me if you have any questions. Best of luck!

Intel 2009-2010 PhD Fellowship Program

2009-03-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

To see requirements for this award, please click on the following SURF link.

Part of the eligibility requirements for this award include being a a U.S. citizen, or someone from a controlled country. Students from embargoed countries are not eligible.

CONTROLLED
Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Cambodia
China
Georgia
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Libya
Macau
Moldova
Mongolia
Russia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vietnam

EMBARGOED
Burma (Myanmar)+
Cuba
Iran
North Korea
Sudan
Syria

Workshop: Grantwriting for the Sciences

2009-02-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

GRANTWRITING FOR THE SCIENCES *
Thursday, February 5, 2009
12:30 - 2:00 pm
Garren Auditorium, Biomedical Sciences Building, SOM

Success in academe, particularly in a research institution, can often be correlated with success in grantwriting. CTD is providing this opportunity for graduate students, TAs, and postdoctoral fellows to explore the issues involved in effective grantwriting--what are the components that, if known and well-executed, can equate with success?

Peter Wagner, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering, will lead this session. Dr. Wagner has written on this topic for The Physiologist and will share copies of his article, "On writing a grant application: a personal view."

*Although this presentation is geared to grantwriting in the sciences, you may attend even if you are in another discipline. Several participants from other disciplines have indicated that the information provided has been very useful.

Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program (OCRP)

2009-01-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

The Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) Defense Appropriations Act provides $8 million to the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program (OCRP) to support innovative research to eradicate ovarian cancer. This program is administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command through the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). A summary of OCRP funding opportunities is provided below. Detailed descriptions of each of the funding mechanisms, evaluation criteria, and submission requirements can be found in the FY09 OCRP Program Announcements. Each Program Announcement is available electronically for downloading from the Grants.gov website , the CDMRP website, and the CDMRP eReceipt Website .

As of 2007, proposals requesting funding from the CDMRP have been submitted through the Federal Government's single entry portal, Grants.gov, in compliance with Public Law 106-107. Individual program announcements and required forms can be found on the Grants.gov website. Pre-applications are required and must be submitted through the CDMRP eReceipt website prior to proposal submission to Grants.gov.

To download the program announcements and application instructions, please click on the following:

DoD_Consortium_Development_Award.doc (Pre-application deadline: January 13, 2009; Proposal deadline: February 6, 2009)
DoD_Consortium_Development_Award_Application_Instructions.doc

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DoD_Idea_Development_Award.pdf (Pre-application deadline: March 2, 2009; Proposal deadline: June 2, 2009)
DoD_Idea_Development_Award_Application_Instructions.pdf

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DOD_Collaborative_Translational_Research_Award.pdf (Pre-application deadline: March 2, 2009; Proposal deadline: June 2, 2009)
DoD_Collaborative_Translational_Research_Award_Application_Instructions.pdf

CILAS 2009 Grant Competition – Applications due March 6

2009-01-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

CILAS 2009 Grant Competition

The Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies is pleased to announce the 2009 CILAS Grant Competition. Awards range from academic year and summer language fellowships to travel grants for pre-dissertation and dissertation research. A brief description of each grant can be found below. More detailed information and application instruction are available on the CILAS Fellowship and Grants website.

Academic Year Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship: AY-FLAS is an award offered to students that wish to improve their language skills in Brazilian Portuguese, Zapotec or advanced Spanish at UCSD. The award pays resident or non-resident fees, plus a $15,000 stipend to be paid in ten $1,500 installments throughout the academic year. Eligibility: All graduate students who are accepted for enrollment or who are enrolled in a program that requires modern foreign language training.

Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship: This fellowship is for students who wish to enroll in intensive language programs at the beginning, intermediate, or advanced level. S-FLAS fellowships are broken down into two awards. The first award is a stipend in the amount of $2500. This can be used for any expenses incurred during the language program. The second award is paid directly to the sponsoring institution which covers tuition. This award is up to $4,000. Eligibility: All graduate students who are accepted for enrollment or who are enrolled in a program that requires modern foreign language training.

CILAS Dissertation Field Research Grants: The CILAS Dissertation Grants are for field research between June 2008 and May 2009. Awards range from $500 to $2000. The awards may be used for travel and research in Latin America or the Iberian Peninsula. Eligibility: All UCSD PhD graduate students in good standing are welcome to apply. Past recipients of CILAS field research grants are not eligible for this competition.

Tinker Pre-Dissertation Research Travel Grant: The Tinker Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant awards are for pre-dissertation field research for travel outside the United States (i.e. to Spain, Portugal, Brazil or Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America), for a minimum of 4 weeks and a maximum of 4 months between June 2009 and May 2010. Awards range from $500 to $1,500.

Eligibility: All UCSD graduate students conducting pre-dissertation research.

There will be a mandatory informational session on Friday, February 13 at 2:00 pm in the Deutz Room in the Institute of the Americas Complex.

**Applications are due no later than Friday, March 6 by 4:00 pm.**

Please contact Erin Burgoon CILAS Grants Coordinator, with any questions.

Google Scholarship for future Computer Scientists

2009-01-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

The Google Scholarship program is currently accepting applications from students studying computer science or computer engineering who are juniors or seniors in college or pursuing a Master's or PhD. We have received few applications so far, and have $200,000 in scholarship funds to award this year.

Individual scholarships are for $10,000. Selected students will be invited to an all-expenses paid trip to the Google Headquarters in California in spring 2010.

How to apply: For more information AND to apply, please go to http://scholarships.hispanicfund.org/google.

Application Deadline: March 15, 2009

Eligibility Requirements:
Must be of Hispanic background
Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident residing in the United States
Must be studying full-time in the United States or Puerto Rico
Must have a minimum GPA of a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale
Must demonstrate financial need
Must be a junior or senior undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a degree in computer science or computer engineering for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Selected students will benefit from:
· Scholarship is $10,000 to cover tuition and fees
· An all-expenses paid trip to the Google Headquarters in California in spring 2010
· The opportunity to win a trip to Washington, D.C.
- Network with influential leaders and executives
- Learn career skills through workshops and mentoring
- Attend the Annual Hispanic College Fund Scholarship Awards Gala

If you have any questions, please contact Auri Duarte.

UCSD Graduate Students in the Press

2009-01-27T14:31:00.001-08:00

Read about UCSD graduate students making waves in the research world at This Week at UCSD!

Postdoctoral Opportunity - National Research Council of the National Academies

2009-01-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

As you know, the National Research Council of the National Academies sponsors a number of awards for postdoctoral and senior researchers at federal laboratories. These awards provide generous stipends ($42,000 - $72,000 per year for recent Ph.D. recipients and higher for additional experience), and the opportunity to do independent research in some of the best-equipped and staffed laboratories in the country.

Detailed program information, including instructions on how to apply online and a list of participating laboratories, is available on the NRC Research Associateship Programs Web site at:
www.national-academies.org/rap

Questions should be directed to the NRC at 202-334-2760 (phone) or rap@nas.edu.

There will be four review cycles annually. Upcoming deadline dates are:

November 1, 2008
February 1, 2009
May 1, 2009
August 1, 2009

Applicants should begin a dialogue with prospective Advisers at the lab as early as possible, before their anticipated application deadline.

Pacific Rim Research Grant UCSD Internal Deadline - January 9

2008-12-18T15:36:00.000-08:00

Hello to all those who may be applying for a grant in the UCSD Pacific Rim Research Project (PRRP). The UCSD internal deadline will be January 9, 2009 - NO EXCEPTIONS!

To see the call for proposals, a sample of an approved budget, and for general information on the PRRP, please visit http://www.ucop.edu/research/pacrim/.

**I will be out of the office from December 25 until January 12, so please plan accordingly and ask your questions early!**

Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship - Internal Deadline Now Set!

2008-12-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

For those applying for the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund Fellowship, the UCSD internal deadline has now been set! Please turn in ALL application materials and copies to the Office of Graduate Studies by January 12, 2009.

**There will be no exceptions to this deadline, so please plan accordingly!!**

2009 IICAS Human Rights Fellowship

2008-12-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

University of California Human Rights Fellowship Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies, UC San Diego
The Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies is pleased to announce the annual competition for student fellowships with human rights organizations. Fellows will receive $3,500 each. The fellowship is available to students from several U.C. campuses. Registered students at U.C. Berkeley, Hastings College of the Law, U.C. Santa Cruz, U.C. Irvine, and U.C. San Diego are eligible. Two fellowships in Social Documentary are available for registered students at U.C. Santa Cruz.

Award Amount: $3,500
Award Duration: May - September (along with a conference in November)
How to Apply: See the application instructions
Deadline to apply: Monday, March 9, 2009

For more information and application procedures, please visit the IICAS 2009 Human Rights Fellowship page.

New NIH policies and reminders of best practices

2008-12-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Graduate Students,

As finals start to roll around, things can get pretty hectic. As a heads up, please keep in mind that ALL forms that need a signature from the Dean need to come to us 2 weeks prior to the deadline date.

General announcement:
For help filling out your grant/fellowship applications, please visit http://ogsrweb2.ucsd.edu/fellowships/FAQ_Department_Staff.htm and refer to step 2.

**Note: I will NEVER be the signing official on these forms; I only coordinate your forms for signatures! Please make sure your application is completely filled out with the correct information before you hand it over for signatures. If you have questions or are not sure about something, please email me and I can look it over before you give us copies for signature.

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-NIH specific information-
Here is a link to the NIH deadlines: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm Please make sure to familiarize yourself with the deadline dates and plan accordingly! (Remember; we need 2 weeks in advance for signatures!)

Also, if this is your first time applying for an NIH NRSA, please download the appropriate forms here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/416/phs416.htm They (NIH) will only be accepting this form from here on out, as will I.

**NEW SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT!!!** Please have your PI initial and date the second page of the application next to their name and information to show that they have reviewed your application. Since the new format for the NRSA application does not require your PI or you to sign off on it, we need to ensure that the proposals are being read by the PI. WE WILL NOT BE SIGNING ANY APPLICATIONS THAT DO NOT HAVE THIS REQUIREMENT MET!!

The National Needs Doctoral Fellowship Program at North Carolina State

2008-11-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Center for Integrated Fungal Research (CIFR) is recruiting high quality graduate students for doctoral level training in genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics technologies applied to the study of fungal pathogens of plants and host plant responses.

In addition to normal coursework and dissertation research, Fellows will:
· Select a program mentor.
· Participate in two eight-week rotations through research programs of two CIFR faculty members.
· Experience an eight-week internship in the Research Triangle Park.
· Take full advantage of professional development opportunities.
· Develop a teaching portfolio.
· Participate in a research and professional ethics module.Present research at multiple forums including national meetings

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Degree Programs

Applicants are able to apply through the following programs: Plant Pathology, Genetics, Plant Biology, and Genomics Sciences (Functional Genomics & Bioinformatics). All members of CIFR are faculty in the Department of Plant Pathology, and as such, students will primarily be recruited into this department. Students are selected on a competitive basis and will receive their degree in the discipline of their home department.

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Stipend

In addition to the internship, professional development, and travel opportunities, this training grant covers tuition and fees and provides for a yearly stipend of $21,000.00

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Interested students are encouraged to apply early. Review of applications will begin February 1st and qualified applicants will be invited for interviews in the early spring of 2009. Acceptance decisions will be made by the end of March 2009.

For additional information, please visit the website at www.cifr.ncsu.edu/NationalNeeds/Program.html

California Space Grant Consortium Graduate Student Fellowship Program: $6,000 to $8,000 fellowships will be awarded

2008-11-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

The California Space Grant Consortium is pleased to announce the 2008-2009 Graduate Student Fellowship Program. Fellowships ranging from $6,000 to $8,000 will be awarded to support UCSD graduate students for aerospace-related research in an interdisciplinary (science and engineering) focused theme area. To learn more about this program and how to apply, please see the attached document. The deadline for applications is January 5, 2009.

For more information about the California Space Grant Consortium, please visit http://casgc.ucsd.edu.

NSF - East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutues (EAPSI)

2008-11-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

The EAPSI is a flagship international fellowship program for developing the next generation of globally-engaged U.S. scientists and engineers knowledgeable about the Asia and the Pacific region. The Summer Institutes are hosted by foreign counterparts who are committed to increasing opportunities for young U.S. researchers to work in research facilities and with host mentors abroad. Fellows are supported to participate in 8-week research experiences at host laboratories in Australia, China, Japan (10 weeks), Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan from June to August. The program provides a $5,000 summer stipend, a round-trip air ticket to the host location, living expenses abroad, and an introduction to the society, culture, language, and research environment of the host location.

Deadline: December 9, 2008

For eligibility, see: http://www.nsfsi.org/eligibility.
For information on how to apply, see: http://www.nsfsi.org/how_to_apply.
For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://www.nsfsi.org/.

Pacific Rim Grant Deadline - JANUARY 9

2008-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Please plan ahead if you are planning to apply for the Pacific Rim Research Grant!

To see the call for proposals, please visit http://www.ucop.edu/research/pacrim/documents/call_2009_2010.pdf.

** The UCSD internal deadline is set for January 9th, 2009 **
To apply, log on to: http://ironforge.hri.uci.edu/fastapp/pacrim/applicants/index.php.

Tips for Using the Application System:
Log in at left (first as a new user).

You may save your work and revisit your application as many times as you wish until the application deadline.

When you have completed your application, be sure to "sign" it and click the "Finish" button.

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

What You Will Need*
Abstract

Narrative project proposal

Detailed budget in table form

Budget narrative (2 pg maximum)

Résumé or curriculum vitae (CV) and those of any collaborators (2 pg maximum each)

Names and email addresses of up to 3 people who will write letters of recommendation (students) (see below)

Various other brief descriptions of timeline, mentoring aspects, etc.

*Not all materials are required for all grant categories. Please see Call for Proposal for details.
*Feel free to register, log in, and look around. You do not have to submit an application if you change your mind.

Letters of Recommendation
Due at INTERNAL application deadline - NO EXCEPTIONS!!!
If appropriate, one letter should be from your primary faculty adviser.

Other letter(s) should ideally be from experts in fields related to your project who are familiar with your project and can attest to its significance.

Be sure to notify your references before entering their information in the application system.

They will receive an auto-generated email with instructions for submitting letters of recommendation immediately after you have entered their information in application system.

Fulbright-Hays DDRA Deadline - Important reminders and tips!!

2008-11-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Hello Graduate Students!

I'm sure most of you are already aware, but the Fulbright-Hays DDRA deadline is THIS WEDNESDAY (Nov 5)!

This means that on November 5, you will need to submit:
-Graduate transcripts = required (they will only accept hard copy, official transcripts)
-Undergraduate = if you want to (they will only accept hard copy, official transcripts)
-Human subjects research narratives (email your copies to me, please)
-ALL online materials submitted, including affiliation, language evaluation, and letters of rec.
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Important Formatting tips:
Both IHEs and student applicants must attach any narrative sections of the application as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. Do NOT upload any file type other than the three file types specified above or submits a password protected file; they will not review that material.

-All applicants are required to adhere to the 10-page limit for the Project Narrative and 2- page limit for the bibliography portion of the application.

-ONLY use these fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New or Arial. Applications submitted in any other font (including Times Roman, Arial Narrow) will not be accepted. Along those lines, make sure the font is legible and not s super small font size.

-A "page" is 8.5" x 11"

-Double-spaced (however, you may single-space all text in charts, tables, figures, graphs, titles, headings, footnotes, endnotes, quotations, bibliography, and captions), 1 inch margins at the top, bottom, and on both sides (NO SMALLER!!)

-Use a font that is either 12 point or larger; or, no smaller than 10 pitch (characters per inch). Student applicants may use a 10 point font in charts, tables, figures, graphs, footnotes, and endnotes. However, these items are considered part of the narrative and counted within the 10 page limit.
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Please let me know if you have any questions! Good luck!

Fulbright-Hays Deadline Approaching

2008-10-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Graduate Students!

The Fulbright-Hays internal deadline is coming up (November 5)! Please make sure to submit your materials to me (online and hard copies as needed) by 4:30pm that day.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship

2008-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly talented national and international scientists and engineers to engage in ongoing NASA research in Aeronautics, Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Earth Science, Exploration Systems, Heliophysics, Planetary Science, and Space Operations.

* Approximately 60 Fellowships awarded annually
* One-year appointments, renewable up to three years
* Annual stipends start at $50,000, with supplements for certain degree fields and high cost-of-living areas
* Annual travel budget of $8,000
* Financial assistance for relocation
* Financial supplement for health insurance purchased through the program

Three application deadlines each year: November 1, March 1, and July 1.

Eligibility:
* U.S. Citizens
* Foreign Nationals with a J-1 visa status as a research scholar, Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status, or Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with pending LPR status* Recent and senior-level Ph.D. recipients.

To obtain more information and to apply for this exciting opportunity, please visit the NPP Web site at http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc.

Fulbright-Hays DDRA deadline announced!

2008-09-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

As of TODAY, The deadline for the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad has finally been announced! The UCSD internal deadline for this year will be Wednesday, November 5, 2008. This means you will need to submit:

-ALL transcripts
-non-exempt research narratives
-ALL online materials

to me by our November 5 deadline. Please let me know if you have any questions.

-Linda

Welcome

2008-09-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Hello to the new 2008 graduate student body! I just wanted to extend a warm welcome to the incoming graduate students, and say thanks to those who attended the funding presentation yesterday. It was great to see your smiling faces, and I appreciate any helpful feedback you may have to offer.

For those still interested in funding for international students, you can get that document here: internationalstudentfellowships.doc.

Also, here are some of the links I went over in the presentation:
SURF, NSF Grant Proposal Guide, Jack Kent Cooke, Dolores Zohrab Liebmann, Fulbright IIE, and DAAD.

Happy hunting!

-Linda

Fulbright IIE Deadline Fast Approaching!

2008-09-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

For those interested in the Fulbright IIE, the UCSD internal deadline is September 12 - just a few days away! Don't forget to submit your application online (through the Embark website), as well as gather all the necessary paperwork/materials. Please let me know if you have any last minute questions by emailing me. Otherwise, see you on Friday, September 12!

Fulbright-Hays Deadline

2008-09-08T14:35:00.001-07:00

Hello Fellowship seekers!

As some of you may already know, the Fulbright-Hays deadline has not been set yet, which means our UCSD internal deadline has also not been set yet. The national deadline is usually sometime in November, but no word yet on the official date. Keep your eye on the DoE website for deadline updates.

-Linda

Reminder: Applications now being accepted for Microsoft fellowship and scholarship!

2008-08-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Research and Microsoft Live Labs PhD Fellowship Program and Microsoft Research Graduate Women's Scholarship Program

Just a reminder that the applications for the Microsoft Research and Microsoft Live Labs PhD Fellowship Program are now being accepted. The deadline for applications is Friday, October 17, 2008.

For additional details and application instructions for the Microsoft Research and Microsoft Live Labs PhD Fellowship Program, please see: http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/jobs/fellowships/default.aspx

For qualifications and application procedures for the Microsoft Research Graduate Women's Scholarship Program , please see: http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/jobs/fellowships/fellows_women.aspx

For more information, please contact msfellow@microsoft.com.

Breast Cancer Research Funding Opportunities Available from Susan G. Komen for the Cure

2008-08-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is excited to announce the release of Promise Grants for the 2008-2009 Research Program. The Request for Applications (RFA) is now available at www.komen.org/grants or www.komengrantsaccess.org .

Deadlines at a Glance!

Pre-Application Due – September 25, 2008, 8 pm, est.
Full Application Due – December 4, 2008, 8 pm est.

Promise Grants – Promise Grants provide up to $1.5M annually over five years to support programs with collaborative and cross-disciplinary research projects that provide integrated approaches to solving critical challenges to the rapid translation of scientific discoveries into new or enhanced clinical tools and applications that have the greatest potential to significantly reduce breast cancer incidence and/or mortality within the next decade. Integrated programs of research projects addressing critical challenges in population disparities in breast cancer outcomes and triple negative breast cancer are of special interest and may receive funding priority. Pre-applications are required prior to starting a full application.

Information about Komen’s Research Program and details about funding opportunities are available from Susan G. Komen for the Cure at: http://www.komen.org/grants.

American Cancer Society Thyroid Fellowship

2008-08-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

The American Cancer Society is excited to announce a Request for Application for its Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN2) Thyroid Cancer Consortium. We have made a commitment to fund Research Scholars, Mentored Research Scholars, and Postdoctoral Fellows for our October 15, 2008 deadline. Please distribute this announcement to your researchers, investigators, and colleagues who could potentially benefit from this excellent grant opportunity. For more information, please see the RFA for the American Cancer Society MEN2 Thyroid Cancer Consortium. To obtain an application, access the electronic grant application at proposal central.

Deadline: Complete applications are due by October 15, 2008. Funding will begin July 1, 2009.

Contact: Charles Saxe, PhD

Call for pre-proposals: UC BREP GREAT Training Award Announcement (2009-2011)

2008-08-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

The University of California Biotechnology Research and Education Program is offering individual training awards up to $50,000 per year for two years of graduate student research at the interface between the life sciences and any of the disciplines within the physical, chemical, material, engineering, mathematical and computational sciences. The deadline to submit a pre-proposal is Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:00 AM.

To learn more about the GREAT program and to submit a pre-proposal application, go to:
http://ucbrep.ucdavis.edu/GREAT/greattg.cfm

Award duration: 2 years

Award amount: Up to $50,000 per grant, per year

Deadline for pre-proposal: Thursday, October 16, 2008

Labor and Employment Research Fund

2008-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Labor and Employment Research Fund Call for Proposals

The Labor and Employment Research Fund (LERF) is a multi-campus University of California research program devoted to studying labor and employment issues in California and the nation. It is a component of the Miguel Contreras Labor Institute and is administered by the Office of Research at the UC Office of the President. The mission of the LERF is to encourage rigorous and relevant academic research that can help address public policy problems in this area by increasing our understanding of their causes and possible solutions.

Pending receipt of funding from the state budget, the Labor and Employment Research Fund will accept proposals for the following grant program categories:

Faculty: (includes UC Principal Investigators)
· Research and data generation grants
· Workshop, planning and conference grants

Graduate Students:
· Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
· Thesis Fellowships
· Mini-Grants

State funding will be confirmed later in the summer. In the meantime, interested applicants may begin developing their proposals. Please see the Call for Proposals for details and program requirements. The program application will be accessible in August 2008.

The application deadline will be Friday, October 10, 2008. Proposals will be reviewed in November and awards will be announced in mid-December.

Please address any questions regarding the LERF to Sandra Wulff, Program Coordinator at 510-987-0120 or Sandra.wulff@ucop.edu.

Microsoft Research and Microsoft Live Labs PhD Fellowship Program and Microsoft Research Graduate Women's Scholarship Program

2008-07-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

The Microsoft Research and Microsoft Live Labs PhD Fellowship Program will begin accepting applications on Monday, August 18, 2008. The deadline for applications is Friday, October 17, 2008. Applicants must be enrolled in a full-time PhD program in the Computer Science, Mathematics, or Electrical Engineering department at an accredited university in the US or Canada. For additional details and application instructions, please see: http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/jobs/fellowships/default.aspx

Microsoft Research is also pleased to announce the new Microsoft Research Graduate Women's Scholarship Program. Applicants must be first or second year, full-time, female students enrolled in accredited Computer Science, Mathematics, or Electrical Engineering graduate programs at accredited universities in the US or Canada. For qualifications and application procedures, please see: http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/jobs/fellowships/fellows_women.aspx

For more information, please contact us at msfellow@microsoft.com.

Fulbright U.S. Student Program Competition - UCSD Deadline

2008-06-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program Competition deadline is 10/20/08. The internal UCSD deadline is 9/12/08.

If you have thoroughly reviewed the Fulbright U.S. Student Program website and have not found the answer to your question, click here to send Fulbright a question. You will receive a reply via email from one of their Program Managers.

More Fulbright Resources

2008-06-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

Space permitting, UCSD affiliates may attend the UCLA information session. Please r.s.v.p. at: http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/library/fulbright.htm

IIE is also sponsoring information sessions in various cities: http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html

Fulbright Update

2008-05-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

Lots of inquiries lately. Here's an update:

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program Competition deadline is 10/20/08. The internal UCSD deadline is September 12, 2008.

The deadline for the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship Program has not yet been announced, but will probably be the 1st week of November. The internal UCSD deadline will probably be 1-2 weeks before the agency deadline.

We are currently recruiting for the Graduate Fellowship Advisor position. This position handles Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays application advising. Once the position is filled, we'll be sure to get in touch with those who have expressed interest in the Fulbright programs.

Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) - Thesis/Dissertation Competition

2008-05-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

This call was recently sent to UCSD Department & Program Chairs:

The Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) and University Microfilms International (UMI) have invited UCSD to submit one campus nominee to the 2008-2009 Innovation in Technology award competition for Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations.

If you would like to nominate one of your department's graduate students for this award, please review the attached program call and send the following information to OGS no later than Monday, August 11, 2008:

A 100-1500 word statement by the student describing the research and how it demonstrates innovative or creative use of technology in the conduct of scholarship.

A letter from the student's department head or committee chair indicating the significance of the technological innovations in the work for the discipline, and for the student's department and institution.

The Office of Graduate Studies will form a selection committee to review all applications of nominees.

Farewell post

2008-05-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

Most of my regular readers have probably heard this by now, but I wanted to make the announcement official here for those I didn't catch sometime in the last month. I'm leaving employment here to join your ranks as a PhD candidate in English at Berkeley, and my last day is tomorrow, May 16. It's been a pleasure working with the students, faculty, and staff of UCSD, and I hope that this blog has been at least somewhat helpful in helping you find fellowships to support your research and writing.

Until I'm replaced, this blog will be on hiatus. Immediate problems, requests for information, and general questions should temporarily go to Franchesca Kim at OGS. Once a new advisor is hired, Franchesca will direct you on where to go for all of your fellowship advising needs.

Happy searching to all, and to all a good...morning.

Fulbright Information Session

2008-04-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

I'll be holding a Fulbright information session next Wednesday, May 7, from 3:00-4:30pm in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Student Services Center (the same building that houses the Office of Grad Studies, but on the first floor. It's the gigantic room with the UCSD crest on the glass above the door). For those of you who want to complete doctoral dissertation research abroad or even take a year off to teach English while perfecting your own language skills, this is a prestigious (if competitive) way to do so. Since the deadline usually occurs before the beginning of fall quarter, attending the info session is a good way to kick off your preparations for the summer. Dessert and coffee will be served. Let me know if you'll be attending by Tuesday, May 6.

Proposal Writing Tips

2008-04-21T09:36:00.001-07:00

I just happened across this great resource, originally composed by two graduate students, on how to write project proposals on the predoctoral level. Of course, I still have our own UCSD successful proposal guide, for those of you who are interested in international travel grants in particular. Email me if you'd like your own electronic copy.

Colorado Postdoctoral Fellowship for Program for Academic Diversity

2008-04-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Advanced doctoral students and recent PhD graduates may apply for postdoctoral fellowships in STEM disciplines at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University, or the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Up to 4 postdoctoral fellowships will be awarded each year.

Application deadline: June 1, 2008

Additional information can be found at:

http://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/DiversityInitiative/postdoctoralopportunities.html

Questions? Please contact Barbara Kraus at <Barbara.Kraus@Colorado.edu> or 303.492.5779.

Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship

2008-04-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship is a mini-grant intended for summer and academic research for the 2007-2008 academic year. Applicants can apply for up to $10,000 to support research and study on Japan.

Please submit:
4 sets of copies containing your CV, grant proposal, budget, two letters of recommendation, and other sources of funding (pending or committed) by Friday, May, 9, 2008.

Mail proposals to:
UCSD, Program in Japanese Studies
9500 Gilman Drive #0104
La Jolla, CA 92093-0104

Contact:
Kinuko Kanda
(858) 534-3598
japan@ucsd.edu

Interesting opportunity out of UCOP

2008-04-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

University of California College Prep (UCCP) has released a request for applications to spur creative UC course and content developers to experiment and build leading edge digital learning objects. UCCP seeks to explore the next generation of online and mobile educational content.

Five $25,000 innovation grants will be awarded to content developers among UC faculty, emeriti, lecturers, and graduate students to develop prototypes of digital learning objects in prescribed subject areas. The prototypes must build upon new and emerging technology to enhance student learning and expand access to all audiences.

This request for applications (RFA) is restricted to University of California campuses, units and programs.

More information here.

International Center Awards

2008-03-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

The Friends of the International Center make small study abroad awards to graduate and MD students. This is another one for which your department has to nominate you to OGS and the Friends, but if you think you're a good candidate, be sure to let your graduate coordinator know. Awards are for $2000, and eligibility is restricted to students who:

1. have a distinguished academic record;
2. are willing to contribute in some way to furthering friendship, understanding, and cooperation among peoples of diverse countries through programs at the International Center;
3. have completed one year of full-time graduate study for the Ph.D., M.F.A., M.P.I.A., M.D. or D.M.A. at UCSD;
4. will be registered for a full-time program of study and research in 2008-09 or, in the case of foreign student nominees, will be on campus at UCSD in 2008-09.

Nominations are due on April 18, so talk to your department soon.

Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship

2008-03-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

UCSD gets one nomination for the Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship, an award of $30,000 given to a current UC student who graduated from Indian or Pakistani university in a specific geographical region of those countries (it includes Delhi--please contact me for the map), would like to return after getting a graduate degree, and who hasn't undertaken graduate study at another university in the United States at any point. Students already holding a master's degree and who have already reached the dissertation stage will be given preference, but these last are not absolute qualifications. Your department must be willing to provide you with a nonresident tuition fellowships until your program of study is complete, commencing the year following the award.

To apply, please send me at least one letter of recommendation, your transcript, a statement of your academic interests, and another brief statement about how you would plan to use your education in India or Pakistan after graduation by April 11.

International Student Fellowships

2008-03-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Those of you who are international students know how difficult it is to find awards and fellowships for which you are eligible. The International Center, which is really all things to all international students on campus, had me put together a list of fellowships which don't restrict applications by citizenship, and I thought I would repost some of the highlights here.

Fellowships for which some international students are eligible:

All Social Science Research Council Fellowships (including International Dissertation Fellowships).
Most University of California fellowships (Pacific Rim, UC-MEXUS, UREP Field Research, Natural Reserve System, Biotechnology Research and Education GREAT Training grants, Humanities Research Institute Residential Fellowships, Tobacco-Related Disease Research fellowships, Toxic Substances Research and Teaching program graduate fellowships, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation fellowships, Linguistic Minority Research Institute Dissertation fellowships, UC Institute for Research in the Arts fellowships, Center for Nanotechnology in Society Graduate Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences awards, the University-wide AIDS Reseach Program, UC ACCORD Dissertation fellowships, and the Labor and Employment Research Fund awards).
Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships for investigating the causes of violence and aggression in modern society
Woodrow Wilson Foundation fellowships in the social sciences and humanities
All Getty research grants
Wenner-Gren Foundation fellowships for anthropological research
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Research Fellowships in Education
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (note: NSF predoctoral grant requires citizenship or permanent residency)
Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship in the Arts
American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowships
All Smithsonian fellowships
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Doctoral Fellowships
Medieval Academy of America grants and fellowships
California Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (note: preference is given to U.S. citizens and permanent residents)
American Geophysical Union Horton Research Grant
American Association for University Women International Fellowships
NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System fellowship

This is by no means a comprehensive list, and, as always, I encourage you to do your own searching. UCLA's GRAPES search engine has a specific function which allows you to exclude awards only open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Oceanids Awards

2008-03-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

The Oceanids donate money each year to three scholarship funds. Your department technically makes the nominations for these awards to the Office of Graduate Studies, but if you think you are a strong candidate, please pester them about it. Note: your department ultimately makes this call, so you should explain your case to them, not the Office of Graduate Studies.

Oceanids Bertha Lebus Scholarship

Awarded to a graduate student who has had a significant break in his/her education (more than one year) from the completion of graduate studies. The recipient of the $2000 award should have plans to become a teacher at any level.

Frieda Daum Urey Academic Fellowship

This fellowship will be awarded to a student who has had a significant hiatus in his or her studies and subsequently enrolls in graduate or professional studies on the General Campus or The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and for whom the award of the fellowship will make a critical financial difference in his or her ability to attend UCSD.

Ph.D. students will be preferred, but master's and professional students are also eligible. School of Medicine academic and professional programs are not eligible.

The length of the hiatus will typically be at least five years, but may be as short as two to three years for students in science or engineering or resuming studies after military service.

Frieda Daum Urey Endowed Fellowship

Same as above, but only women are eligible.

Your department will have received instructions about how to nominate you and what they will need to do so.

UCSD Grant Writing/Funding Fest 2008

2008-02-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

Although this event primarily targets postdocs and junior faculty, much of it looks to apply to those of you interested in fellowship/grant writing in general, as well as those of you at the later stages of your educations looking for postdoc opportunities this year or next. Here's the schedule:

The San Diego Postdoc Training Consortium and the TSRI Society of Fellows presents

SPRING GRANTSMANSHIP AND FUNDING FEST 2008

This is a three part comprehensive program that includes presentations by various funding agencies to learn about various funding opportunities, how-to grantwriting workshops and an opportunity to submit a grant for review by a practice mock study section.

PART I: Learning about funding opportunities

Program directors from California and national funding organizations will describe various funding mechanisms available from their institutions, detail types of research experience relevant for different grants and current funding priorities, share general grant writing tips, and answer questions about their organizations and grant writing.

California Funding Agencies (CBCRP, TRDRP, CA HIV/AIDS): March 17, 11am, UCSD (CMRR large conference room)

American Heart Association: April 3, 2pm, Burnham (Fishman Auditorium)
NIH-NCI: April 15, 11am, UCSD (CMG large conference room)
NIH-NIAID: April 17, 2pm, TSRI (Keck Amphitheater)
TBA

PART II: Grantwriting

Grantwriting 101: APRIL 10, 1:30pm
Keck Amphitheater, Beckman Center, TSRI
This workshop will address finding grants, identifying online resources, targeting your search based on your research area, tips for writing grant sections, and common mistakes. This workshop is intended for individuals who are new to fellowship and grant writing and want a general overview of the process.
Career development grants for sr. postdocs and jr. faculty: MAY 1, 1:30pm and Insights on the NIH Review Process: MAY 1, 3:30pm
Keck Amphitheater, Beckman Center, TSRI
Experienced faculty members and NIH administrators will highlight best practices for writing compelling K, R, and transition grants and will address the grant review process. This workshop is intended for individuals with experience in writing fellowships and are now looking to apply for career transition or RO1 grants and need critical advice from successful faculty and grant administrators.

PART III: Mock Study Sections

Mock Study Sections: MAY 3, 9:00am (all day event)
Keck Amphitheater, Beckman Center, TSRI
Postdocs, graduate students, and junior faculty can participate in mock study sections to review grant applications and have their own funding proposals reviewed by peers. Participants will gain first-hand knowledge of the grant review process by becoming active contributors in a mock review section. Mock study sections will be facilitated by NIH guest speakers and faculty experts. **Advance registration & submission of a grant for review required. To register, contact Ryan Wheeler: rwheeler@scripps.edu

IICAS Travel Grants

2008-02-26T13:51:00.001-08:00

The Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies has some travel money available to supplement dissertation research here or abroad. Find out more here:

http://iicas.ucsd.edu/research/grants/researchTravelGrants_grad.php

Application is due March 21.

Intel update

2008-02-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, we cannot have until March 12 for Intel submissions. Please write to me for the instructions soon if you intend to apply--the March 5 deadline will stand.

2008 Intel Fellowships

2008-02-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

UCSD students are eligible to apply for Intel Fellowships, $20,000 awards which also match you with an Intel mentor. The supported fellowship areas include semiconductor technology and manufacturing, systems technology and design, software technology and design, and information technology. (If you have more specific questions about your research, email me and I can forward you additional documentation.) Fellowship recipients must be US citizens or have the permanent right to work in the USA. This requirement is waived for candidates in specific areas of research including Semiconductor Process Technology, VLSI Circuit and closely related fields. (Applicants must be screened to qualify for the waiver).

This award requires an internal selection process, and the due date is March 5. Because of the late notice, we're willing to accept your required three recommendation letters past this date by individual request. The application is entirely online, and doesn't require a transcript. Please send me an email [sfchamberlain (at) ucsd (dot) edu] to get your application instructions and password.

Taxes

2008-02-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

Just got this from financial aid:

If a student did not get their 1098-T tax form, that lists the funds they received for grants, scholarships, etc., they can print this form from:

www.tcrs.com

click Student Access (left side bar)

Access My Record (left side bar)

At top of page use this option: "You may choose to login with your school identification number rather than your Social Security Number (SSN) by clicking here."

Student enters their PID (starts with an "A")

Student can print their 1098-T form and other detailed financial award information from this page.

If they have problems, the student should feel free to contact our Registrars Office, Melissa Ciandro

(858) 534-0908 or mciandro@ucsd.edu.

It is her job this time of year to help students with these 1098-T forms. She is very helpful and will walk students through the website and answer any question.

Association of California Water Agencies Water Law and Policy Scholarship

2008-02-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

This $7000 scholarship will go to a California graduate student focusing on the law, public policy, or public administration of water resources, and is open to PhD and Master's students alike.

Deadline is April 1. Find out more here.

All Grad Research Symposium

2008-01-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

Looking for a poster presentation to put on a CV, or a chance to see what your fellow graduate students are doing with their time?

2008 UCSD All Grad Research Symposium -- Friday, February 8

Registration for presenters and attendees is occurring now. This is a fun day with its own free breakfast, lunch, and wine, and staff, faculty, and undergraduates are also welcome to attend.

Register here.

AWIS foundation predoctoral fellowships

2008-01-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Association for Women in Science has several $1,000 fellowships (some are earmarked specifically for San Diego residents) on offer. Fields include biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, engineering, and mathematics. Eligibility is limited to U.S. citizens.

Find out more about the San Diego fellowships here.

General fellowship information here.

Deadline: February 15.

ACS Organic Chemistry Fellowships

2008-01-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

The Chancellor herself is interested in seeing UCSD's Chemistry PhD students apply for the ACS Organic Chemistry Division's Graduate Fellowships, which offer a $24,000/year stipend. Students need to use the awards during their third or fourth years of study. Nominations should be submitted by your dissertation supervisor, and applications are due in June. Here's the call:

ACS Organic Division Graduate Fellowships

Reminder: Signature lead time and contact information

2007-12-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

With all of the recent deadlines (NIH, CBCRP, AHA, etc.) I've noticed some recurring problems when students seek signatures from Kim Barrett, the Dean of Graduate Studies, who signs as the Authorizing Official or some variation thereof for any graduate student fellowship applications. So here's a brief FAQ for those of you seeking signatures:

1. What's Kim Barrett's contact information?

Everything you need to know is on this page, but here it is again. Kim E. Barrett, Dean of Graduate Studies. 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0003. (858) 534-6655. fax: (858) 534-4304. email: graduatedean (at) ucsd (dot) edu. (Don't actually spell it out like that, obviously.) All requests for signatures go to me. If I'm not here, you can leave it with the OGS receptionist and I will get it and contact you when it's ready for pick-up. Please don't contact Dr. Barrett or her assistant Glenda Wheeler directly--they will just refer you to me, anyway.

2. Who sends my application?

Graduate students are responsible for sending all parts of their applications.

3. (For graduate coordinators) What's a grant? What's a fellowship?

A grant is any award where a faculty member applies for a sum of money which he/she might then distribute to students. If a graduate student applies directly, it's usually a graduate fellowship. Grants go through your usual process, involving Research or OCGA. Graduate fellowships are signed off on directly by Kim Barrett through the process I just described. One big exception to this rule is the NSF Dissertation Improvement Grants. Professors apply for those on behalf of students, even though the students are the primary recipients of the money. Students should keep this in mind when applying for NSF awards: OCGA can take a considerable amount of time to process applications, and they have their own rules and paperwork, which professors who have applied for grants before can help with.

4. What do you need to have Kim Barrett sign off?

Usually I just need the cover page and any budget information you might disclose with your application. All other signatures need to be in place before Dr. Barrett can sign. This is university policy, and I can't be flexible about it.

5. When do you need everything?

We ask for at least 10 business days. This is not because it usually takes us 10 business days (which I think would officially constitute the world's longest signature) but because the life of the Dean of Graduate Studies is a busy one and Dr. Barrett is often out of the office, advocating for UCSD's graduate students in various fora and trying to keep up her own lab and connections with the academic side of the university. If you leave it to the last minute, there's no guarantee she'll be in the office to sign.

6. Can't you just stamp it?

In many cases, no. Look carefully at your face page. Does it say something about "no per signature"? That means that it can't be stamped. This appears on most NIH documents, for instance.

It's important to the university that you apply for fellowships and we try to be as flexible as we possibly can about last-minute situations and problems, but there's a limit to what we can do about very late submissions. Save yourself the heartache of filling out an entire application only to find that there's no one to sign off on it by getting your facepages to me as soon as possible. I require only the facepage and budget to allow you the maximum amount of time to work on the actual proposal part of the application. As long as you and your advisor are willing to sign off on the science, we'll sign off on the administrative portion.

With the holiday and the university closure approaching, turn in your applications due in the first part of January no later than this Friday, Dec. 21, for prompt processing.

Department of Homeland Security Fellowships

2007-12-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

Department of Homeland Security Fellowships are due on January 7, 2008. These are fantastically generous awards ($2,300/month) for anyone whose area of interest is even broadly related to national security. It's open to students pursuing a doctoral or master's degree (with thesis component) in science, engineering, technology, or math, and who have GPAs of at least 3.3 on a 4-point scale.

Read more here.

Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship

2007-12-13T11:00:00.001-08:00

The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship is a very interesting opportunity for students at the beginning of graduate study. Very little information is available about it online, and applications (if you can believe this) are still made on paper. I've received those applications now, and I've set a campus deadline of Monday, January 7, 2008 for review of applications and nomination of three students. It's basically an unrestricted award, made to anyone who shows distinction in his/her field, and UCSD is allowed three nominees. Come and see me if you'd like an application. The fellowship is for tuition costs, plus an $18,000 stipend, and is renewable for three years.

UCSB Black Studies Dissertation Award

2007-12-13T10:57:00.001-08:00

Out of UCSB comes this fantastic opportunity for ABDs who want to spend an academic year in lovely Santa Barbara:

DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP FOR 2008-2009

The Department of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara invites applications for two fellowships for the academic year 2008-2009. Applicants must be advanced to candidacy at an accredited university. The department is particularly interested in scholars whose research focuses on intersections of race, class, gender or sexuality in African/Caribbean/ African-American or Diasporic Studies.

The duration of the award is nine months and the fellowship grant is $20,000. Scholars are required to be in residence during the entire fellowship period and there is an expectation that the dissertation will be completed during the term of residency. Dissertation scholars will teach
one undergraduate course and present one public lecture.

To apply, complete and mail the application to UCSB Black Studies Dissertation Fellowship along with a curriculum vitae, a brief description of the dissertation project (2-3 pages), a writing sample (approx. 20 pages) and three letters of reference to:

Dissertation Fellowship Committee
Department of Black Studies
3631 South Hall
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3150

All materials must be received in our office no later than February 4, 2008.
No fax or e-mail submissions will be accepted.

Please go to the following URL to download the application:

http://www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu/student_info/fellowship.html

Switzer Foundation Environmental Studies Awards

2007-12-13T10:53:00.000-08:00

I just heard from the Switzer Foundation that they are dedicating five awards this year to students from southern California. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Switzer awards, here's the description:

"The programs of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation are dedicated to investing in individual leaders who will be driving positive environmental change and to supporting projects that will have measurable positive results on environmental quality for natural and human communities. The goal of the Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program is to support highly talented graduate students in New England and California whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality and who demonstrate the potential for leadership in their field.

"The Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program is in its 21st year of existence. In the early years, scientific and technical skills were paramount in the selection process. Over time, the Foundation responded to changes in environmental practice, and recognized that while the sciences are the underpinning of environmental work, practitioners are needed in a variety of sectors and fields, especially those with interdisciplinary interests. Therefore, the Foundation broadly defines its interest in the environment and the means by which positive results can be achieved. Awards have been made to students pursuing environmental policy, economics, conservation, public health, journalism, architecture, environmental justice, business and law as well as the more traditional sciences of biology, chemistry and engineering."

The award is $15,000 in cash.

For more information about this opportunity, please visit:

http://www.switzernetwork.org/fellowship-guidelines.html

University of California Marine Council Fellowships

2007-12-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

The UC Marine Council has decided to allow graduate students to apply directly for its research fellowships, and I advise all of you SIO students who want $30,000 to think about it. More information here:

http://www.ucop.edu/research/coastal/

American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowships

2007-12-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

The AHA Predoctoral Fellowship competition was just announced, and I noticed, while scrolling through last year's statistics, that Predocs had a whopping (for fellowships, anyway) 41 percent success rate. This makes it well worth your trouble to fill out one of these applications, if you're working on anything "closely or broadly related to cardiovascular function and diseases, stroke and cerebrovascular diseases, related basic and clinical biomedical sciences, bioengineering/biotechnology and public health programs, including related social and behavioral sciences, or related epidemiology."

Find out more here. There are two parts to the submission--electronic and paper. Electronic is due on Jan. 9, and the original plus three paper copies to the AHA offices on Jan. 15.

Boren Fellowships

2007-12-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

For those who couldn't make the info session on Friday, here are the most relevant and perhaps counterintuitive points that the fellowship representatives made:

Don't ignore the requirement that you make a compelling case for why your work will help national security. This obviously doesn't have to be "my work will single-handedly bring down all terrorist networks and possibly Vladimir Putin as well," but it will help your application if you can show that you've at least considered the implications of your research.
Those in PhD programs should have a research program in mind. For Master's students, this requirement is more flexible: you could, for instance, be thinking about an internship, or just achieving a really high level of competence in the language.
Award rate is about 20 percent, which is fairly high for a nationally competitive fellowship.
Keep in mind that the purpose of the award is language study. Language study can happen here, but your application is at a competitive advantage if it includes an abroad component.
If you're planning to do research in a country that has dialects in addition to whatever language you're pursuing, you can request funds to hire a translator for that dialect: no need to know every single dialect you might encounter.
Service component: It IS mandatory, but it can be fulfilled in a number of different ways. Most fulfill it by working for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, or State, but work in the foreign service also qualifies (and IR/PS students: if you're planning on the diplomatic corps, this fellowship gives you substantial advantages, such as waiving the written portion of the foreign service exam), and at NIH, the CDC, and Department of Energy, and even for government contractors, for the scientists out there. If you really want to work in government service, this is your foot in the door. It's not the case with most government hiring, but departments can use the hiring authority Sch. A code you gain under this fellowship to create new positions for you.
Advanced students in Spanish and French are considered for this fellowship; otherwise, you need have no experience in a language to apply.
Consider a couple of related critical language fellowships, too: CAORC and Flagship. The former is for summer study, so no need to take a whole academic year abroad; the latter is for advanced competency in a critical language, with overseas and domestic components (except in the case of the Russian program, which is all overseas).

If you have any questions, get in touch with me or with Megan Corrarino [ corrarinom (at) gmail (dot) com] or Meg Goehrig [goehrigm (at) gmail (dot) com], both alumnae of the program and both full of good advice about applications. I know the government service requirement can seem a bit onerous to those of you thinking of academic careers, but it's a good shot at a prestigious job right after you complete your program.

NSEP David L. Boren Fellowship Information Session

2007-11-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

On Friday, November 30, a representative from the NSEP David L. Boren Fellowship will be coming to UCSD to speak with students about these fantastic multiple-year awards for those studying critical languages. You can find out more here. Those of you in IR/PS should definitely have this one on your list.

The info session will be held at 10:30am in Price Center Gallery A.

Pacific Rim Graduate Research Program Officer on Campus next Tuesday

2007-11-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sandra Wulff, program officer for the Pacific Rim Research Fellowship, will be on campus next Tuesday, Nov. 6, to discuss the graduate research fellowship and mini-grants available through UCOP’s Pacific Rim program.

From the program website, http://www.ucop.edu/research/pacrim/:

The Pacific Rim Research Program is a multi-campus program established to encourage Pacific Rim research on the ten campuses of the University of California. It sponsors a competitive grants program that provides funds for University of California faculty and graduate students who do research on Pacific Rim topics in a variety of disciplines.

Its priorities are: (1) comparative investigation across national, cultural, linguistic and/or regional boundaries; (2) focus on interactions, flows, or major issues affecting the Pacific Rim region and specific to it; (3) collaboration of scholars in different countries and, where appropriate, different disciplines. Multi-disliplinary, multi-region research is encouraged. Proposals will be evaluated for scholarly merit, originality, purpose, relationship to existing research, theoretical framework, methodology, participants’ qualifications and roles, adequacy of available resources, budget justification, anticipated products, schedule, and dissemination plan.

Interested students should make a point of attending. Sandra is an invaluable resource for information about applying for this generous fellowship. I also have sample essays available for your guidance.

The meeting will be held in the International Center Lounge from 1-2pm.

Updates on fellowship deadlines

2007-10-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

First, I hope you and your families are safe and at home.

Some people have been asking me about deadline changes for the Fulbright-Hays and DAAD grants because they or their recommenders were affected by the fires. If you are in this situation, please email me as soon as possible to let me know the specifics. We'll see if we can find a work-around. For now, the deadlines (October 31 and November 1, respectively) stand.

Re-explanations

2007-10-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus brought to you by Fulbright, I'm back. I've had some questions about grant application procedures for various fall awards, so here's the deal:

1. DAAD: submit to me as soon as possible, but definitely before 11/1. We'll send your applications for you after naming our priority candidate.

2. Fulbright-Hays: Fulbright's sweeter, less demanding cousin. Everything should be done online besides giving me a paper copy of your transcript by October 31.

3. NSF: No, you don't have to go through the campus rep.; those of you in the physical sciences may want to talk to Professor Wulbert, anyway, because he knows his grants. The usual caveats about respecting his time apply. I have an example of a successful NSF essay, too. FastLane for everything else.

4. NSF Doctoral Dissertation completion grant: the only trick to this one is that your faculty advisor has to submit on your behalf--again, through FastLane. No campus deadline.

5. SSRC: Nothing on this end at all.

Follow-up to the previous post

2007-09-26T12:46:00.001-07:00

I am in fact always available to help you with your proposals, but for the sake of your application and my sanity, don't ask me at the eleventh hour. Until October 15, I'm occupied with giving my standard orientation spiel and interviewing 25 Fulbright candidates. After the 15th, my dance card isn't quite so full, but I do my best work when I have at least a few days to roll your essay over in my mind and see what sticks and what doesn't.

I recently attended a really extraordinary fellowship writing seminar given by Professor Isaac Martin in Sociology to five first- and second-year students, where Professor Martin made the true but sometimes counterintuitive point that when you get to this point in your academic career and you decide to apply for fellowships, you are no longer competing against your peers. An NSF, Javits, or Ford Fellowship recipient in your department can do very good things for its reputation, which in turn helps you when you go to look for jobs. So form writing groups, share your essays, and, if you can, get a professor to talk to you about what makes a good proposal. If you'd like, I'll come to the writing groups myself and pass along what I've learned from reading fellowship essays for a year and a half and attending talks given by program representatives. You'll learn that most vague of traits ascribed to those who get tenure--"collegiality"--and you might even get some money out of it.

First and second year students over here

2007-09-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

As first and second year students in graduate school, you have a brief window to apply for a number of generous training fellowships offered by outside agencies, created to free you from the requirements of TAing and RAing in your first few years at UCSD. Most of these have deadlines coming up in the next three to six weeks.

For Scientists, Engineers, and Social Scientists (including master’s students)

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07576/nsf07576.htm)

“The Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards fellowships for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation.” Please note that this includes social scientists in research-oriented fields.

The eligibility language for this year has changed to include second-year students who have not completed their first quarters of graduate study.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowships carry a $30,000 yearly stipend, plus a cost of education allowance.

Deadlines are staggered throughout November. You will apply directly to NSF online. Recommendation letters due December 1.

For students in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts

Jacob Javits Fellowships (http://www.ed.gov/programs/jacobjavits/applicant.html)

“The purpose of the Jacob K. Javits (JKJ) Fellowship Program is to award fellowships to eligible students of superior ability, selected on the basis of demonstrated achievement, financial need, and exceptional promise, to undertake graduate study in specific fields in the arts, humanities, and social sciences leading to a doctoral degree or to a master's degree in those fields in which the master's degree is the terminal highest degree awarded in the selected field of study at accredited institutions of higher education.” Only students in their first year of study are eligible to apply, so don’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Please note that this award will require you to fill out of a FAFSA, which I highly recommend that you do online.

Stipend is generous, but depends on individual need. Four years of support. Apply directly to the Department of Education online.

Deadline: October 15

For everyone who meets the selection criteria

Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowships (http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fordfellowships/fordpredoc.html)

Called “diversity fellowships,” these are actually designed not just to support members of groups whose underrepresentation in the academy has been “severe and longstanding,” but also those who have shown sustained engagement with the members of these groups through volunteer work or academic research. Decided on the basis of academic record and desire to teach at the college level.

Stipend is $20,000/year for three years and an award to the school of $2000 in lieu of tuition/fees.

Apply to the National Academies online.

Deadline: November 15 for application; January 18 for recommendation letters and transcripts.

DAAD Study and Research Scholarships in Germany (http://www.daad.org)

Graduate students may apply at any point in their careers for short-term or long-term programs to study, do research, or earn degrees in Germany.

The application form is online, but will also require a separate mailing of a hard copy in sixtuplicate to DAAD. UCSD is allowed to nominate one priority candidate for extra consideration. For those applying in the Fine Arts, Performing Music, or Dance, the UCSD deadline is October 15. For students in all other fields, it is November 1. Please submit a copy of the application to Shannon Chamberlain at the Office of Graduate Studies, mail code 0003, or drop it off on the fourth floor of the Student Services Center.

As always, I am available to help interested students with their applications. Please contact me at sfchamberlain@ucsd.edu to get tips on writing proposal statements or to obtain a copy of our fellowship writing guide and successful proposal essays.

Fulbright-Hays competition finally announced

2007-09-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

The DDRA Fulbright-Hays competition has finally started, and, ironically, this year's due date is earlier than last year's--Nov. 5. The Fulbright-Hays award is a highly useful little grant for completing humanities or social science doctoral dissertation research in any non-Western European country, and UCSD traditionally has some luck with it, particularly in anthropology, sociology, and history. We have sample essays available to help you out, and I'm happy to look at anything you want to send along. The UCSD due date for internal processing of the award will be October 31. Everything is done online except sending your transcripts, which I do on your behalf, so please get me copies of those at the same time you hit the submit button online.

Jacob Javits Fellowships

2007-09-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Those of you in the first year of graduate studies in the social sciences, arts, and humanities are still eligible to apply for the multi-year, highly lucrative Jacob Javits Fellowships. Javits applications require that you fill out a FAFSA to determine your need eligibility, and you'll need all of the standard elements of a typical fellowship application. The due date this year is October 15, at which time you apply directly to the Department of Education. I'm willing to read proposals for the Javits, but I need to have them as soon as possible.

IIE visit for scientists and engineers

2007-09-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, September 25, Vijay Renganathan from the Institute for International Education will be at UCSD to talk about the following study abroad scholarship and fellowship programs of potential interest to graduate students and graduating seniors:

Winston Churchill Foundation Scholarships: A very prestigious award for graduating seniors in the sciences who wish to study at Churchill College, Cambridge. Deadline - November 12.

http://www.winstonchurchillfoundation.org/

NSF Central Europe Summer Research Institute (CESRI): Graduate and doctoral level students in the sciences can spend two months conducting lab work in one of six Central European countries. Deadline - February 4.

http://www.iie.org/cesri/

Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program: Biomedical engineers, from graduating seniors to recent PhD recipients, can go anywhere to undertake an activity relevant to their careers, and towards the goal of increasing international collaboration in the field of biomedical engineering. Deadline - February 11.

http://www.whitaker.org/

The event will be held in Computer Science and Engineering Room 4140 (Warren College) from 11am-12pm, and should feature plenty of advice useful for those of you interested in undertaking research abroad. Please RSVP to Shannon Chamberlain (sfchamberlain@ucsd.edu) if you plan to attend.

San Diego Foundation Fellowships

2007-09-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

The San Diego Foundation is a local philanthropic endeavor, and they're offering two two-year, $25,000 fellowships for 20 hours of work related to the foundation's work in the arts, environment, and science. For a PDF listing the requirements and more information, please contact me at sfchamberlain (at) ucsd(dot) edu. For more than the executive summary, contact Kerri Favela at the SD Foundation: kerri (at) sdfoundation (dot) org.

Reminder: IIE Fulbright

2007-09-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that the IIE Fulbright grants are due next Friday, September 14. At that time, please hit the submit button on the online application, and deliver a paper copy along with your supporting documents (transcripts, recommendation letters, affiliation letters if applicable) to my office on the fourth floor of the new Student Services Center, next to the Price Center. I will have a box at reception. I can take supporting documents up to a week late.

Just a reminder: Recommendations, transcripts, and affiliations MUST be received in hard copy. Your recommenders do not necessarily have to submit online (although they can if they'd like and it certainly helps the process go more smoothly), but I need a signed hard copy by the time the application goes to New York in mid-October. If necessary, submit unsigned hard copies in the meantime.

ASEE Blog

2007-09-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

Some kind soul commented on a post below to point out the wonderful ASEE blog, which is updated frequently with fellowship opportunities for scientists and engineers. A recent post announced the Society of Women Engineers Scholarships for undergrad and grad study.

Fulbright WUN UK Exchange

2007-09-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

UCSD is one of the partner universities involved in the Fulbright/WUN exchange program with five UK universities.

The advantages of this program, to those of you who are interested in studying at the partner universities of Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, Southampton, or York, is that this Fulbright program is far less competitive than the usual UK application process through normal channels. There's no faculty interview on UCSD's campus, and we can nominate as many people as can turn in applications. 40 slots are available for US scholars heading to the UK, and only the students of five US universities are eligible to apply.

For more information, you can look at this press release or contact Reyna Stallings in International Affairs (rstallings@ucsd.edu; 858-822-1828) or me (sfchamberlain@ucsd.edu; 858-822-2938). The deadline is October 12.

Sample essays available

2007-08-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Those applying for international fellowships should email me about our new sample essay guide, which contains past successful Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, SSRC, and Pacific Rim applications written by your fellow students.

Career Services Resume Writing Workshop

2007-07-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

A resume writing workshop just for grad students. Topics: how to think outside of the academy, convert your CV to a resume, and emphasize your transferable skills.

Wednesday, August 8, 3:00-4:00pm. Career Services Center's Horizon Room.

Fall Funding Digests

2007-07-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Your department should have sent out my fall funding digest for your division, a summary of all of the awards with deadlines before Nov. 1. If you didn't receive it, send me an email. Be sure to include your division name.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

2007-07-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Those of you who are recently naturalized or green card holders (as well as those of you who have two naturalized parents), should be giving some careful thought to the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, which provide a $20,000 stipend and half tuition for two years of graduate study to those in professional and master's programs, in addition to Ph.D. candidates. I just attended a very informative talk by Warren Ilchman, the foundation officer for this fellowship, and he delved deeply into the meanings of the various criteria for selection, as well as providing a general message that all of us could stand to remember: in competitive fellowship rounds, readers are looking for reasons to exclude you, not include you. Which isn't to say that one part of your application can't be weaker than the rest, but that the other parts have to outshine it (or, barring that, you need to provide some reasonable explanation for why your GRE scores are bad or your GPA is a running a little shy of a 3.5).

He also provided a very helpful hierarchy of the difficulty of prestigious fellowship interviews. To wit, in decreasing levels of pressure and ability to create and propagate sweaty terror: Rhodes, Truman, Marshall, Soros. Just something for you undergraduates to keep in mind when you're applying. I got the impression that GRE scores were a bit more important to the decision-makers than stratospheric GPAs, but that might have been a mere impression.

As for the criteria, Ilchman elaborated, with examples, on some of the fuzzier terms:

Creativity: His example led me to believe that founding something or taking initiative, instead of simply joining something, was the key to scoring high in this category. He said that the foundation is tired of seeing long lists of standard activities from applicants, i.e. Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International, etc. You could score points in this category by being unusual in some way or another, and writing about it well.

Accomplishment: Do something really well, or work really hard at it. Those of you who haven't founded anything but work assiduously for some cause or another--this is your category. Pile on your examples, and talk about what they meant to you.

Commitment to the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights: This, contrary to its somewhat strange nomenclature, is actually not a political litmus test but a call for active citizenship. Here's your opportunity to talk about your political protesting, letter writing campaigns, and how you single-handedly registered all of the voters in a small Mississippi Delta town during summer vacation last year. I'd also encourage potential applicants to remember that Paul Soros is George Soros's brother, so political engagement of a contrarian kind might fall on particularly receptive ears.

Trajectory: Ilchman usefully contrasted "distance traveled" and "the use of opportunities." Since not everyone is so fortunate as to be born unfortunate, you don't necessarily need to talk about how you slept in your car for five years or attended schools that actually had need of those metal detectors for a purpose other than creating the illusion of security (but if you did, talk about it!) Those born in four-bedroom Everywhere, America houses to two happily married parents and 1.2 siblings can score points in this category by showing that they did something with their backgrounds that exceeded even the privileges conferred by it, like Ilchman's example: a young woman who was one of only seven people in the history of Harvard Med to make summa cum laude. The general rule, for this fellowship and others, is that those with privilege need to demonstrate that they weren't content to do internships with Mummy or Daddy's company over the summer: they also collected books for ruined African libraries.

Anyone interested in this fellowship who wants more inside information should give me a call, send an email, or make an appointment. If you want to read more about scholarships/fellowships in general, from the perspective of those who award them, check out The Lucky Few and the Worthy Many, a book Ilchman co-authored about the subject. I'll be willing to loan my copy out in a week or so, after I've finished reading it.

PhRMA Foundation

2007-07-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

PhRMA Foundation Awards

Pharmacology
Awards support career-development activities of scientists engaging in research that integrated information on molecular or cellular mechanism of action with information on the effects of an agent observed in an intact organism, either in experimental animal or clinical studies or both. (Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships available.)

The Paul Calabresi Medical Student Fellowship
An introduction to cutting edge translational science as it relates to human drug action. Supports medical/dental students who have substantial interests in research and teaching careers in pharmacology and who are willing to work full time in a specific research effort. Can be undertaken at home school or at another institution.

Health Outcomes/Pharmacoeconomics/Patient Reported Outcomes Research
Spans a broad spectrum of issues from studies evaluating the effectiveness of a particular pharmaceutical intervention to the impact of reimbursement policies on the outcomes of care. (Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships.)

Bioinformatics
To promote the use and development of informatics in an integrative approach towards the understanding of human biological and disease processes. Informatics awards will support career development of scientists engaged in research that significantly integrates cutting-edge information technology with advanced biological, chemical, and pharmacological sciences in genetics, genomics, proteomics, systems biology, and molecular epidemiology. (Postdoctoral only.)

Find out more about all of these awards at www.phrmafoundation.org

Good advice for scientists

2007-06-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

This is a guide written by an MIT student about his experiences applying for graduate school and graduate fellowships. I posted it a few months ago, but as you should be working on grad applications over the summer, I thought it bore repeating. (Incidentally, take the idea that there are only three fellowships for students attending graduate school in the sciences with a large grain of salt. Here's another one, for instance, open to UC students who want to work at Lawrence Livermore.)

Waseda Institute for Advanced Study

2007-04-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hey, graduates! Want to work in Japan?

Waseda University is aiming to further strengthen its research and education by taking steps to realize a research system and graduate school system that will allow young researchers to think flexibly and to exercise their capabilities and talents to the full. A new system of fixed-term appointments for younger faculty is being established as part of this effort, based upon the visiting faculty system, and the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (“the Institute”) was established in September, 2006 to provide a framework in which younger researchers can devote themselves to research in a highly developed research environment. We are now issuing a call for younger researchers who wish to take up fixed-term appointments at the Institute to engage in research activity.

For more information, please see:

http://www.waseda.jp/wias/english/recruit.html

This appears to be a postdoc situation, but with the title "visiting professor" attached to it. Note that this is also for you humanities and social sciences people, too. The requirements don't preclude ABDs, either: "Having doctoral degree (including PhD acquired at an overseas institution, excluding professional degrees) in hand, or having expectation of degree by October 1, 2007, or having completed three years of research guidance in a doctoral program." Looks to be a very interesting opportunity.

The German Mobility Centre

2007-04-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of interest lately in travel to Germany, and so I happened upon the website of the German Mobility Centre, which provides links to all of the small German foundations which offer scholarships. When you're searching, I believe that graduate students are, for the purposes of German nomenclature, "post graduates."

American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Fellowships

2007-04-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

The University of Chicago's Junior Research Fellowships in Indian Studies are "available to doctoral candidates at U.S. universities in all fields of study. Junior Research Fellowships are specifically designed to enable doctoral candidates to pursue their dissertation research in India. Junior Research Fellows establish formal affiliation with Indian universities and Indian research supervisors. Awards are available for up to eleven months." For those of you who have moved on, Senior Research Fellowships can cover your research after you've received the Ph.D. Artists with experience should look at the Senior Performing and Creative Arts Fellowships, as well.

And the best news of all: non-U.S. citizens are eligible.

Find out more information here: www.indiastudies.org

IIE/Fulbright Seminar

2007-04-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

IIE Fulbright's Director of Fulbright Student Program Outreach will be in
town this Friday, April 20, talking about the Fulbright and other abroad
programs sponsored by IIE. Come listen to a short presentation and a Q and A
at 1:30pm in the Michel de Certeau seminar room, Literature Building 155.

Grant Writing Workshops sponsored by CTD

2007-04-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

OGS is now more or less ensconced in its new digs, the fourth floor of the Student Services Center. Come for the signatures, stay for that glorious new drywall smell.

The Center for Teaching Development is an out-and-out fantastic resource for many reasons, but I recently learned that they also sponsor grant writing workshops. The spring quarter one is coming up soon. Here's the information:

Each quarter GRANT WRITING IN THE SCIENCES is offered by Peter Wagner, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering, at the School of Medicine, UCSD. Dr. Wagner has been leading these workshops for CTD since 2001. Dr. Wagner has written an article on this topic for The Physiologist-- "On writing a grant application: a personal view."

Success in academe, particularly in a research institution, can often be correlated with success in grant writing. CTD provides this opportunity for graduate students, TAs, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows to explore the issues involved in effective grant writing--what are the components that, if known and well-executed, can equate with success?

* Although Dr. Wagner's presentation is geared to grant writing in the sciences, it is open to participants from any discipline. Approximately 50 to 75 people attend these sessions. CTD also offers supplemental workshops for grant writing in the humanities and social sciences; however, much of the information supplied by Dr. Wagner is applicable to other disciplines.

The Spring Quarter workshop will be held on Wednesday, April 25 from noon to 1:30 pm in Garren Auditorium on the School of Medicine campus.

Save the Date: Fulbright Program Presentation

2007-04-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

Fulbright's Director of Student Outreach will be visiting UCSD on the afternoon April 20, 2007. The event will most likely be held in the International Center, from 2-3pm. Plan on attending if you're interested, and keep checking here for updates.

NIH Kirschstein F31 procedures

2007-03-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a ton of calls about procedures for the NIH F31/Kirschstein awards. Kim E. Barrett, the Dean of Graduate Studies, is the signing official on all predoctoral fellowships. (Postdocs should see Jennifer Oh in Research.) Her contact information can be found here. For UCSD's DUNS and EIN, OCGA has a Vital Information webpage here. I arrange for Kim Barrett's signature, so you can bring your documentation to me on the 2nd floor of 518 University Center until this Wednesday, April 4, at which point OGS will be closed until the 9th for relocation to the Student Services Center.

In order for the dean to sign off, all of your other signatures need to be in place first. Additionally, if you do not already have a eRA commons login, you need to contact Sara Kaup in OCGA to obtain one. To spare Sara the spam, I'm not going to post her email address here, but please look it up in the directory. I can't approve your application unless you have one.

School of Medicine students should see Kerry Nare about their signatures. I can only have the dean sign off on applications for students enrolled at UCSD's General Campus.

Hope this clears up some of the FAQs. Please contact me if you're still having trouble.

Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship

2007-03-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Program in Japanese Studies is pleased to encourage graduate students in Japanese Studies to apply for a Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship. These mini-grants are intended for summer and academic research for 2007-2008. Applicants can apply for up to $10,000 to support research and study on Japan.

Please submit:
CV, grant proposal, budget, two letters of recommendation, and other sources of funding (pending or committed) by Monday, May 7.

Mail proposals to:
UCSD, Program in Japanese Studies
9500 Gilman Drive #0104
La Jolla, CA 92093-0104

Contact:
Jeannette Ibarra
(858) 534-3598
jibarra@ucsd.edu

For Master's students (finally)!

2007-03-22T08:51:00.000-07:00

Rae K. Hepps Graduate Fellowship

This fellowship will be awarded to 2-4 outstanding Master's students in any field of study who have financial need, who are residents of the United States and who plan to commence or to continue graduate study at UCSD in Fall 2007.

The one-year award of $2,500 - $5,000 each for the selected student(s), is given to assist with living and educational expenses.

Each academic department may nominate two students for this award.

To nominate students, please submit the following documents:

1. Letter from the department chair or graduate adviser addressing the following:

a. The nominee's academic performance to date and other significant achievements in their field of study.
b. How the nominee meets the specific eligibility requirements of the award.
c. The nominee's financial need.

2. If an incoming student, a copy of the nominee's application for admission, including statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, undergraduate transcript, and GRE scores.

3. If a continuing student, nominee's UCSD transcript.

All of the above materials should be submitted to Kathryn Murphy by Friday, April 27, 2007. The awards will be announced in May.

Closed for business (but not permanently)

2007-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Office of Graduate Studies is moving to the new Student Services Center on April 6, 2007. We'll be closed for business Thursday, April 5 through Tuesday, April 10, and without access to email or phones for most of that time.

Once we're open, come visit us on the 4th floor, north wing. Mail codes remain the same: 0003 for the general office, and 0086 for admissions. We'll also be keeping all of our old phone numbers.

Calling all statisticians and social scientists

2007-03-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

This isn't a fellowship...but it's the next best thing: a job.

OGS is hiring an institutional research officer to replace the indomitable Andrew Stringfellow, former Cog. Sci. graduate student and principal investigator of the graduate student survey. The job involves statistical analysis of quantitative data, designing surveys, and presenting on your findings. It's a great opportunity for a recent graduate, so be sure to look at the job description if it sounds interesting:

http://joblink.ucsd.edu/bulletin/job.html?job_id=41810

UCSD Internal Fellowships

2007-03-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

UCSD offers a number of internal fellowships for which your department needs to nominate you.

Frieda Daum Urey Academic Fellowship - 2007-08

Awarded to students who have had a significant hiatus in their studies. Significant can be as little as two or three years for students in science and engineering or who have served in the military, but should be at least five years for everyone else. The fellowship should also make a critical difference in your financial ability to attend UCSD. Ph.D. students will be preferred, but master's and professional students are also eligible. School of Medicine academic and professional programs are not eligible.

Oceanids Memorial Fellowship

This fellowship will be awarded to a graduate student who has exhibited academic excellence and financial need at the General Campus of UCSD or the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. This fellowship of $2,000.00 will be awarded to the best qualified individual who is also a resident of the United States.

For both of these, the nomination process on the part of your department is the same:

Please submit the following documents:

1. Letter from the department chair or graduate adviser covering the following:

The nominee's academic performance to date and potential for making significant contributions to research, teaching, and/or artistic activity.
How the nominee meets the specific eligibility requirements of the award.
The nominee's financial need.
2. If an incoming student, a copy of the nominee's application for admission, including statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, undergraduate transcript, and GRE scores.

3. If a continuing student, nominee's UCSD transcript.

All of the above materials must be received by Kathryn Murphy no later than Friday, April 27, 2007. The awardees will be announced in May.

OGS's mail code is 0003.

Friends of the International Center : Call for Nominations

2007-03-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Friends of the International Center has made a number of small study abroad scholarships available to graduate and medical students. Departments are allowed to nominate three candidates, so talk to your departments today. Here's the full information:

Scholarships will be given to graduate students planning to study abroad and to foreign graduate students in residence at UCSD during 2007-08. The awards will vary from $1,000 to a maximum of $2,000 - depending upon the number of nominees selected. The selection of students for the scholarships will be made by the Friends Scholarship Committee.

You may nominate a maximum of three (3) outstanding graduate or medical students from your department/program for the graduate study abroad award and/or the foreign student award.

Eligibility is restricted to students who:

1. have a distinguished academic record;
2. are willing to contribute in some way to furthering friendship, understanding, and cooperation among peoples of diverse countries through programs at the International Center;
3. have completed one year of full-time graduate study for the Ph.D., M.F.A., M.P.I.A., M.D. or D.M.A. at UCSD;
4. will be registered for a full-time program of study and research in 2007-08 or, in the case of foreign student nominees, will be on campus at UCSD in 2007-08.

To make nominations, please submit the following information for each student:

1. Letter from the department chair or graduate advisor containing:

An evaluation of the nominee's graduate performance to date and potential for future contributions to research in the student's discipline or artistic activity.
Other support the student is receiving and the student's financial need, if any.
Contribution the student has made, if any, to furthering friendship, understanding, and cooperation among peoples of diverse countries.
Departmental ranking, if more than one student is nominated for either award.

2. Statement from the nominee which describes his or her qualifications for the award, graduate study and career plans, financial need, and contributions to international friendship and understanding. The student statement should be no more than two (2) pages.
3. Student's vitae.
4. Student's current transcript.
5. Student's current e-mail and mailing address.

Please submit nominations to Kathryn Murphy no later than Friday, April 20, 2007.

Council for European Studies Fellowships

2007-03-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

From the overview:

"Established in 1971, the CES Fellowship Program has played a crucial role in the early stages of many experts’ careers. The Program serves as the leading source for pre-dissertation fellowships that fund young scholars’ first major research projects in Europe. Since the program’s founding, the Council has awarded more than 500 fellowships, totaling more than $2.0 million.

"By funding young scholar’s first major research projects in Europe, the Fellowship Program encourages these scholars to develop the skills required to research, analyze, and teach European studies. Fellowships provide students with unique opportunities to conduct extensive library research, field-site investigations, and interviews with policymakers and government leaders and foster original and noteworthy research that crosses disciplinary, national, and cultural boundaries."

Those of you thinking about Fulbright might consider these awards, if your projects can be completed in a shorter duration.

Publishing Workshop

2007-03-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

OGS is sponsoring a publishing workshop next week with three great speakers. Publications are often a major component in getting extramural funding for your dissertation year. Here's the information:

Publishing Workshop
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - 4:30pm
Cross Cultural Center, Gallery
Presented by: Dr. Alison Wishard Guerra, Dr. Claire Ramsey, and Dr. Jim Levin

Please join us for a detailed discussion on the Publishing process:

Turning your dissertation into a book
Writing journal articles for publication
Top 10 publishing tips
Q&A session to follow afterward

Refreshments will be provided.

RSVP to Sonha Castelli, sncastelli@ucsd.edu, by March 2, 2007.

ASBMB Public Policy Fellowship

2007-02-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

An interesting opportunity from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology:

"ASBMB is pleased to announce that it is seeking applicants from amongst newly graduated Ph.Ds for an ASBMB Science Policy Fellowship. The Fellowship affords the opportunity to gain experience and insights into the workings of the policy process and the role that science plays in government decision making about a wide range of issues. The Fellow will work closely with policy professionals both in and outside government. The experience will provide exposure to the federal research budget process, regulatory issues, and interplay between science and decision-making."

Find out more here. Due May 15, 2007.