Graduate Student Fellowships

To facilitate doctoral dissertation completion, the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences will award up to 10 Dissertation Completion Fellowships for the 2025-2026 Academic year to doctoral students in the final year of their studies—but no later than their 6th year in the program. Applicants must have a current TA appointment within the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, should be in good standing in their programs and must have defended their dissertation proposals or completed any equivalent processes existing in their departments. Students with grant funded GRA appointments may be nominated if their thesis advisor is experiencing or is anticipating a temporary disruption of external funding that will have a substantial adverse impact on the long-term viability of their research program.  In such circumstances, applications can be submitted for student funding support for the gap period between the grant expiration date and the start of a confirmed new grant award.

In place of receiving a stipend, the fellowship will provide student funding equivalent to a semester’s pay at their normal rate. This will allow them to focus on dissertation research and writing without loss of revenue for a semester during their last year of study.

For the Dissertation Completion Fellowship awards, the application should include the following information:

1.  A current copy of the applicant’s curriculum vitae including information about research, service, and outreach activities if applicable (maximum 2 single-spaced pages-or the application will be returned without review).
2.  A short abstract of the dissertation (maximum 2 single-spaced pages) that explains the significance and impact of the work in terms accessible to those outside the discipline.
3. A bibliography containing a list of references that does not exceed one page
4.  A one-page plan for completion which explains which elements of the dissertation are complete and offers a plan and schedule for completing the remaining elements during the academic year this award is made.
5.  A letter of reference from the applicant’s major professor describing the scholarly significance and potential impact of the work. The letter should summarize the status of the project and provide a clear assessment of the applicant’s potential for completing the dissertation during the following academic year. The letter should also provide an estimate regarding the quality of the applicant’s project relative to their peers’ in the program. 
6. An endorsement letter of the applicant’s graduate liaison or academic unit chair with the following content for GTA applications:
   On behalf of the Department of ________________I endorse ____________’s  application for the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Finishing Fellowship. Should _____________ receive the fellowship, the department will relieve them of their instructional duties as a graduate teaching assistant for the____________ semester.)
7. For GRA applications – A brief statement addressing the timing and cause of interruption of funding for the GRA as well as information on funding continuation. 

Applications must be submitted in one PDF document through the online portal by the student's dissertation advisor or the Graduate liaison. The deadline for submissions is February 21, 2025. 

Apply here for the DFCAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship