Looking for Fellowships to Support You and Your Research?

Extramural fellowships, awarded by foundations and institutions other than UCSD, give you the opportunity to work on your research independent of the requirement to be a TA or GSR. But start early: most fellowship deadlines are set a year in advance of funding. These deadlines typically fall between October 1 and February 1.

Applications generally require a research proposal, at least two letters of recommendation, and transcripts. Many applications are now completed online, but still require the hard copy submission of letters and transcripts. Applications for fellowships abroad typically ask for a letter of support from a professor or university inside the country willing to help you with your research once you arrive.

Fellowships are competitive — only 8 to 13 percent of the applicant pool actually receives an award — but the rewards are great. Some offer stipends of $25,000 or more for several years.

You can start by learning about available funding opportunities:

UCSD’s Internal Resources

Start here by searching our SURF database. Enter your funding criteria for the best results. When you find something appealing, visit the sponsor’s website to get the full version of the requirements. Be sure to note whether UCSD has an internal deadline and selection process, and apply to the Office of Graduate Studies by that date.

You can also sign up for our e-mail funding announcements listserv. Just send an email to listserv@ucsd.edu with the following line in the message body: “add email@ucsd.edu funding-announcements-l”, and replace email@ucsd.edu with your own UCSD email address.

The Office of Graduate Studies maintains its own funding blog. Announcements about new awards and general administration issues are posted as we receive them. In addition, the graduate fellowship advisor annotates a guide to successful fellowship proposal essays, available in hard copy and PDF by request.

Other Search Engines

The Community of Science is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary web resource to locate fellowships and other research opportunities. UCSD is a subscriber, and you must access the database from a campus computer. Set up a new user profile to receive weekly email updates whenever new opportunities meet your search criteria.
UCLA’s graduate studies office maintains the easy-to-use and frequently updated GRAPES database.

Your department graduate coordinator and/or your advisor

Talking to your advisor is often the best way to find good matches for your work. Faculty are familiar with the fellowships in your field because they’ve seen students receive them before, and even written recommendations for them.

Your department’s graduate coordinator may receive application materials directly, or know about opportunities that haven’t reached the Office of Graduate Studies.

If enough students in your department are interested, and you have an available hour and a room, we’ll come to you to talk about opportunities and critique proposals in a workshop format.

OGS is here to help you find and apply for fellowships. Contact the Graduate Fellowship Advisor, Linda Vong (858-822-2938; lkvong@ucsd.edu) if you have questions or need assistance with your search or application.