MFA Thesis Research Grant Program

These grants of up to $2,000 provide support for MFA thesis research. Funds are designed to cover costs related to producing new work, including research, materials, or travel or other activities related to developing the MFA thesis. 

Who Is Eligible?

UMass Amherst students enrolled in an MFA degree program (Theater, English, and Studio Arts) and in good academic standing are eligible to apply. Students may receive this grant only once. Applicants who were not awarded a grant in a previous application cycle are eligible to reapply. Students may accept only one research grant from the Graduate School in an academic year. 

Application

Submit your application for the MFA Thesis Research Grant via InfoReady--the application will open in mid-December. Once the application is open, the InfoReady site will outline full application instructions and provides a template to prepare your budget table. 

The application requires a letter of recommendation from your faculty advisor--you must register your letter writer in the application system before they can submit their letter. To register your letter writer, start your application in InfoReady and enter the name and UMass email address for your letter writer, then save your application draft. Once you have entered the information and saved your application draft, the InfoReady system will send an email to your faculty advisor with instructions to submit their letter. You can return to your saved application in InfoReady at any time prior to the deadline to complete the application.  

Application deadlines are October 15 and February 15 each year (unless otherwise noted on the InfoReady application site). 

The application deadline is 11:59 PM on the posted due date. All required materials (including the advisor’s Letter of Recommendation) must be received by this time. 

Award notifications will be made by the end of the semester in which the application was submitted. 

Supplements for Public Engagement or Travel with Children

Applicants for Graduate School Grants are eligible to apply for supplements to cover costs associated with Public Engagement projects or childcare/travel with children during research. Please review the criteria and application information in the Public Engagement and Travel with Children pages.

Questions on the Graduate School MFA Thesis Research Grant should be addressed to researchgrant [at] grad [dot] umass [dot] edu (Heidi Bauer-Clapp).