Prestigious External Fellowships and Traineeships

Prestigious External Fellowships

These fellowships are highly competitive prestigious awards made to students by federal agencies and foundations, to assist students in the pursuit of their studies or research. Fellowships vary, but most provide funds for stipends and some or all cost of education expenses. As part of the collective bargaining agreement with GEO, the university grants qualified fellowship recipients the same benefits, waivers, and many of the rights of GEO membership.

Examples of prestigious fellowships include:

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
NASA Graduate Research Fellowships
National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program (NDSEG)
American Association of University Women International and American Fellowships
Switzer Foundation Fellowship
National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship
Soros Foundation Fellowship for New Americans

Graduate students who receive an external fellowship from a domestic funder (US foundation or federal agency) should notify the Graduate School immediately and provide a copy of their award letter using the 2024-25 External Domestic Award Notification Form. You should also notify your faculty advisor and graduate program administrator/coordinator. Please contact hbauerclapp [at] grad [dot] umass [dot] edu (Heidi Bauer-Clapp) with questions on how to report an external fellowship from a domestic funder. 

Graduate students who receive a prestigious fellowship from an international agency or government should complete the International Fellowship Notification Form. Please contact nishida [at] umass [dot] edu (Naoko Ishida) in the International Programs Office with questions on how to report an external fellowship from an international agency or government. 

FAQs for Prestigious External Fellowships

Traineeships

These awards assist students in the pursuit of training that enhances or complements the traditional curricular and research training provided by degree-granting graduate programs. Traineeships are typically awarded to cohorts of students participating in faculty-led institutional training grants, though individual nonworking traineeships also exist. Examples of nonworking traineeships include NSF NRT and NIH T32.