Upcoming Grants and Fellowships Workshops!
Events offered by OPD teach graduate students and postdocs tips and tools to strategically search for relevant funding and help participants craft competitive, cohesive funding proposals.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship: Six Weeks to Submit!
Friday, October 3rd - 2:30-3:45pm (online)
The 2026 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship competition is finally open! The deadlines for submission are November 10-14, 2025, depending on field of study. Can you pull together an application before that? Yes! This session will provide an overview of the GRFP application components, offer insight into review criteria, and help you outline a writing schedule to hit submit on time! Students should verify their eligibility to apply for the fellowship on the NSF GRFP website.
Graduate School Research Grants: Info Session
Tuesday, October 7th - 1:00-2:00pm (online)
The Graduate School offers three research grants: Doctoral students may apply to the Predissertation Grants that support dissertation research development and Fieldwork Grants that support dissertation research outside the Western Massachusetts area. MFA students may apply to the MFA Thesis Research Grants. This Info Session will provide an overview of each opportunity and outline what makes an application competitive.
Convincing Funders that Your Work Matters
Thursday, October 9th - 10:00-11:00am (515 Goodell)
A critical component of any funding application is communicating the contributions of your work. In this session, we will outline how to recognize what your funder values and discuss strategies to communicate the significance of your work to diverse funding audiences in any type of funding proposal.
Graduate School Grants: Proposal Introductions & Research Objectives
Tuesday, October 14th - 1:00-2:15pm (online)
Planning to apply for the competitive Graduate School Predissertation, Fieldwork Grant, or MFA Thesis Research Grant? This session will help you write an effective introduction to your proposal and clear research objectives. We will also discuss how to provide useful background information for your proposed research.
Grant Series Part I: Funding Search Strategies
Thursday, October 16th - 1:00-2:00pm (online)
Need external funding to support your research? Get started by learning about basic tools available to UMass graduate students and postdocs to help find grants and fellowships. We’ll also discuss tips to manage your funding search.
Graduate School Grants: Methods & Research Approvals
Tuesday, October 21st - 1:00-2:15pm (online)
Planning to apply for the competitive Graduate School Predissertation, Fieldwork Grant, or MFA Thesis Research Grant? This session will help you write a methods section that reviewers outside your discipline can understand. We will also discuss how to get started with applications for IRB approval (for human subjects research), IACUC approval (for research involving animals), or travel approval.
Grants & Fellowships: The First Two Years
Thursday, October 23rd - 1:00-2:00pm (online)
This session is designed for graduate students in the first two years of a research-based doctoral program to learn about early career funding opportunities and start drafting short- and long-term funding plans.
Graduate School Grants: Research Contributions & Project Budgets
Tuesday, October 28th - 1:00-2:15pm (online)
Planning to apply for the competitive Graduate School Predissertation, Fieldwork Grant, or MFA Thesis Research Grant? This session will help you clearly articulate the potential contributions of your research that will make sense to reviewers outside your discipline. We will also discuss how to structure your project budget and budget justification.
Grant Series Part I: Funding Search Strategies
Thursday, November 6th - 1:00-2:00pm (515 Goodell)
Need external funding to support your research? Get started by learning about basic tools available to UMass graduate students and postdocs to help find grants and fellowships. We’ll also discuss tips to manage your funding search.