HFA Graduate Student Research Intensive Semester Fellowship

The HFA Graduate Student Research Intensive Semester (GRIS) Fellowship will provide a graduate student enrolled in a doctoral degree program in HFA with funded, dedicated time for concentrated scholarship, fieldwork, or lab work, free from standard teaching or administrative duties during Spring 2027. This fellowship competition is open to doctoral students in good standing who are at the proposal stage.  

One fellowship will be offered for Spring 2027. Apply by Monday, October 12, 2026.  

The deadline for proposal advisors to submit a letter of recommendation as well as the procedure they should follow are outlined in the Application Procedure section below.

Eligibility Requirements 

UMass Amherst students enrolled in a doctoral degree program in HFA and in good academic standing according to their departments’ graduate program handbooks are eligible to apply. To be considered, applicants must be at the proposal stage, having completed qualifying exams or equivalent and anticipate completing the dissertation proposal in Spring/Summer 2027. 

GRIS Activity 

The goal of the GRIS Fellowship is to allow doctoral students time to focus on their research and related activities, so fellowship recipients are not allowed to teach or hold administrative positions during the award period. The recipient must have scheduled check-in meetings with the proposal committee or advisor during the RIS period. 

Application Procedure 

The application form is available on the UMass InfoReady portal. The application deadline is Monday, October 12, 2026, 11:59 p.m.

The following documents are required at the time of application:    

  • A research statement and timeline not to exceed 3 pages in length.
  • Curriculum vitae 
  • Proposal advisor’s email address, which the applicant will use on the application form to request the letter of recommendation through InfoReady. The proposal advisor named by the applicant in the application will receive an automated solicitation email with a deadline of October 17, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. to submit the letter.
    • The letter of recommendation from the proposal advisor shall include confirmation (based on information from the GPD) that the applicant is in good standing AND has met ALL requirements necessary to move to the proposal/prospectus stage according to the department's Graduate Handbook. 

Who to Contact 

Lisa Green, Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Student Success, lgree [at] linguist [dot] umass [dot] edu (lgreen[at]linguist[dot]umass[dot]edu)