Academic year 2022-2023

SPHHS – PhD student non-working fellowships, 2022-2023

1st Review Deadline: January 10th
2nd Review Deadline: February 15th

Description: The Dean of the SPHHS will offer several Ph.D. fellowships to nationally-competitive new doctoral student applicants. Total number dependent on funding available in any given year. The intent of this program is to facilitate the recruitment of top-quality doctoral students to the SPHHS. We especially encourage nominations of students who will contribute to promoting equity and inclusion within our graduate programs.

Potential indicators of nationally-competitive applicants:

• Presentations at national meetings and/or peer-reviewed publications.
• Experience in writing for and/or receiving extramural funds.
• Exceptional work experience within their field and within communities.

Term of appointment: Each fellowship is for one year but can be renewed for a second year provided the student achieves excellent academic standing in their first year and funds are available (see instructions below to apply for a 2nd year of funding).

Stipend: Each fellow will receive up to $15,000 per year from the Dean’s office.

All funds received from the Dean’s office must be matched by either Departmental funds or faculty funds (minimum $10,000 per year). Dean’s funding will begin in September and end in May. Additional funding beyond the combined $25,000 is encouraged, such as grant funding during the summer.

Requirements:

1. Each fellow will be recruited by a specific faculty member who will commit to funding two years of the fellow’s program for a minimum of $10,000/year. This commitment can be from departmental funds (including funding as TA), the specific faculty’s grants, RTF, or start-up.
2. During year one of the fellowship, the recipient must maintain excellent academic standing, and either present a poster and/or submit a scientific abstract to a national meeting, or be a coauthor on a manuscript. Presentations at the SPHHS Research Day do not meet this requirement.
3. During year two of the fellowship (if awarded), the fellow must apply for an external predoctoral fellowship or grant to support their dissertation work. Examples of appropriate grant applications include a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, the Ford Pre-doctoral Diversity Fellowship or other fellowship/grant appropriate to the student’s discipline. More information is provided below.
4. Preference will be given to applicants who already have a master’s level degree or equivalent. Students currently enrolled in a UMASS master’s degree program are eligible to apply.

Application and Evaluation Process for Initial Funding:

1. Applications will be reviewed in two rounds. Initial fellowship requests are due no later than January 10th, and the second round is due no later than February 15th. After that date, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and funded only if monies are available.
2. The Graduate Program Director or Admissions Committee Chair should submit a complete application to Karen Lovely, which includes the following:
   • The full Graduate school application packet.
   • A statement from the nominating faculty member. This letter should highlight the strengths of the applicant, describe how this applicant will contribute to the faculty’s research, and outline plans for the applicant to apply for a pre-doctoral fellowship in their second year.
   • A statement from the chair/faculty committing the funds for the department/faculty share over the course of the fellow’s tenure including specific source.
3. Applications will be reviewed by the Associate Deans for Research and Graduate Studies with a final decision made by the Dean. If possible, final decisions will be made in time to offer the potential student funding along with his or her acceptance into the specific department’s Ph.D. program.

Application and Evaluation Process for a Second Year of Funding:

1. The student’s faculty advisor must electronically submit the following materials to Karen Lovely:
   • A letter from the faculty advisor that includes:
     1. A description of the student’s progress during the first year,
     2. Evidence of excellent academic standing, and
     3. The name and submission date of the pre-doctoral fellowship program to which the student will apply.
   • A copy of the abstract, poster, or manuscript submitted in year 1
2. Applications will be reviewed by the Associate Deans for Research and Graduate Studies with a final decision made by the Dean.

Potential Nationally-Competitive Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Programs:

• The Fogarty Institute has potential sources for pre-doctoral funding on their website.
• NIH has funding for diversity in Health related research, including the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research.
• The American Heart Association offers a pre-doctoral fellowship that is open to international and non-international students.
• We have compiled a list of additional opportunities, organized by department, in a OneDrive folder here (selected from the following search engine: https://app.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship-finder/).

For information on additional opportunities and guidance, graduate students are encouraged to contact the Graduate Student Grant Services Office.

Please contact Karen Lovely with any questions.

SPHHS Research Support Awards

The SPHHS recognizes how challenging the pandemic has been for faculty in many ways, including in terms of maintaining their research productivity.  This year we are offering 3 to 4 small grants, of up to $7500 each, to help faculty make up some of this lost time and to enhance their research and scholarly activity.  These grants will be awarded to faculty who were most affected by the COVID pandemic (e.g., because of their caregiving responsibilities or because their research depended on enrolling human subjects or substantial travel).  All full time SPHHS faculty are eligible to apply, however pre-tenure faculty and Associate Professors who are planning to be evaluated for promotion to full professor in the next year will be prioritized.  Further, faculty needing preliminary data or needing to get help with a paper or grant will be prioritized.

Funds may be used to support a research assistant or staff, supplies, travel or other research-related activities but not to fund faculty effort.  A one page final report on the project outcome of this funding is due by June 3, 2022.

1. A description of the proposed research or scholarly activity (no more than 2 pages, single spaced).  Describe what you are proposing to do and why.  Address both the significance of the research area, and your anticipated career gains (e.g., provide opportunity for grant application, develop new collaboration, submit publications).  Further, describe specifically how your research program/productivity has been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
2. An itemized budget, timeline and scope of work for the project. Awardees will be required to keep an itemized budget of expenditures.
3. The dollar amount of RTF and/or start-up funds or other research funding currently available to the applicant.

All materials should be emailed with the header “SPHHS Research Support Application” with one pdf document attached. The email should be sent to Karen Lovely (klovely@umass.edu) in the Associate Dean’s office by Friday, November 5, 2021.

For information on additional opportunities and guidance for graduate students, you are encouraged to contact the Graduate Student Grant Services Office.