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Peter Vanable, dean of the Graduate School, announced today the creation of a $750,000 Fellowship Fund to strengthen support for graduate education and research at ���ϲ�����. The fund, supported by the University’s Invest ���ϲ����� initiative and administered by the Graduate School, will sustain about 30 additional doctoral fellowships each year in competitive fields of growth and promise.

Fellowships will be awarded annually on a competitive basis to new and continuing doctoral students, and will include a stipend and tuition credits. Typical awards are expected to provide up to two years of funding, with college-level funding provided for two additional years through teaching assistant (TA) or research assistant (RA) positions.

Invest ���ϲ����� is the funding mechanism for the University’s Academic Strategic Plan, which promises to expand opportunities for talented students from across the socioeconomic spectrum; enhance the student experience by strengthening advising; provide access to internships and study-abroad programs; and increase investments in faculty and student led research. The new Fellowship Fund supports these goals by strengthening access to doctoral education, including to underrepresented populations, and by expanding faculty research opportunities.

“Our talented doctoral students play a critically important role in strengthening research at ���ϲ�����, and we are pleased to offer these additional fellowship opportunities,” says Vanable. “The new Fellowship Fund will support the university’s goal of selectively increasing Ph.D. program enrollments and production. Further, by providing additional funding to recruit talented doctoral students, regardless of socioeconomic status, this investment will allow us to advance our leadership in diversity and inclusion, interdisciplinary and global study, and research excellence, each of which plays a fundamental role in ���ϲ�����’s success.”

While the fellowship funding process will be announced later in the semester, Vanable anticipates that the new awards will be prioritized based on demonstrated strengths and outcomes in degree production and post-degree opportunities.

The new Fellowship Fund will complement the Graduate School’s current fellowship funding, which includes 10 STEM fellowships per year to support recruitment of doctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds. Additional fellowships and graduate assistantships are funded at the discretion of the specific graduate schools and colleges.

The Fellowship Fund is one of several new initiatives designed to strengthen graduate and doctoral education at ���ϲ�����. Other recent initiatives include enhanced health insurance benefits for graduate assistants and fellows, and the creation of the new Office of Graduate Professional and Career Development to expand professional development services for graduate students.

About ���ϲ�����

���ϲ����� is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint and , ���ϲ����� offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of ���ϲ����� is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .