Scholarships and Fellowships
- UW-Madison
- Federal Agencies
- Non-profit Agencies
- Other Opportunities
It is important to understand the submission process for proposals for a scholarship, fellowship, or grant from an extramural agency. If you are a graduate student in a CALS department or a post-doctoral researcher in a CALS department or who plans to join a CALS department no matter where you are currently located, you should contact Rebecca Bound, Research Administrator, (608) 265-8443, rbound@cals.wisc.edu. You will be provided with guidelines that will make the submission process go smoothly. For more on scholarships, fellowships, and grants, go the CALS Research Division page at http://www.cals.wisc.edu/research/.
If you are applying for a scholarship or fellowship through CALS, the application process that must be followed can be found here. You should also consult the Guidelines for Graduate Students seeking Extramural Support and Writing Proposals, which can be found here.
Opportunities at UW-Madison
Through CALS:
Graduate Research Scholars Advanced Opportunity Fellowships (AOF)
AOF fellowships are awarded to graduate students representing minorities and under-represented groups. Graduate programs apply for AOF fellowships on behalf of students through the Graduate Research Scholars Program run jointly between CALS and the School of Medicine and Public Health.
CALS Distinguished Graduate Fellowships
Graduate Fellowships are awarded to proven, outstanding students who have shown research excellence in either applied or basic sciences. Contact Richard Lindroth (262-6742, lindroth@wisc.edu) for further details.
Grants for Students
Information on grants for students compiled by Steenbock Library.
Richard M. Heins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Agricultural and Life Sciences
Nominations are made by Graduate Programs. The nominee's major advisor must have a tenured or tenure-leading appointment in a CALS department. Contact Richard Lindroth (262-6742, lindroth@wisc.edu) or Carol Hillmer (265-5495, chillmer@cals.wisc.edu) if you have questions about the nomination process.
Wisconsin Potato Industry Board Distinguished Graduate Fellowship
Preference shall be given to students in the Departments of Horticulture, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Soil Science, Life Sciences Communication, and Agricultural and Applied Economics, but outstanding students from other disciplines that are doing potato research will be considered. Contact Associate Dean Richard Lindroth (262-6792, lindroth@wisc.edu) or Carol Hillmer (265-5495, chillmer@cals.wisc.edu) for further details.
Through the Graduate School:
General information on fellowships and funding opportunities
Awards for teaching assistants
Departments nominate students in fall for these awards.
Peer Mentor Awards
Vilas Travel Awards for UW-Madison dissertators
These awards provide for domestic or international travel to conferences or for field research.
Knapp House
The Knapp House is a unique community of scholars sharing varied research and recreational interests and diverse cultures. The Marie Christine Kohler fellowship offers an exceptional opportunity for advanced graduate and professional students from diverse disciplines to reside, rent-free, in the former Governor's Mansion now known as the Knapp House. Departments can nominate students each spring.
Fellowships from Federal Agencies
Note: Must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien
National Institutes of Health Pre- and Post-doctoral Fellowships
A complete guide to NIH grants can be found here.
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31)
This program is supported by the following NIH institutes: NIA, NIAAA, NIDA, NIDCD, NIMH, NINDS, and ODS. The objective is to provide support for doctoral candidates (PhD., MD./PhD) who will be performing dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH entities. Applicants must be dissertators. For further informtion click here.
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research
This program is intended to promote diversity in health-related research by supporting research training leading to the Ph.D. or equivalent research degree, the combined M.D./Ph.D. degree; or another formally combined professional degree and research doctoral degree in biomedical, behavioral, health services, or clinical sciences. Applicants to this program include individuals from (1) racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in health-related sciences, (2) individuals with either physical or hidden disabilities, and (3) individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (see here for further details).
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (F32)
This program provides support to postdoctoral applicants who have the potential to become productive and successful independent research investigators in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers.For further informtion click here.
National Science Foundation Pre- and Post-doctoral Fellowships
The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 1,100 graduate fellowships in this competition. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master's or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study.
Click here for pre-doctoral fellowships.
Click here for post-doctoral fellowships.
United States Department of Agriculture/NCR-SARE
SARE (the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program) is a competitive USDA CSREES grants program. The Graduate Student Grant Program provides funds to students enrolled in graduate programs or in veterinary medicine residence programs in the North Central region who are exploring some aspect of sustainable agriculture as part of their educational program.
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense manages several disease-specific grant programs. They offer both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. Many have no requirement for citizenship. For more information go to http://cdmrp.army.mil/.
United States Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE SCGF) provides outstanding benefits and opportunities to students pursing graduate studies and research in scientific and engineering fields supported by the Office of Science. This includes physics, chemistry, biology (non-medical), mathematics, engineering, computational sciences, and areas of environmental sciences. The program is funded and managed by the Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) and administered for DOE by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). For more information go to http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/SCGF/information.html.
Post-doctoral Fellowships from Non-profit Agencies
For U.S. Citizens
American Cancer Society
Life Sciences Research Foundation
American Society for Microbiology
American Association of University Women
Pharma Foundation
For Non-citizens
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
For both U.S. Citizens and Non-citizens
American Heart Association
Damon Runyon
Jane Coffin Childs
Cancer Research Institute
Helen Hay Whitney
Other Opportunities
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Entry-point! Graduate Internships
Entry-point! is a program of the AAAS that offers internship opportunities for graduate students with disabilities.
The National Academies
Research Associates
The National Academies offer research associateship programs for post-doctoral research, including the Ford Foundation offering predoctoral, dissertation, and post-doctoral fellowships. For a complete description of opportunities visit the National Academies website.
International Pre- and Post-doctoral Fellowships
The International Institute at the University of Wisconsin
Opportunities include the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program and the Fulbright-IIE Student Program and Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Program (DDRA). Campus deadlines for application are typically in September/October. For more information, contact Erin Crawley (262-9632, fellow@intl-institute.wisc.edu).
EMBO
Post-doctoral fellowships from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).