The creation of a $750,000 Fellowship Fund to strengthen support for graduate education and research at Syracuse University, supported by the University’s Invest Syracuse initiative, will sustain 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 Syracuse 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 Syracuse, and we are pleased to offer these additional fellowship opportunities,” says Peter Vanable, dean of the Graduate School. “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 Syracuse University’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 Syracuse. 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.
A multitude of organizations and administrative offices at Syracuse University are in place to assist graduate students in meeting the academic, personal, and professional challenges they face. These include:
- Academic resources to help you achieve success in your graduate program.
- Teaching resources to support graduate students serving as TAs or in other instructional capacities.
- Research resources to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue research at the graduate level and to prepare for a career in research.
- Mentoring resources to help you plan your own professional growth and development.