Graduate Research Fellowship

Prize Amount: $28,500 plus tuition benefit – if eligible subsidized health insurance

For: full-time graduate students who are conducting research or creative projects and who are pursuing the terminal graduate degree in their departments.

Due: January 3, 2025 (2025-2026 application to open in October)*
*Your department may have an earlier deadline. 

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The University Graduate Research Fellowship (UGRF) is a one-year, non-renewable award. The intent of the GRF is to provide the opportunity for full-time research during the fellow’s academic year. 

Recipients of the University Graduate Research Fellowship

• receive an $28,500 stipend for the regular academic year,
• are eligible to participate in the Graduate Student Subsidized Health Insurance Program,
• and have tuition paid through the Graduate Tuition Benefit Program (TBP).

Eligibility

All full-time graduate students working toward a Ph.D. or the other terminal graduate degree in their department are eligible to apply.

• Both domestic and international graduate students are eligible to apply.
• Awardees must satisfactorily have passed all preliminary and qualifying examinations prior to Fall Semester 2025.
• Fellows are expected to be engaged in full-time research or creative work during the academic year of the fellowship.
• A University Graduate Research Fellowship may not be held concurrently with any other University of Utah funded fellowship.
  • If a department’s graduate student support level is greater than the UGRF stipend, subject to the approval from the home department and dean of the Graduate School, fellows may work up to 10 hours weekly as a teaching, research, or graduate assistant (equivalent to 0.25 FTE).
• It is expected that recipients will not accept other employment.

Limitations

Departments may submit a maximum of two proposals. For departments with more than one applicant, the chair must rank the proposals on a separate sheet of paper and explicitly comment on their relative quality.

Selection Process & Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed and awardees selected by a committee of University of Utah faculty members active in research and/or creative work from across the campus. The selection committee is chaired by the dean of the Graduate School and ten faculty appointed by the dean of the Graduate School.

The committee bases its selection on the following:

1. Quality/impact of the research or creative project;
2. Candidate’s achievements (published papers, conference presentations, etc.)
3. Candidate’s potential for success; i.e., academic excellence (assessed by academic record and references).