At Gradfund, all members of the Rutgers University graduate student community are invited to schedule a meeting to discuss funding options and have application drafts reviewed. To get the most out of your meeting with GradFund, please see the tips below for both meeting types: Planning and Application Review.
Planning Meetings
During planning meetings, you will learn how to plan external funding applications. This includes discussing the timeline needed to apply for funding, possible awards that may be of interest to you, and proposal writing strategies.
Signing up:
When you schedule a pre-application meeting, along with your contact information, there is a field for you to enter your goals for the meeting. It’s important that you fully fill out this field, as it helps fellowship advisors tailor the meeting to fit your personal needs. If you have any particular awards or award types you’re interested in, or if your need help getting started on a funding application, write that here.
Also, prior to your meeting, you will be prompted to submit a current version of your CV if you haven’t done so already.
Preparing for your meeting:
One of GradFund’s online resources is the GradFund Database. On this site, you can learn about different types of awards prior to your meeting to better identify which awards suit your needs. You can also perform some preliminary funding searches to acquire different funding possibilities. You can continue searching on the Pivot Database. It might be helpful to also browse the GradFund blog to begin thinking about the external funding application process.
Application Review Meetings
Application reviews are available for a GradFund fellowship advisor to review your funding application draft. Fellowship advisors provide guidance on targeting the particular funder’s goals, writing to a particular review audience, and organization of the proposal.
Signing up:
Just as for a planning meeting, ensure that you completely explain your goals for the meeting when you schedule your appointment. Prior to your meeting, you will be prompted to submit your application draft and the URL of the funder to GradFund so that the most complete and up-to-date assistance can be provided.
Preparing for your meeting:
When you submit a proposal for GradFund to review, it can be at any point in the writing process, whether it’s your first or fifth draft. If you are having trouble getting started, review GradFund’s proposal writing advice. When you come in to discuss your draft, have a copy available for you to take notes on and questions on your application ready to discuss with the fellowship advisor.
Deadlines
Whether you are new to GradFund and have to submit a CV or are a returning student with an application draft, all materials must be submitted by 9AM two days before your scheduled appointment. If you do not submit your materials on time, your meeting will be automatically canceled. If you cannot keep your meeting, kindly let us know with 24 hours advanced notice.
The GradFund Fellowship Advising Team looks forward to meeting with you soon!