Join the GradFund Fellowship Advising Team for our fall 2024 workshop and webinar series on Zoom. These sessions are designed to help graduate students get started with their fellowship and grant application and will complement the support we offer through our Self-Paced Guide to Fellowships and Grants on Canvasand our Individual Advising Appointments. Find the full schedule […]
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GradFund Workshop: Funding Archival Research
Join GradFund’s fellowship advising team in this workshop to learn best practices for applying to external fellowships and grants to support archival research. Graduate students conducting or planning to conduct archival research in all disciplines are welcome to join this GradFund workshop as we explore topics such as identifying sources of archival research funding, creating […]
Spring 2024 Mentoring Program – Fulbright US Student Program
We are pleased to invite registration for the GradFund Spring 2024 Fulbright IIE Mentoring Program – Virtual. This 4-week (April 4-25) online mentoring program will consist of a weekly webinar and a one-on-one virtual advising appointment scheduled by individual participants. The timing of the program will coincide with the opening of the 2024 application, and the goal is to have participants […]
GradFund Webinar: Advice and Tips for Writing a Competitive Mellon-ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship Application
The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship program is designed to support emerging scholars as they pursue bold and innovative research in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. The program is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. The program will make awards to doctoral students who show promise of leading their fields in important […]
Strategic Proposal Writing Series, Fall 2023
Join us this fall for the GradFund series in Strategic Proposal Writing. The program offers graduate students planning to apply for external funding this fall semester a series of workshops geared towards common issues at the core of successful fellowship application writing. This unique opportunity will allow participants to learn strategic approaches to proposal writing […]
Fall 2023 Webinars and Workshops
Join the GradFund Fellowship Advising Team for our fall 2023 workshop and webinar series on Zoom. These sessions are designed to help graduate students get started with their fellowship and grant application and will complement the support we offer through our Self-Paced Guide to Fellowships and Grants on Canvas and our Individual Advising Appointments. Find […]
How Do I Schedule & Confirm My Meeting with GradFund?
Scheduling a meeting with GradFund? We have made it even simpler! Check out our new blog guiding you through each step of the scheduling process.
GradFund Asynchronous Mentoring Program – Summer 2023
Application Deadline: May 30, 2023 The GradFund Asynchronous Mentoring Program – Summer 2023. Program Dates: June 1-30, 2023 Program Description: Applying for and securing fellowships and grants to support your graduate study and research is an important part of your scholarly professional development. These awards will bring important recognition and resources to your work and will ultimately help you to complete more […]
Spring 2023 Mentoring Program – Virtual
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Apply to Participate! We are pleased to invite applications to the GradFund Spring 2023 NSF GRF Mentoring Program – Virtual. This 4-week (March 2-March 30) online mentoring program will consist of a weekly webinar and a one-on-one virtual advising appointment scheduled by individual participants. The goal of this program is to have participants ready to prepare […]
GradFund Webinar: Ford Foundation Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students
The Ford Foundation offers a portfolio of fellowship opportunities for students pursuing the PhD. Join the GradFund Fellowship Advising team to learn more about the Ford Foundation individual fellowships for doctoral students and how to get started developing your application materials. The webinar will be held on November 8th at 1pm on zoom. Registration link: […]
GradFund Webinar: Crafting a Competitive Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowship Application
Funding for the writing of dissertations that advance our understanding of religious and ethical values. Religious commitments and ethical ideals can be found in every time and place. Newcombe Fellows are late-stage Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences whose research in some way attends to those commitments and ideals and seeks to understand […]
GradFund Webinar: AAUW Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) offers a portfolio of funding opportunities to support women pursuing graduate degrees. Join the GradFund Fellowship Advising team to learn more about the AAUW fellowships and grants and how to get started developing your application materials. The webinar will be held on October 27th at 1pm on zoom. […]
GradFund Webinars and Workshop Series – Fall 2022
GradFund Workshops and Webinars Fall 2022 Join the GradFund Fellowship Advising Team for our webinar and workshop series on Zoom. These sessions are designed to help you get started with their fellowship and grant applications and will complement the advice and support we offer through our Self-Paced Guide to Fellowships and Grants on Canvas and our Individual Appointments. […]
GradFund Webinar: Fellowship and Grant Opportunities for Master’s Students
In this webinar, GradFund fellowship advisors will walk participants through the funding landscape and explore a few key fellowship and grant opportunities available to master’s level students. Participants must register for the workshops using a Rutgers email address (netid@rutgers.edu). Please direct any questions to fellowship_advisor@gradfund.rutgers.edu Thursday September 8 from 1-3pm Zoom Registration link: https://rutgers.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqcOCorDwtGtZ50vKTjFIOODHU07iR6tHN
GradFund Summer Mentoring Program - Virtual will be held July 14 to August 11, 2022
Applying for and securing fellowships and grants to support your graduate study and research is an important part of your scholarly professional development. These awards will bring important recognition and resources to your work and will ultimately help you to complete more robust research. To write a competitive external funding application, it is critical to start well in advance of the deadline and to dedicate time to the proposal development […]
Information Session: Quad Fellowship by Schmidt Futures – May 13, 2022
The Quad Fellowship by Schmidt Futures is now accepting applications for their first cohort of fellows. Details about the program are available here: https://www.quadfellowship.org/#page-section-61dd41132a4a3e4f510a5c04 The deadline has been extended to June 30, 2022. The program is open to students who will be matriculated in a master’s or PhD STEM program during the 2023-2024 academic year and it is open […]
Fulbright U.S. Student Program – Information for Graduate Students
The Fulbright US Student Program is an important opportunity for graduate students who would like to spend an academic year abroad for research or study. The program is open to US citizens who have not yet earned their terminal degree. A major program goal is to provide an experience that supports mutual exchange. Graduate students can apply […]
GradFund Webinar & Information Session Series – Fall 2021
Join the GradFund Fellowship Advising Team for our Webinar and Information Session series on Zoom. These sessions are designed to help you get started with their fellowship and grant applications and will complement the advice and support we offer through our Self-Paced Guide to Fellowships and Grants on Canvas and our Individual Appointments. Find the full schedule of webinars […]
Checklist No. 2: Questions to Ask When Reviewing a Funder’s Website
In this second post for our GradFund checklist series, one of our fellowship advisors has put together a list of things to look for when exploring a funder’s website. This list is meant to help you stay on top of the many tasks that are required when working on your applications.
Checklist No. 1: Tips for Identifying Funding Opportunities
This post is the first in a series that will propose checklists for graduate students to use as they navigate the external funding landscape. These checklists, while not comprehensive, help guide students in the process of developing an individualized funding plan, in coordination with their advisors and graduate program directors.
Using Email List Subscriptions to Identify Awards
If you are having a hard time keeping track of fellowships and other opportunities, check out this blog where we recommend other ways of staying up-to-date with applications, and never missing a deadline.
Searching for Funding with the Pivot Database
In this post, one of our fellowship advisors helps readers make the best use of Pivot, one of the funding databases that Rutgers subscribes to. The advisor explains how to use it as a complement to other available funding tools.
Seeking Clarity: Best Practices for Application Essays with Limited Guidelines
In this post, Fellowship Advisor Alexandria Smith gives students some tips on how to prepare competitive fellowship and grant applications even when the funder’s guidelines are very general.
Small Awards Can Make a BIG Difference
In this blog post, we provide you with some reasons why you should consider incorporating small grants into your funding plan.
Strategies for Finding Smaller Awards
This blog post examines strategies for finding funding opportunities beyond the common focus of Ph.D. students – the one-year or multi-year fellowship.
Applying for External Funding While you’re Funded
Having funding from your university for your graduate degree should be a motivation to apply for external funding. In this blog, Dawn Wells-Macapia lists a few reasons why you should apply for fellowships and grants while you are still within your funding package.
Guest Blog Post Series: Building Community Power as We Re-imagine Our Future
Laurent Reyes, a researcher focused on civic engagement within communities of color in the United States, writes in this post about her work and the benefits of applying for external and internal funding opportunities.
Guest Blog Post Series: Funding International Fieldwork with a Fulbright
Will Aguado, a Ph.D. candidate in the Human Evolutionary Sciences track of the Anthropology Ph.D. program at Rutgers, describes his research experiences and the benefits of applying for a Fulbright IIE as a researcher doing fieldwork. He ends the post, providing advice for other students applying for external funding.
Guest Blog Post Series: Hooks in the Host Country: Making proper Use of the Affiliation Letter
Fulbright award winner, Emmanuel Aprilakis, describes his research in Classics, and how he made use of GradFund services to improve his application. He also provides advice to other students on the main steps to take to make grant and fellowship applications more competitive.
Guest Blog Post Series: Reinventing Oneself and How I Used Funding Applications as Opportunities to Develop My Graduate Training
Rutgers’ Ph.D. Candidate in History, Eri Kitada, shares her research and speaks on the skills that applying for external fellowships during graduate school can give you and the benefits of grant writing beyond academia.
Guest Blog Post Series: Enabling Multi-Country Fieldwork with Funding
PhD candidate in Sociology at Rutgers University, Niina Vuolajarvi who works on the connections between migration, sex work, and precarity, describes her research and experience with external funding and provides students with advice on how to apply for fellowships and awards.
Guest Blog Post Series: Success Comes with a Second Set of Eyes
In this post, Rutgers History Department’s Ph.D. student Bren Sutter explains how receiving feedback from a trusted friend or colleague on your application materials help your narrative to be clearer and more convincing.
Guest Blog Post Series: Grant Applications, Archival Research and Developing a Strong Dissertation Project
In this post, a graduate student in the Department of History at Rutgers, Catherine Babikian, describes how applying for grants and fellowships allowed her to carry the necessary archival research to complete her dissertation.
Title: Guest Blog Post Series: Grant Writing as Dissertation Writing – Advice from an Archival Researcher
Theater researcher, Nicole Sheriko, describes how applying for external funding has enabled her to advance her research and provides advice for other graduate students applying for grants and fellowships.
Guest Blog Post Series: Applying for the GRFP from the NSF
In this post Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology, Kathryn Coniglio, describes her experience applying for the NSF GRFP and talks about the importance of signposting in your application to guide reviewers through your statements.
Guest Blog Post Series: Do Your Best and Ignore the Rest: My Advice for Navigating Fellowship Applications
Are you in the earlier stages of your Ph.D. program and planning to apply for external funding? In this post Graduate Student, Amanda Williams provides students with advice on how to manage several applications during your pre-dissertation years.
Guest Blog Post Series: My Funding Journey… from Ph.D. to Postdoc
Anna Giarratana, a physician-scientist in training in the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Princeton University MD/Ph.D. program narrates her experience applying for external funding
GradFund Virtual Drop-in Hour – Friday, October 2nd at 11am
Do you have a question about an external fellowship or grant opportunity that does not require a full GradFund appointment? Stop by our virtual GradFund Fellowship Advisor Drop-in Hour to briefly meet with a GradFund advisor. There will not be scheduled meeting times during drop in hours and students will be assigned to an advisor on […]
Guest Blog Post Series: Rutgers’ One Stop for Preparing Competitive Fellowship Application
Are you a Ph.D. student in a scientific field applying for funding? In this post, Vrushank Bhatt writes about his research on lung cancer and his journey in applying for funding.
Guest Blog Post Series: Give Yourself Enough Time
In this post, NIH F31 awardee Laura Lesnewich briefly shares her steps and recommendations for applying for research funding.
Guest Blog Post Series: How Fellowships Are Helping Me Prepare for A Career In Biomedical Research
How can graduate students improve their external funding applications? Nisha Singh, a Ph.D. candidate in Molecular Biosciences, recommends starting early and asking for feedback.
Guest Blog Post Series: It is Worth Applying Twice
Trying to decide if you should reapply for that fellowship or award? Tamar Lichter, Ph.D. student in Mathematics at Rutgers provides you with a few reasons why you should try again.
Guest Blog Post Series: Humanities Fellowships: Pre-drafting Advice and How to Begin
Recent Ph.D. Caro Pirri shares her experiences and approach to applying for external funding, and how she made use of GradFund services to create competitive materials.
Title: Guest Blog Post Series: Reflections from a Recent Ph.D., Part II
Rafael Vizcaíno, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature shares his experiences applying for external funding in graduate school, and his recommendations for other graduate students who are planning or are already in the process of applying.
Title: Guest Blog Post Series: Reflections from a Recent Ph.D., Part I
Rafael Vizcaíno, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature shares his experiences applying for external funding in graduate school, and his recommendations for other graduate students who are planning or already in the process of applying.
Guest Blog Post Series: How to Structure a Dissertation Research Grant Proposal
Ph.D. history student and winner of the SSRC International Research fellowship offers advice on what goes into a dissertation research proposal.
GradFund Webinar Series – Fall 2020
full schedule of webinars, virtual office hours and virtual Q&A with the GradFund advising team
Inside the Mind of a Fellowship Advisor: Understanding the Application Review Meeting
This post describes the GradFund Application Review meetings from the perspective of a Fellowship Advisor.
The Power of Specificity: How to Incorporate Expertise Into your Grantwriting
This post looks at ways to emphasize what is unique about your academic and scholarly background in your grant applications, instead of relying on generalized statements.
Applying for Interdisciplinary Awards in the Humanities and Social Sciences
This post explores a few ways to approach the concept of ‘interdisciplinarity’ while applying for funding in the humanities and social sciences.
The Personal is Political…and Fundable? Navigating the personal and the academic in funding applications
This post provides some tips for finding the most effective ways to select and present personal narratives within funding applications.
Consider these RSA Library Fellowships
The Renaissance Society of America offers a variety of library fellowships for scholars working in any field who require short term residential access to archival materials. This post provides a short guide through some of these fellowships.
Why You Should Apply to a Postdoctoral Fellowship
This blog post wants to show that there is value in exploring the possibility of applying to postdoctoral fellowships.
Featured Funder: The Momental Foundation -Mistletoe Research Fellowship
The Mistletoe Research Fellowship Program offers a unique opportunity for postdoctoral scholars and Ph.D. candidates to pursue their research in collaboration with entrepreneurial startups. Fellows receive $10,000 in unrestricted research funding, with the possibility for renewal.
I’m an international student, what awards can I apply for? Part II
In this second post on awards for international students, we expand the scope to think about a diverse amount of examples of external funding opportunities that are open to both US citizens and non-citizens.
I’m an international student, what awards can I apply for? Part I
Do not miss funding opportunities available for you as an international student! This post highlights many fellowships and grants available for international graduate students.
The Ultimate Guide to Remote Meetings with GradFund
This blog post includes GradFund’s tips on how to prepare for and participate in our remote meetings via Webex.
How Do I Schedule & Confirm my Meeting with GradFund?
Are you interested in meeting with GradFund? would you like to know how to schedule and confirm your meeting? This is the blog post for you.
Now Available: Webinar Recording
On May 29th, we held a webinar on Tips for Researching Grant and Fellowship Opportunities. The session was recorded and is available here on the GradFund Resources RU Connect space.
Journey through GradFund’s Meeting Types
When scheduling a meeting with GradFund it is important to select the meeting type according to your needs. We have four different types of meetings as described in the post.
Come Plan with Us!- Understanding and preparing for the GradFund planning meeting
How to prepare to meet with a fellowship advisor at Rutgers University, and search for external funding opportunities for graduate school.
How to Write a 500-Word Application (Advice from the Archives)
Advice from the Archives Series Note: Occasionally, we dig into the archives to uncover a post we feel holds relevant and timely information worthy of a repost. If you are interested in learning more about research grants and fellowships to support your graduate study, be sure to visit the GradFund Knowledgebase. Often funders will set low word count […]
Responding to Short Answer Questions Effectively
Short answer questions are an important part of the external fellowship application, therefore, you should put a significant amount of effort into crafting your answers. While presenting a thoughtful and concise response, be sure to demonstrate experiences that support your understanding of and commitment to the goals of the program. Answer the exact question being […]