Provost’s Pre-Dissertation Science Research Fellowship
This pre-dissertation grant program is made possible through a generous grant from Graduate Center Foundation Board member Robert Raucci.
Deadline for Applications: Friday, February, 8th, 2019, 3:00 pm
The Provost’s Office is pleased to announce the following pre-dissertation fellowship competition for doctoral students in the following doctoral programs: Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Environmental Science, Mathematics, Nursing Science, Psychology, Speech-Language Hearing Sciences, and Physics. These summer awards provide $5,000.
This fellowship program has three objectives:
- To allow students to conduct early stage research and training following completion of the first doctoral exam.
- To support the development of a dissertation research proposal suitable for submission to an external funding agency.
- To support travel to a national/international scientific meeting.
This program seeks to facilitate the transition from coursework to advanced individualized research and assist in science PhD students’ professional development. These awards will allow students to strengthen their proposals by:
- Refining their research topic into a well-defined research problem;
- Determining appropriate research design, methods, research locale(s), and skillset(s);
- Assessing project feasibility and determining necessary affiliations and approvals.
- Participating in conference presentations to develop professional networks.
In addition, fellowship recipients will work in collaboration with a team of digital fellows to produce an individual research profile for the Science Summer Fellows site (https://sciencesummer.commons.gc.cuny.edu/) (including public facing blog posts, project descriptions, and accompanying visual materials) which will be due in mid-August. Fellows will also be required to present their research in a public forum which will be held in the fall semester. Additional opportunities for social media contributions are possible.
The successful applicant will address how their proposed summer research will lead to an improved proposal with regard to the above categories. Recipients will undertake such activities as (but not limited to): field or laboratory work, data collection, travel related to research, supplementary training in methods or techniques.
Eligibility
- Students must be at level II.
- Applicants must conduct at least six weeks of summer research during the period covered by this award.
N.B. Students who have already received a Dissertation Fellowship from the Provost’s Office are ineligible to receive these awards.
Summer Fellowship funds are in addition to any committed funds from mentors or campuses and cannot be used to meet CUNY Science Scholarship commitments.
Each application must include the following:
1) Cover Sheet (below and attached).
2) Research Proposal that includes the following sections:
- Describe what you currently expect will be the topic, research question(s), supportive literature, methods of investigation, approach to data analysis, and theoretical contribution of your proposed dissertation project (up to 1,200 words).
- List up to 20 research publications that have most significantly informed the formulation of your research topic, questions, theories, and methods.
- What are your plans for summer research? (up to 500 words) Please include: a justification for your choice or research site(s) and/or sources of data and information; a brief description of your anticipated approaches to investigation; a timeline; and any local professional contacts you might have made.
- Describe how you think this summer research will assist you in developing your dissertation proposal and preparing for long term dissertation research. (up to 250 words)
Note: if you have previously conducted exploratory research at any of your proposed research site(s) or on a related topic, please explain how the additional research proposed will enable you to build upon your past experience(s).
3) Budget justification. Justify what the funds will be used for (research supplies, conference travel, salary support….).
4) Two-page NSF style curriculum vitae (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf15001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2f).
5) Current Graduate Center transcript. (Students may submit the unofficial student copy that can be printed from CUNYFirst.)
6) One letter of reference to be submitted electronically by your adviser or faculty mentor (see instructions below).
Recipients of these fellowships must agree to the following conditions as part of their acceptance of the award:
1) Attend a one-hour proposal writing workshop in May 2019.
2) Write a one-page summary of their summer research work (due by 21 August 2019).
3) Provide a 7-10 minute public presentation of their work at a doctoral student research conference to be held at the Graduate Center early in the Fall 2019 semester.
4) Attend a grant writing workshop at the Graduate Center in the 2019-20 academic year designed to assist you in applying for future grants and fellowships (multiple sessions of the workshop will be held in order to accommodate potential scheduling conflicts).
5) Agree to have some version of their summer work potentially featured on a Student Research Collaborative webpage currently under construction by the Early Research Initiative Research Collaborative.
Instructions for submitting your application:
1) Combine your cover sheet, research proposal, curriculum vitae, and transcript into a SINGLE file (either as a pdf document or a word document).
Use the following format when naming your document:
Last Name, First Name, Program
2) Email the file as an email attachment to fellowshipapps@gc.cuny.edu
Instructions for Faculty Recommenders
1) Prepare your reference letter as a regular word or pdf document.
Please use the following format when naming your document:
Student Last Name, First Name
2) Email the file as an email attachment to fellowshipapps@gc.cuny.edu
If you have questions, please contact Rachel Sponzo at rsponzo@gc.cuny.edu, or 212-817-7282.
2019 Provost’s Pre-Dissertation Summer Science Research Grants
Application Cover Sheet
Name:
EMPL ID number:
Doctoral Program:
Doctoral Level:
Have you submitted a proposal/prospectus to your program for approval? ___ Yes ___ No
Title of Proposal:
Name of Adviser who will write a letter of recommendation:
Have you received a Provost’s Summer Research Award in the past? ___ Yes ___ No
If yes, for what years? ____2017 ____2018
Provost’s Office Summer Science Research Awards 2019 Cover Sheet
