Graduate Student Support
We provide some financial support to all students (including international students) maintaining satisfactory academic progress. With the approval of the dissertation committee, this support can be extended for an additional semester (the end of the sixth year). The Department provides a competitive stipend and coverage of all fees and non-resident tuition. This support is funded by Federal, State, and private sources in the form of Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) and Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) appointments; fellowships; and NIH traineeships. In addition, the department also provides travel grants to assist students who are presenting their research at a conference.
Below you will find more detailed information about specific funding sources.
• Fellowships
• GSI/GSR Appointments
• Extramural Grants
• Travel Grants
Fellowships
Merit based fellowships are awarded to students annually by the ESPM admission/fellowships committee. The committee makes as many awards as possible each year. However, because funds are very limited, it is an unfortunate fact that sometimes well-qualified applicants do not receive fellowships. Awards are based on a combination of excellence in scholarship (a minimum of 3.5 grade point average in the last two years of undergraduate work, or in any graduate work completed), GRE scores, clarity and aptness of academic and career objectives, and letters of recommendation. The committee ranks both entering and continuing students, and makes awards to as many of the top-ranking students as funds allow. Applicants from the alternate list sometimes succeed to fellowship monies if for any reason an awardee declines a fellowship offer. Awards may include all or a portion of student fees or non-resident tuition, and/or a stipend.
Fellowship applications for 2007–08 will be available on line via e-mail attachment in November of 2006. The deadline for submitting a fellowship application for the 2007–08 academic year is Wednesday, February 01, 2007.
Graduate Student Instructors (GSI) and Graduate Student Research Assistants (GSR)
Students seeking GSI appointments must fill out a separate application for each course they are interested in teaching. A list of available GSI positions and GSI applications are distributed through e-mail. Prior to each semester the Director of Student Services will collect the applications and distribute them to course instructors. Instructors may wish to perform an interview prior to final selection. The hiring process is completed following the contract agreements with the UAW, which represents the GSIs. Students who do not have departmental fellowship, GSR, or GSI support should contact individual faculty to inquire whether they have any GSR positions available through their extramural grants. A comprehensive list of all Graduate Council requirements for the preparation of first-time GSI preparation can be found at http://gsi.berkeley.edu/faculty/mentoring .html.
Extramural Grants
Students preparing extramural grant proposals whose applications require input from their division’s accounting unit must give accounting staff adequate time to assemble the required information. Accounting units require advance notice to process such requests and cannot do so if an application is presented just before deadline.
Travel Funds for Scientific and Professional Meetings
Limited funds are available from the Graduate Division for doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy, and who are traveling to a scientific or professional meeting to present a paper. These funds are available on a one-time-only basis, Qualified students should apply to the Graduate Fellowship Office in 316 Sproul Hall