Research Enhancement Award
Funds are available to support activities that enhance graduate and graduate professional students’ research projects. These funds are provided by the Office of Research & Innovation and administered by the Graduate School. Funds are available to support research activities including workshop participation (both in-person or virtual), data collection, short courses, extramural laboratory rotations, or the cost of disseminating the results of research and creative activities. Under special circumstances, funding requests to purchase supplies/materials relevant to the student’s research will be considered.
Research enhancement funding is only for graduate students enrolled in a degree program. Unlike graduate assistantships, these fellowships do not provide student health insurance or tuition/fee waivers. The Graduate School will make decisions on support within three weeks after receiving all of the necessary materials. Award letters will be emailed.
Criteria for graduate student research award
- Enhancement awards are intended to match/supplement funds provided by advisors, units and colleges and will range from $500 - $1000.
- Only one request per student/tenure in degree program will be considered.
- Student must be registered in the semester the funding is awarded.
- There is no deadline for submitting requests.
Application Process
The PDF application must be completely filled out and include a brief letter from the student indicating the following:
- The title of the research project
- A description of the student’s research project written in a way that is understandable to scholars/scientists outside the field
- A summary of the proposed research activities including travel information if relevant (dates and location)
- Description of how this activity enhances the student’s research project
- Detailed budget and budget justification
- IACUC or Human Research Protection Program approval letter if the research involves human or animal (IACUC) subjects.
Please note that a summary of cost sharing with the student’s major professor, department and college is listed on the application form and needs to be completed. That section with the endorsement of the request from the major professor, department and college is required whether or not these units provide funding. An endorsement from the major professor/advisor stating that the student is making satisfactory progress in their graduate program is also required.
Note on International Travel and Insurance
If travel is international, student's department must complete a pre-trip travel authorization for the student and register the trip in the International Travelers Abroad Database. When that is done, student will be automatically enrolled for international travel insurance (provided by International SOS) at no cost to the student. For Insurance Coverage for International Travel information, please see travel. The Office of International Health & Safety has created a slide deck (PDF) to give graduate students some tips and resources while preparing for international travel.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
