Lyman Briggs College (LBC) is MSU’s interdisciplinary residential college that integrates the natural sciences with their societal contexts.
A leader in STEM and interdisciplinary education innovation, LBC offers the Scholarship of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning (SUTL) Fellowship Program to support graduate students committed to undergraduate education.
The fellowship’s primary goals are to provide a diverse group of graduate students with:
By meeting these goals, fellows will be well-equipped to contribute to undergraduate education, whether as education researchers or as practitioners of evidence-based teaching methods.
Graduate student SUTL Fellows will collaborate with an LBC faculty mentor on a 12-month teaching and learning research project. Projects vary in scale and approach—descriptive, observational, experimental, or design-based—and explore ways to understand, improve, or reimagine teaching and learning in and beyond the classroom.
Research may focus on a wide range of topics such as developing and assessing curricular interventions, evaluating student learning and the factors that influence it, or studying the impact of classroom innovations (e.g., inquiry-based labs, interdisciplinary teaching, case studies).
Projects may also address strategies for improving retention and success of diverse STEM students. These efforts often draw on approaches from fields such as disciplinary-based education research (DBER), the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), and action research (AR).
Each SUTL Fellow will work closely with their faculty mentor and will be encouraged and supported to share project findings through peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and pedagogy-related platforms.
When applying as a SUTL fellow you will be asked to describe your interest and fit for this year’s proposed projects. You will also be asked to have both your graduate advisor and your grad program director/department chair, fill out the administrator endorsement form.
For a list of proposed projects for the 2026-2027 fellowship, see here.
In addition to their mentored research project, SUTL Fellows will engage in biweekly (~1.5-hour) meetings with other recipients throughout the academic year.
These sessions will include:
Professional development activities will complement those offered by the Certification in College Teaching Program and the CIRTL project and will focus on topics such as active learning and inquiry-based pedagogy, interdisciplinary education, fostering a climate of inclusivity, responsible conduct of education research, formative and summative assessments, and strategies for success on the academic job market. Fellows must complete pre- and post-program assessments. Each SUTL Fellow will receive $5000 to support the time they spend investing in their SUTL project work and Fellows’ meetings.
Eligible MSU graduate students must be enrolled full-time in a program leading to a terminal (PhD) degree in STEM, history, philosophy, sociology of Science, education or other appropriate field, be in good academic standing, be making progress toward their degree, and have the agreement of their adviser/major professor and department chair.
Awards will be made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panel, have demonstrated high academic achievement, are committed to a career that includes teaching, and show potential for future achievement as teacher-scholars.
Applications must be received by April 10, 2026. Those who accept a SUTL Fellowship may not accept a concurrent MSU Grade School Teaching Cohort Fellowship.
For further information or questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Doherty.
A list of proposed projects for the current cycle, as well as a history of past projects, can be found here.