GSAS Research Fellowship

Deadline to apply: January 8, 2025

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship provides support for our students to work as research fellows. The fellowship provides support for students who wish to work closely with faculty mentors to develop their own dissertation research projects or to learn methods or procedures that they will use on their own dissertation research. This support will be offered on a competitive basis and will reward students who have already submitted proposals for fellowships, published articles and/or book reviews, or presented papers at conferences. Second priority will be given to students who have already made significant progress toward these goals.

Students who are awarded this fellowship will be freed from teaching and other research obligations in order to focus on their own work.

Award Information
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship provides an academic year stipend and tuition scholarship. For programs based on 12-month financial aid packages, a 12-month stipend is provided. For updated stipend rates, please see Stipends and Scholarships.

Eligibility
Doctoral students in good standing with satisfactory academic progress according to the guidelines established by us and who will have completed at least six semesters of full-time graduate study (with at least four of these semesters in the graduate school) by the time the Fellowship begins are eligible to apply for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship. A student may receive nomination for only one of the three academic-year merit awards for advanced students (Research Fellowship, Senior Teaching Fellowship, or Alumni Dissertation Fellowship, Renaissance Society of America Fellowship, or some Research Fellowships). Although a student may also apply for a Summer Fellowship, a student cannot simultaneously be awarded a 12-month merit award (i.e., the Alumni Dissertation Fellowship or Research Fellowship, Renaissance Society of America Fellowship, or some Research Fellowships) and a Summer Fellowship.

Application Materials
You will be able to access the application on fordham.edu - My Pages - Students - Electronics Forms. The link provided in the portal will bring you to the funding application. Please note, for doctoral students who are still completing coursework this semester, if you would like your fall 2023 earned credits to be included on the application, please submit your application in January when your fall grades have been posted.  All applications must be submitted by January 8, 2025.

The following files should be uploaded as one PDF (preferred) or one WORD document.  The file name should begin with the student's last name_first name_Dept_Fellowship name - (e.g., Doe_Jane_HIST_RF).

  • A 300 - 500 word statement explaining the nature of the research and how it relates to the objectives, methods and original contribution of the doctoral dissertation. It should be written in jargon-free language. (Remember that your application will be reviewed by faculty members outside of your disciplinary area.)
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Project narrative with bibliography

Guidelines for Project Narrative
The narrative for a Research Fellowship Application should not exceed five double-spaced pages, not including the accompanying bibliography (minimum 12-pt. font for the whole document). It should explain the objectives, methods and original contribution of the project in succinct, jargon-free language. (Remember that your proposal will be reviewed by faculty members outside of your disciplinary area.)

For the Humanities, the following questions and directives adapted from a National Endowment for the Humanities document may be useful to prepare the project narrative:

What are the basic ideas, problems, or questions examined by the study? Explain the planned approach or line of thought. If the area is a new area of research, explain the reasons for working in it.

  • What will be accomplished during the award period? Supply a brief work plan.
  • How will the project complement, challenge, or expand relevant studies in the field? Explain what makes the study distinctive.
  • What contribution will the project make?
  • What is your competence in the languages or specific technical skills needed for the study (if any)
  • Where will you conduct the study and what materials will you use? Describe access to laboratories, archives, collections, or institutions with the necessary resources.
  • Who is the intended audience for the results of the study?
  • What are the intended results of the project? Indicate plans for articles, conference papers, books, etc.

For the Sciences and Social Sciences, the following research plan outline is appropriate:

  • Abstract Paragraph
  • Specific Aims (What do you intend to accomplish?) Specifically describe what you will accomplish during the Fellowship period, and relate this to Aims of the broader project. Please be focused and clear and include the intended outcomes:
    • Background and Significance (Why is this work important to the field?)
    • Define the problem. Explain what gaps in current knowledge would be filled by your research. Describe explicitly your hypothesis and how it will be tested. Relate this section to the Specific Aims.
    • Research Design and Methods (How are you going to do the work?)
    • Define your approach. Describe experimental design and procedures to be used to accomplish the Specific Aims. Be succinct, but present enough detail to show that you are capable of handling the methodology.
    • Timetable
    • References or Bibliography

A letter of recommendation from your mentor is also required. Please ask your mentor or adviser to discuss how this Research Fellowship will enhance your professional socialization (i.e., applications for external fellowships, publications, or conference presentations). The student should arrange for the mentor or adviser to submit a letter of recommendation electronically to the Department and copy [email protected] by the January 8, 2025 deadline.

Review and Selection Process
Applications will first be submitted to the student’s department. Committees within each department will discuss and rank the applications. The members of the Distinguished Fellowships Committee (DFC) will read all applications and the DFC will make its recommendations to the Dean. Students are notified of financial awards in the first week of April.