Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Funding Your Dissertation



The Office of Student Fellowships and Grants will be hosting a series of Academic Success and Professional Development Workshops. This Thursday, November 8, 2012 in Marvin Center Room 403, 4:00-5:00 pm the Professional Development Series will be hosting an information session on "Funding Your Dissertation Research." PhD candidates will learn about specific competitive programs that can provide funds for doctoral dissertation research, funding strategies, and tips for successful proposals. Interested PhD candidates can RSVP to gradfell@gwu.edu. 

This information session will provide helpful information for funding your research at different stages. Although our department gives us funding for tuition, there are other great opportunities for funding, both pre-ABD and dissertation research. The talk will cover the variety of types of funding available to PhD students. Below are the highlights from last year's talk. Make sure you stop by the OGSAF office to pick up informational handouts - they have helpful lists with funding requirements and deadlines. 

I.                   Types of Funding
a.       Tuition (i.e. Phi Delta Gamma, Scottish Rite, D.A.R., Liebmann)
b.      Basic Necessities (like photocopying, travel, equipment): i.e. Cosmos, Economic Club, Consortium, Research Fellows Program.
c.       Overseas Research (i.e. Fulbright, Boren) and Language Acquisition (i.e. CLS)

II.                Tips
a.       Look for funding at least one year in advance of when you need it.
b.      Make sure you read the elligability requirements very carefully. Some funding is only for students at a certain stage in their program.
c.       Read the literature supplied by the institution. What is the mission of the agency?
d.      Make sure you have all the necessary documents for each submission
e.       Give Faculty plenty of time for letters of recommendation, and send helpful reminders
f.       Many funding deadlines are in early fall or early spring
g.      Ask people in your department for other funding opportunities

III.             Examples of Support
a.       Travels to Collections (i.e. Loughran-Oxford, Mellon Fellowships for Dissertation Research in Original Sources, The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library Dissertation Grants)
b.      Pre-Dissertation (i.e. SSRC Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship)
c.       Dissertation Writing (i.e. Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program, GW Dissertation Fellowship)
d.      Dissertation Research (i.e. NPSC Dissertation Support Program, Jack Kent Cooke Dissertation Fellowship Award, White House Historical Association Research Grants Program)

IV.            Finding Funding (Note: All of these must be accessed on-campus or through the GW VPN because they are subscriber-only access)
b.      The Illinois Research Information Service (IRIS)
c.       Community of Science Funding Opportunities Database (COS) (Note: This database is for all disciplines, not just science)

V.               Help from OGSAF
a.       They will read drafts of your proposal
b.      Make copies of your application and proposal (as well as scan items)
c.       Consult on specific fellowship questions
d.      Publish your accomplishment on their website



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