Fellowship Finder

University of Illinois Graduate College - Diffenbaugh Fellowships for Students from Missouri

Deadline: Anticipated 1/2024 ( Previous deadline 1/27/2023 )

The Diffenbaugh Fellowship Fund, established in 1976 by Harry J. Diffenbaugh, supports graduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who are or were residents of the State of Missouri. The fellowship provides one year of support.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be University of Illinois graduate students who are or were residents of the State of Missouri. The fellowship is open to all legal residents of the State of Missouri as well as to any graduate of a high school, college, or university located in the State of Missouri.
• Preference will be given to incoming students, but continuing students are also eligible.
• Preference may be given to those with more extensive ties to the state of Missouri, e.g., an applicant who was born and raised in Missouri and attended college there will likely have priority over an applicant who resided there for only a short period of time many years ago.  

Award Amount:

• $25,000 stipend.
• Tuition waiver. (Please note that students in approved cost-recovery or self-supporting programs are not eligible to receive tuition waivers. This means that students in these programs may apply but, if selected, will receive only the stipend portion of the award.)
• Waiver of AFMFA fee, library/IT fee, service fee, and health service fee as well as basic dental and vision coverage.
• Partial payment of the graduate student health insurance fee per semester.
• The department may, at its discretion, also provide the fellow with assistantship support up to 50%.

Nomination Procedure:

Students must be nominated by their departments, and each department is limited to one nomination. For incoming student applications, departments should submit the materials below as instructed, including a copy of the department's letter offering admission.  For current student applications, applicants and their letter writers should each submit their respective materials to the department's contact person (check with the Director of Graduate Studies to identify the appropriate contact person).

The department must scan materials into a single pdf file, and the file should be named as follows: LastName, FirstName - DeptAbbreviation - Diffenbaugh2023 (for example: Smith, John - Anth - Diffenbaugh2023).  The pdf should then be uploaded to this online Box folder.  The pdf should contain the following documents, arranged in the following order:

• Nomination Form, as completed by the nominating official (either the Department Head or the Director of Graduate Studies).  Regarding the Nomination Statement on the second page of the form, the nominating official should keep in mind that the Diffenbaugh review panel is multidisciplinary and may consist of representatives from the sciences, humanities, engineering, social sciences, fine arts, or professional programs. Panelists will rely on the Nomination Statement to explain what counts for intellectual merit and academic achievement within the nominee's discipline, and they will use the statement as a key resource in their attempt to compare that nominee with other nominees from across campus. It is therefore best to explain, in detail, why the department wishes to nominate this student, and it is best to use concrete, quantified measures whenever possible to characterize the nominee’s accomplishments.  Also, if there are any oddities or weaknesses in the applicant’s record, it’s best to address those directly.
• For incoming students:
  • Submit a copy of the department's letter offering admission to the student. 
  • Submit a copy of the following documents from the student's application for admission:
    • Application form.
    • Statement of purpose.
    • Two letters of recommendation.
    • Transcripts.
    • Note: Do not send any other materials (thesis, writing sample, etc.).
• For current students: Submit the following:
  • CV (maximum three pages, with at least 11 point font and one-inch margins).
  • For students in research-oriented programs: Submit a research proposal, complete with research question, hypothesis (if applicable), literature review/significance, preliminary research, methodology, and timeline. Proposals must be a maximum of three pages, in 12 point Times New Roman, double-spaced, and with one-inch margins. Proposals should be written in jargon-free language and should be accessible to the lay reader.
  • For students in creative/performing arts or professional programs: Submit a proposal outlining the plan of graduate study, complete with discussion of major goal(s) and the specific plan for meeting those goals. Proposals must be a maximum of three pages, in 12 point Times New Roman, double-spaced, and with one-inch margins. Proposals should be written in jargon-free language and should be accessible to the lay reader. 
  • References Cited, if applicable (maximum one page, single-spaced, 12 point font, one-inch margins).
  • Two letters of recommendation, one of which should be from the applicant's advisor.
  • Current UIUC transcript (unofficial will suffice).

Contact:
Ken Vickery, PhD
Director of Fellowships
Graduate College
vickeryk@illinois.edu

 

 

Categories: Annual stipend of at least $10,000; Social Sciences; Sciences/Engineering/Math; Professional Programs; Fine Arts; Humanities; US Citizens, Nationals, or Permanent Residents; Master's; Early Years of Doctoral Program; Dissertation Research; Dissertation Write-Up; Fellowship/Grant; University of Illinois Students

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