Spring 2020 Dissertation Fellowship Application

The Graduate School at UMBC Dissertation Fellowship Application Deadline:  Friday, November 1, 2019

The Dissertation Fellowship is designed to provide doctoral candidates at UMBC an opportunity to devote the necessary concentration and attention towards finishing the writing of their dissertations.  The Fellowship is specifically designed for students with full-time jobs off-campus, for those without any financial support who are making steady progress with their writing, and for whom having additional time and resources would permit them to complete the process more expeditiously.  This Fellowship is not available as an option for students with available graduate assistantship support.

The Dissertation Fellowship could provide promising doctoral candidates with financial support so that they may reduce their current obligations and partially offset any reductions in salary or increases in expenses.  No additional work assignments other than work on the dissertation are to be associated with this support.

Priority will be given to students who demonstrate that the Fellowship will allow them the needed time to complete their writing and to make revisions in time to defend the work within a realistic but expeditious time frame.  Awards will be made to students who have demonstrated a commitment to provide at least 20 hours per week for an entire academic semester to writing the dissertation.

Dissertation Fellowship awards are available for Spring 2020.  The duration of an award is for one semester. The maximum level of support for Spring is a total stipend of $8,919.68 per Fellowship plus tuition remission for two credits of 899.

To be considered for a Dissertation Fellowship, the Ph.D. candidate must:

• be  in good academic standing;

• provide a letter of support from the Chair of the Dissertation Committee that 

1.  describes the state of the dissertation and the probable impact of receipt of the Fellowship on the progress toward completion; and,

2. verifies that no UMBC-administered financial support is available for the student;

• provide, if employed outside the university, written evidence from the student’s employer indicating the employer’s willingness to reduce job time and duties in order for the student to participate in the Fellowship;

• submit a dissertation abstract of no more than two pages in length; and

• submit a 1-2 page management plan signed by the Chair of the Dissertation Committee describing the status of the dissertation work, the steps required to complete the work, and the feasible timeline for completion; and 

• identify, if a prior recipient of a Dissertation Fellowship, the prior term (e.g., Spring 2017) in which the Fellowship was received.

Applications for Spring 2020 Dissertation Fellowships will be accepted by the Office of the Associate Dean of the Graduate School until Friday, November 1, 2019.  Completed applications may be submitted via email as a single PDF to DFSpring2020@umbc.edu or hand-delivered to the Office of the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Room 208, Administration Building, by 4:30 p.m.  A committee consisting of three members of the Graduate School Leadership Team will review applications and announce recipients of the Fellowship by Friday, November 22, 2019.  Selection will be based on the extent of convincing evidence that the award will provide the critical element needed to complete the dissertation.

LINK TO SPRING 2020 DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION