Each year, our graduate students win prestigious awards that support their research needs domestically and internationally. UChicagoGRAD’s dedicated team of fellowship advisors help graduate students and postdocs create strong and persuasive application materials.
A fellowship is an acknowledgement of your potential as an emerging scholar.
The term “fellowship” encompasses many opportunities, including competitive grants, study abroad, and research activities. Most commonly, a fellowship is awarded to fund a proposed research project or similar academic activity with specific, well-defined goals.
UChicagoGRAD helps graduate students and postdocs craft stronger applications for a wide range of fellowship opportunities, ranging from overseas and domestic research, language study, dissertation writing, professional development and teaching opportunities.
Why should I apply for a fellowship?
Many fellowships provide financial support to ease or eliminate the financial burden of an educational program. A fellowship can provide access to outside archives, libraries, and collections to enhance a research project, or help gain critical professional skills. All fellowships provide an unambiguous endorsement of your work and qualifications: evidence that the broader academic community sees potential in your academic projects.
UChicagoGRAD offers extensive resources to guide our graduate students and postdocs through the competitive fellowship application process.
All postdocs, graduate, and professional school students can reserve advising appointments to identify relevant fellowships or receive advice about applying to specific fellowships. In addition, graduate students and postdocs can submit draft fellowship materials for written feedback. For more information about both services, see below.
Submit a draft for written feedback.
Annie Janusch is the writing consultant on the fellowships team. She works with students from all disciplines to provide feedback on proposals and project narratives, as well as research, personal, and diversity statements. She enjoys helping students frame their project’s contributions for generalist readers and develop detailed, feasible research plans.
We are available to review drafts of fellowship application materials including research statements, personal statements, diversity statements, and statements of purpose. No appointment is necessary.
Meet with a fellowships advisor.
Kevin Doherty is Director of Fellowships and Writing in UChicagoGRAD. Kevin advises students in all disciplines for all fellowships, and loves helping students learn about the world of fellowships for the first time. He is also the coordinating official for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the official Fulbright Program Advisor for all graduate students and graduate alumni of the university.
Maggie Kurkoski is the Assistant Director of Fellowships at UChicagoGRAD. She comes to UChicago from Princeton University, where she is pursuing a doctorate in Roman Art & Archaeology. As part of the Fellowships Team, Maggie helps doctoral students find the fellowships that mesh with their research. She prefers to work collaboratively in advising sessions, brainstorming ways to make each application as compelling as possible.
Kelly Holob is an intern who’s been with UChicagoGRAD since 2021. She enjoys hearing about students’ varied interests and showing them that—yes!—there are fellowships available for that. Databases, and the empowerment that comes from knowing how to use them, are one of her favorite things to teach students. When she’s not making lists of fellowships, she’s working on her PhD in Divinity, working on ancient martyrs, criminals, and their ghosts.
Brianna Wilson is an intern on the fellowships team. She is currently a fourth year PhD candidate in the linguistics department. She enjoys introducing students to the world of fellowships through leading exploring fellowships info sessions and one-on-one advising with Master’s students. She hopes to give students the tools and resources to feel confident knowing where to start when searching for a fellowship.