Graduate Program | Grants and Funding
Many sources are available for graduate student support. This page provides a partial list of opportunities from within UW-Madison and from outside funding sources.
DEPARTMENT SOURCES
The department has a large number of TA and PA positions, as well as a small number of fellowships. Current students should consult chapter 7 of the Graduate Handbook for more information on graduate student support by the Department.
In conjunction with the Institute for Research in the Humanities, the Department offers the Coleman Dissertation Fellowship. This one-semester fellowship is currently offered every other year.
The Deparment supports graduate student travel to conferences and for research, up to $800 over each student's graduate career. See the Graduate Handbook for more information.
UW-MADISON SOURCES
Find out if you can TA or PA in other departments or campus offices. Check out the Campus Jobs Center. Depending on your skills and experience, you may be able to find non-graduate-assistant jobs with longer job security. Note, however, that only graduate assistantships (PA's, TA's and RA's) provide tuition remission. In addition, many jobs are never posted to the Campus Jobs Center, so you also need to get advice from your fellow graduate students.
EXTRAMURAL SOURCES
- National Science Foundation (NSF) provides two kinds of grants for graduate students working in the history of science and technology (but not clinical medicine):
- The Graduate Research Fellowships Program provides general support for graduate study, aimed at incoming students or students currently in their first year of graduate study. Deadline: early to mid November.
- Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants support up to about $12,000 for travel for dissertation research (including living expenses while you are traveling). Graduate students must apply for these grants through their Ph.D. advisor, who serves as the pricipal investigator on the grant. History of Science grads have had good success with these grants. Deadlines: August 1 and February 1; notification takes about 6 months. Sometimes the NSF asks applicants to re-submit their proposal for the following deadline.
- Fulbright IIE: U.S. Dept. of Education program that awards grants for conducting dissertation research abroad for 1 academic year. Deadline: end of September, for the following academic year. Note: requires establishing contacts with institutions in the host country(ies), which can take months. On the web at: http://www.iie.org/fulbright/us/.
- Fulbright-Hays: U.S. Dept. of Education program that awards dissertator level grants for conducting research abroad for 6 months to 1 year, for graduate students planning a teaching career. Note: also requires establishing contacts in the host country(ies). Several of the D.O.E. programs are on the web at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/iegps/.
- Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC): supports one academic year of dissertation research. Deadline: early November. (note: the SSRC used to have a pre-dissertation fellowship, but I don’t know if this is currently available).
- Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS): Federal funds channeled through the U-W for 1) academic year and 2) summer study in language and area studies, especially in lesser-studied geographical areas. Usually for graduate students in the first several years (pre-dissertation). FLAS provides tuition, fringe benefits, and a really decent living stipend. Deadline: early/mid February for the following academic year, and mid-spring for the summer.
- Dana-Allen Fellowship: the Institute for Research in the Humanities (U-W) has a new grant! They’re offering one full year’s support to a dissertator (in residence on campus) every other year. Humanities and Social Sciences departments will be able to nominate one candidate. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2001 for the 2002-3 year.
- Jacob K. Javits: U.S. Dept. of Education program that awards grants to entering or 1st-year graduate students who demonstrate both ability and need. Deadline: end of November; grants are typically awarded for 2 years. On the web at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/iegps/.
- Vilas Travel Fellowships: via the Graduate Student Council at: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/gsc/.
Sample Grants for Particular Geographic Areas or Topics:
- DAAD: grant program in conjunction with Fulbright, for graduate students working on Germany.
- Spencer: for graduate students working on the history of education (sometimes fairly broadly construed).
- Delmas: for graduate students planning to do research in Venice.
- Chateaubriand: a "fellowship designed to conduct research of scientific orientation in France." History of Science apparently counts, but it’s a very competitive fellowship. Deadline: Dec. 1 for the next academic year. On the web at http://www.ambafrance-us.org/sst/chateaubriand/home-etu.htm.
- IREX: Eastern Europe, Central Asia, China, etc.
Other Kinds of Grants:
- Travel to Collections: many archives, University libraries, and some museums have funds available to pay for researchers to come use their collections. Well worth investigating.
- Professional Societies and Foundations: the American Association for the History of Medicine, the Chemical Heritage Society, SHOT (Society for the History of Technology, the American Physical Society, and other organizations have essay prizes and/or, in some cases, research support grants. Find out which societies/organizations are relevant for your research, and what they offer.