Research Enhancement Award

About the Funding

Funds are available to support activities that enhance graduate and graduate professional students' research projects. These funds are provided by the Office of Research & Innovation and administered by the Graduate School. Due to the uncertainty around federal research funding and the university's unwavering commitment to research and the support of graduate student pursuing it, President Guskiewicz is adding up to an additional $100,000 per year for each of the next three years to the Graduate School's Research Enhancement Award fund. The pursuit of new knowledge is crucial to the lifeblood of the university and integral to the advancement of knowledge to improve lives. These funds will help ensure strong support for graduate student research during otherwise uncertain times.

Research enhancement funding is only for graduate students enrolled in a degree program. Unlike graduate assistantships, these fellowships do not provide student health insurance or tuition/fee waivers.

Covered Expenses

• Workshop participation (both in-person or virtual)
• Data collection
• Short courses
• Extramural laboratory rotations
• The cost of disseminating the results of research and creative activities
• Requests to purchase supplies/materials relevant to the student's research (under special circumstances)
• Additional research activities

Additional Financial Contribution

A financial contribution from the major professor, department/program unit and/or college is highly encouraged to accompany a research enhancement fellowship application. In the exceptional circumstance that a financial contribution is not possible from any of these sources, a brief statement of explanation from the graduate assistant/associate dean must accompany the application for further consideration.

Criteria

• Enhancement awards are designed to complement and/or match funds contributed by advisors, departments, and colleges.
• While students are eligible to request a maximum of $2,000, please be aware that typical awards generally fall within the $500 to $1,000 range.
• Only one request per student/tenure in degree program will be considered.
• Students must be registered in the semester the funding is awarded.

Application Submission

Completed forms should be emailed to fellowshipapps@grd.msu.edu. There is no deadline for submitting requests.

Components

The PDF application must be completely filled out and include the following:

• The Graduate School will make decisions on support within three weeks after receiving all the necessary materials.
• Award letters will be emailed.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
• Fulbright Programs