New graduate students are typically supported as teaching assistants (TA) during their first year, and then financial support is generally provided by TA positions, fellowships, or by graduate research assistant positions thereafter depending on the funding status of the permanent research group.

Successful applicants to the Ph.D. program will be considered for special doctoral fellowships. Exceptional incoming chemistry students accepted into our graduate program are candidates for the prestigious new Provost’s Graduate Excellence Fellowship. These fellowships are aimed at the most talented and exemplary graduate students, and recipients are awarded five years of fellowship support.

Students with outstanding academic records and those who have established a track record of success as researchers and innovators will be automatically considered for these elite awards.

Provost’s Graduate Excellence Fellowship support includes an annual stipend of $30,000.* In addition, fellows receive up to $10,000 over five years in research and travel support, a waiver of tuition and fees, and University medical benefits. The total compensation package is valued at over $240,000 per recipient.

* For two of the five years, fellows receive these stipends as standalone support. The remaining three years tie stipends to work as a teaching assistant or a graduate research assistant in a faculty member’s lab. Students are asked to teach two long semesters only, as this amount of time instructing others is considered optimal for our graduate students' professional development.

The Department of Chemistry also considers outstanding applicants for a variety of recruiting fellowships; further information can be found on the Graduate School website.