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Graduate Fellowship Incentive Program Award

The Graduate Fellowship Incentive Program (GFIP) Award is designed to encourage UC Merced graduate students to apply for national pre-doctoral fellowships, as well as other large fellowships.


Eligibility Requirements & Financial Support

  • Must be currently enrolled in 12 units in one of the graduate programs.
  • Must be currently in good academic standing.
  • Recipients will receive an award of $200 for applying to a national pre-doctoral fellowship or other external fellowship of $12,000 or more.
  • Examples from government and foundations include, but are not limited to: NSF GRFP, NIH NRSA, Ford Foundation Fellowship, DOE CSGF, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship, UC MEXUS Grants for Dissertation Research.
  • Must submit an application for and meet the criteria of a national pre-doctoral fellowship or other external fellowship of $12,000 or more by the applicable deadline.
  • Must submit proof of application submission to the Graduate Division, including the estimated amount/budget of the fellowship.
  • Cannot receive an award more than once per academic year.
  • Does not include postdoc awards.
  • Does include dissertation grants where a faculty member is listed as the PI if that is a requirement of the funding agency (eg. NSF).

Student Loan Impact

  • Per federal guidelines, all fellowship and tuition support is taken into consideration when determining student loan eligibility.  If the student will receive federal student loans during the same academic year as this award, please note that this award could, and most likely will, reduce their student loan eligibility.

Use of Funds

  • Funds may be used specifically for costs of attendance (i.e. travel, research, tuition and fees) to support the pursuit of educational and career goals.

Application Procedures

  • In place of a formal application, students must submit proof of their submission or proof of their receipt directly to gradfunding@ucmerced.edu by March 31.
  • The Graduate Dean will determine if the submission qualifies for a GFIP award.

* The Graduate Division reserves the right not to make an award in any given year for which a call for applications/nominations has been issued.

 

Deadlines

See the Internal Fellowships page for current deadlines associated with this fellowship.