First Year Graduate Students:

• DOE CSGF:  for research with a focus on high performance computing methods.  Requires participation in 12-week research experience at a DOE national lab.

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Second Year Graduate Students:

• NSF GRFP:  for research in the STEM fields.  This fellowship has the highest percentage of winners (1 in 7 applicants), and is available to first and second year graduate students. However, as you can only apply once, it is recommended that you apply in your second year.

• NDSEG:  a fellowship from the department of defense.  Available for first and second year graduate students.

• IBM PhD Fellowship:  requires nomination from a UNC faculty member.  Must have completed one year of graduate studies.  Applicants with an interest in cognitive computing are encouraged.  A summer internship is recommended but not required.

• Ford Foundation Fellowships:  available to undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs.  Must attend at least one Ford Fellow conference.

• NPSC Fellowship:  available at all stages of graduate study.  Must perform 1-2 paid summer internships at the sponsoring place of employment.

• SMART Fellowship:  must be a undergraduate or graduate student.  Requires participation in summer internships at a DoD lab (8-12 weeks).  Recipients are also required to work at a DoD lab after receiving their doctoral degree for the number of years they were funded (3 years funding = 3 years at DoD lab).

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Resources for Seeking out Funding:

• COS PIVOT:  the largest funding database.  This database can narrow results so that they are relevant to you and your interests.  Requires a UNC email address to register.

• Carolina Internal Funding Database:  a much smaller database specific to the Carolinas.

• A more thorough list of resources is available through UNC Libraries.

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Grant Writing Resources:

• Personal Statement: this provides an opportunity to demonstrate how you've pursued your career goals.  The introduction is often the most difficult aspect.

• Research Plan:  an outline of the research you want to be funded to do and why it's important.

• For both of these components:

  • Start early!  This will allow you to go through more iterations and produce a more polished result.​

  • Ask for recommendations well in advance of the deadline (a minimum of four weeks beforehand).

  • Get edits from everyone.  The more reviews you get prior to submitting the better.  Reviewers do not have to be in your immediate field (or even in STEM fields).