Dissertation Completion Fellowship

For CS PhD students only
The Graduate College’s Dissertation Completion Fellowships help outstanding UIUC graduate students complete the doctoral degree by providing a one-year stipend of $25,000 along with waivers of tuition, service fee, health service fee, AFMFA fee, library/IT fee. In addition, the fellow will receive partial payment of the graduate student health insurance fee per semester as well as basic dental and vision coverage. The number of awards offered will depend on the level of funding available.

The intent of the fellowship is to help students complete their dissertations. Accordingly, awardees are discouraged from holding multiple waiver-generating appointments.

The criteria used in making the awards include the significance of the research, as reflected in the nominee’s proposal and the letters of support, the student’s productivity and efficient progress toward the degree as shown in the academic record, and the likelihood that the student will defend and deposit the dissertation by August 2024.

ELIGIBILITY

Open only to currently enrolled doctoral students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Eligible students will be nominated by their department or program.
Nominees must be enrolled in a program leading to the PhD, DMA, EdD, or JSD and should have completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except the dissertation. Only those students who have passed the preliminary examination by the nomination deadline and who will defend and deposit their dissertations by August 2024 are eligible for nomination. There are no exceptions to these requirements.
Students who have already received a dissertation completion fellowship from another campus unit or an external funder are ineligible.
Registration is not required at the time of nomination but is required during the award period.

Award
$25,000
Deadline
Supplemental Questions
  1. What date did you pass your preliminary exam?
  2. Do you expect to defend and deposit your dissertation by August 2024?
  3. Have you received another dissertation completion fellowship from another campus unit or an external funder?
  4. Using only the space below, please explain to the Fellowship Board why you should be considered for a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Graduate College. Keep in mind that the Fellowship Board is multidisciplinary and consists of representatives from the sciences, humanities, engineering, fine arts, social sciences, and professional programs. Board members will look to your statement for guidance on what counts for intellectual merit and academic achievement within your discipline, and they will use your assessment as a key resource in their attempt to compare this nominee with other nominees from across campus. Tips: • Use concrete, quantified measures whenever possible to characterize the nominee’s accomplishments and productivity. • Clarify the stature within the field of any journals or conferences that have featured the nominee’s work. • Address any weaknesses in the nominee’s record head-on
  5. Please upload ONE PDF with with following: 1) CV 2) Research Proposal 3) Unofficial Illinois Transcripts - see requirements for the research proposal here: https://apps.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship-finder/?action=main.fellowship&fid=2807
  6. (Dissertation Completion) Please request a letter of recommendation from your thesis advisor - they will be sent a link in which to upload the letter. PLEASE LET THEM KNOW YOU WILL BE REQUESTING A LETTER NOW! They will not be requested until your application is submitted, and we want to give them as much time as possible to submit.
  7. (Dissertation Completion) Please also request a second endorsement letter from a member of your dissertation committee.
  8. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and broadening participation in computing (BPC) are an important part of the UIUC CS mission. Please write a brief paragraph telling us how DEI figures into your past and present teaching, research, community engagement, and your lived experience? How do you imagine incorporating attention to DEI into your future work?
  9. To the best of my knowledge, I have not committed any action that violates the UIUC Student Code or the CS Department Values and Code of Conduct.
  10. Show 4 more