Public Impact Fellowship
Fellowship details
Public Impact Fellowships highlight and support doctoral and MFA students whose current research has the potential for substantial impact in the public sphere. Ideal candidates will be involved in research designed to significantly improve or enrich the lives of Californians and/or national and global communities.
$10,000 (distinguished fellow full award) or $1,000 (honorable mention award) to be used as a stipend. Each of the five full awardees will receive $10,000. Each of the ten honorable mention awardees will receive $1,000. Students may choose to accept the award during Winter or Spring, or over both quarters, at their discretion.
Application Open: September 18, 2024
Submission Deadline: October 31, 2024 by 5pm
Final Round Zoom Interviews: November 20, 2024
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Be a current, full-time doctoral or MFA student to receive this award. Students in self-supporting programs are not eligible
- Have a minimum graduate-level UCI GPA of 3.7
- Must be in good academic standing and have completed at least 3 quarters of graduate coursework at UCI
- Must satisfy the minimum eligibility criteria for fellowships
- If a doctoral student, be advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. by October 23, 2024
- Conduct research that has critical public impact. (Examples of relevant research include studies that aim to improve economic opportunity and well-being, health care, social justice, political participation, cultural engagement, and scientific or technical solutions to pressing social issues.)
- Be willing to have research spotlighted/featured on both the Graduate Division’s and UCI’s website, brochures and social networks, and be able and available to effectively communicate and discuss their research in lay terms with prospective donors, legislators and/or their staff, and the media during Winter and Spring quarters.
- If selected as a finalist, students must be available to give a brief presentation (via Zoom) to the selection committee, with no visual aids, immediately followed by a brief interview. These presentations and interviews will take place on November 20, 2024. Finalists will be assigned a slot sometime between 9am and 1pm.
Students should prepare the following materials and submit using the application:
- Current CV
- Letter of recommendation from your primary faculty advisor/PI
- recommenders may upload directly using the Public Impact – Upload Letter of Recommendation Form
- Student Profile
- Please provide a brief biographic student profile of less than 300 words. Include, where applicable, undergraduate university and previous degrees, research interests, current projects, honors, work experience, outside interests, and any special characteristics or activities.
- Research Statement
- Please provide a research statement describing your research project in less than 500 words, written for a committee of non-specialists in the field. The statement should highlight the potential public impact of your research and include your progress to date and plans for degree completion.
- Public Impact Statement
- Please provide a brief statement of less than 300 words outlining any public impact experiences you’ve had to date. This may include volunteer work, sharing your research with the public, etc.
- Students should review the terms and conditions to ensure that they are eligible to receive fellowship or scholarship funding before applying.
- For students already receiving financial aid, acceptance of additional funding may affect their overall financial need-based support package. In such cases, students are strongly encouraged to consult with the UCI Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
- Previous Public Impact Fellowship winners (full awardees and honorable mentions) are not eligible for this year’s competition.