The President’s Dissertation Year (PDY) Fellowship is intended for students in their final year of graduate study, who are planning to pursue teaching and research appointments soon after their dissertation fellowship year. This award assists graduate students with the completion of their dissertation and enhances their qualifications as candidates for university faculty teaching and research appointments by providing professional opportunities needed to successfully obtain a faculty appointment.

Award Information

The funding package includes:

Fellows receive one year of fellowship support paid directly by the Graduate Division, including a yearly stipend of $30,000 (paid over a nine-month period, Oct. 1 to June 1) and full resident tuition fees.
- Graduate programs also provide fellows a supplement to the fellowship (minimum: $7,000)
- Although it is not advised to seek employment during the fellowship period, it is permitted. If you opt to work during any quarter of your fellowship and your employment package includes remission benefits, these benefits will apply to your tuition and fees. However, you are not eligible to receive a fee fellowship in addition to employment remission as part of this fellowship from the Graduate Division.
$500 academic travel stipend.
Please note:
- Non-resident tuition is NOT covered by this fellowship award.
- If students have applied for and accepted Financial Aid or Work-Study awards and subsequently receive any fellowships, the additional support may affect their eligibility for need-based financial aid. Students should contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to determine if their eligibility will be affected.
- Student should review the terms of any funding they accepted to ensure they are eligible for additional fellowship funding.

Important Dates

Call for Nominations: February 23, 2024

Submission Deadline: April 4, 2024, 12 pm

The deadline for Schools to submit nominations to the Graduate Division is Thursday, April 4, 2024 by 12:00 pm. Late or incomplete nomination packets will not be reviewed. Students should check with their academic program for internal deadlines and submit a complete PDY Student Application Form to their department. Nominations are restricted to the top two candidates per school for the 2024-2025 academic year, College of Health Sciences is limited to one nomination per school/program.

Eligibility Criteria

Nominees must be current UCI Ph.D. students who are in their last year of graduate study and who have advanced to candidacy by Fall 2024.
Nominees must be U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents or AB540 status (international students are not eligible for this fellowship).
Nominees must be able to file their dissertation by the summer dissertation filing deadline at the end of the award year (Summer 2025). Financial penalties will be imposed on the program/school if fellows do not file their dissertation by the summer filing deadline at the end of the award year.
Nominees may not be past their academic program’s maximum time-to-degree at the time of nomination or during the award tenure.
Nominees must not have previously received dissertation funding from any source in support of a final dissertation year. If awarded this fellowship fellows are no longer eligible for additional funding from Graduate Division.
Fellows are required to participate in the President’s Dissertation Year Conference hosted by University of California’s Office of the President. Traditionally, the conference is held in Northern California during the fall of the award year; however, the time of year and location are subject to change. Faculty mentors are strongly encouraged to attend.
Fellows are required to present a seminar on their dissertation research twice during the award period.
Nominees must qualify as a diversity student as defined by the University of California and demonstrate experience of situations or conditions which were an impediment to advancing to graduate study, such as socioeconomic or educational limitations, the absence of a family member who attended college, matriculation in a school with poor financial or curricular support, having a physical or learning disability or working long hours while attending school.

Nomination Process

Schools are asked to set internal deadlines and collect the student applications accordingly. Based on merit, schools will then forward nominations of the students to the Graduate Division by Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 12 pm.

Students must submit the PDY Student Application Form electronically to the department, along with the following in a single PDF:

The student’s dissertation prospectus (max 4 pages, double spaced), which is a timeline for the completion of your dissertation
- Provide a brief introduction of your dissertation project
- Provide a summary for each of your dissertation chapters. Include dates of completion and/or prospective completion dates, and plans for completing unfinished chapters.
- Include a plan for completing the writing and submitting of your dissertation to your committee for review, and when you plan to defend
- Personal Statement
- A brief statement of intent from the student regarding career objectives
- Mentoring plan that includes a timeline of expected progress for completion of the dissertation (this should be co-written by both the student and advisor)
Student curriculum vitae (CV)
Unofficial transcripts including Winter Quarter 2024 grades (if applicable)
- If unofficial grades are not included for Winter Quarter 2024, Graduate Division will review upon availability of grades to verify student still meets the necessary academic requirements
A list of proposed seminars (minimum of two) in which the student will present his/her research during the dissertation year
A detailed listing of all funding/support received by student
Include a written reference from the dissertation advisor

Departments: Complete the PDY Department Nomination Form and include it with the following materials in a single PDF:

Completed PDY Student Application Form
Dissertation prospectus
Student’s CV
Unofficial transcripts
Listing of proposed seminar presentations
Detailed listing of all funding/support
Dissertation advisor letter of recommendation

Save this new PDF file and forward nomination packages to your school for ranking, cover letter and signature.

Schools must submit completed documentation for the top two school nominees using the PDY School Nomination Form. Please be sure to include:

PDF nomination packet for each student the school is nominating

Forms

Contact

E-Mail: Fellowships@exchange.uci.edu

Before this fellowship is awarded, we will be checking Winter grades to make sure the awardee(s) is/are in good academic standing. Prospective awardees not in good academic standing risk being removed from consideration of fellowship disbursement.