Public Impact Fellowship (I)

Public Impact Fellowships highlight and support PhD or 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.  The final selection committee will consider several factors when choosing the awardees, including each student’s presentation, interview, ability to convey their research to a broad audience, academic record, letters of recommendation, degree progress, and potential research impact.

All Schools are eligible to nominate students to compete for a total of 14 fellowships. Four Public Impact Distinguished Fellows will each receive $12,000. Ten Public Impact Fellows will each receive $1,000. Awarded students may choose to accept their awards during Winter or Spring quarter, or over both quarters, at their discretion.

School nominations must be submitted to the Graduate Division by Friday, October 15, 2021 . Students should consult with their program’s graduate affairs staff member before applying, as Schools and programs typically set earlier internal deadlines.

Please use the following forms in preparing nominations:

Call for nominations: September 2, 2021

Application/Nomination Deadline: October 15, 2021

Details

Award Info

Graduate Division Public Impact Distinguished Fellowships: $12,000 to be used as a stipend

Graduate Division Public Impact Fellowships: $1,000 to be used as a stipend

Students who receive full $12,000 awards may not be appointed as ASEs during the award period, but may be appointed as GSRs. Students who receive $1,000 honorable mention awards may be appointed as ASEs or GSRs.

Eligibility

For UC Irvine Public Impact Fellowships, nominees must, at minimum, meet the following criteria:

  1. Have a minimum graduate-level UCI GPA of 3.7
  2. Be a current, full-time doctoral or MFA student 
  3. If a PhD student, be advanced to candidacy by October 15, 2021
  4. 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.)
  5. 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.
  6. If selected as a finalist, students must be available to give a brief remote presentation to the selection committee, with no visual aids, immediately followed by a brief interview, on Wednesday, November 15, 2021

Application Process

Schools are asked to collect nominations from each department and forward the most promising nominees, based on merit and the potential public impact of the student’s research. There is no limit to the number of nominations. The final selection committee will consider several factors when choosing the awardees, including each student’s presentation, interview, ability to convey their research to a broad audience, academic record, letters of recommendation, degree progress, and potential research impact.

Instructions for Students

  • Complete the Student Information Form and save it as a Microsoft Word document (please save as “IMPACT APP – SID#.doc”, e.g. “IMPACT APP – 12345678.doc”)
  • Please email the following materials to your program’s graduate affairs staff member:
  1. Completed Student Information Form saved as a Microsoft Word document using the naming convention described above
  2. PDF of the completed Student Information Form with your signature.
  3. Your current CV
  4. Letter of recommendation from your primary faculty advisor/PI

Instructions for Programs/Departments

  • Complete the Nomination Form (please save as “IMPACT NOM – SID#.doc”, e.g. “IMPACT NOM – 12345678.doc”)
  • Complete the Nomination Form and obtain the Program Graduate Advisor’s and Associate Dean’s signatures.
  • Please create a single PDF file for each nominee in this order:
  1. Nomination Form (signed by the Program Graduate Advisor and Associate Dean)
  2. Student Information Form (signed by the student)
  3. CV
  4. Letter of Recommendation from the student’s primary faculty advisor/PI
  • Please save this new PDF file as “IMPACT – SID#.pdf”, e.g. “IMPACT – 12345678.pdf”
  • When all documentation is complete, please send an email to Turner Dahl containing the following documents for each nominated student:
  1. The completed Microsoft Word (.doc) Nomination Form
  2. The completed Microsoft Word (.doc) Student Information Form
  3. PDF of the complete nomination packet (to include all bold items listed above)

Contact Information

Please direct any questions to Turner Dahl at tdahl@uci.edu or (949) 824-0490.

Deadline

School nominations must be submitted to the Graduate Division by Friday, October 15, 2021. Students should consult with their program’s graduate affairs staff member before applying, as Schools and programs typically set earlier internal deadlines.

Notes

  • Students who receive full $12,000 awards may not be appointed as ASEs during the award period, but may be appointed as GSRs. Students who receive $1,000 honorable mention awards may be appointed as ASEs or GSRs.
  • For students already receiving financial aid, acceptance of a Public Impact Fellowship may affect their overall financial need-based support package. In such cases, students are encouraged to consult with the UCI Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. 
  • Students should review the terms of any funding that they have accepted for AY 2021-2022 to ensure that they are eligible to receive additional fellowship funding before applying.
  • Previous winners (full awardees and honorable mentions) are not eligible for this year’s competition.

Click here for current honorees.