Applications are open for departments to request a PhD Start Award for Fall 2025

Departments can apply for an award for new PhD students for Fall 2025. Each award will be for one semester and have a $11,000 stipend and includes tuition waivers. The appointment will be as a GTA or GRA with an expected average of 19 hours of work per week. Fees are not covered by this award. The PhD student must be starting as a new graduate student at MSU in Fall 2025. The program does not need to know which student will be appointed at the time the program submits an application for this award.

Priority will be given to:

  1. Newer PhD programs (those started since 2016; Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Indigenous and Rural Health) to help develop a critical mass of students as the faculty strengthens research funding.
  2. Programs with plans to incresase the PhD persistence and reduce time-to-degree

 

For Fall 2025, we anticipate having funding for ~10 PhD Start GRA awards. 

Interested programs need to submit via infoready

  1. Name of department
  2. Name and contact information of lead person making the proposal
  3. Upload a file (less than ~ 2 pages) that includes a description of the following:
    1. Recent PhD enrollment trends in the program.
    2. Retention and time-to-degree initiatives for PhD students.
    3. How many PhD Start Awards is the department requesting, one or two?
    4. How future assistantship appointments for the award recipients will be covered in subsequent semesters/years.

Proposals should be submitted electronically via InfoReady by Jan 21, 2025. Faculty members will review proposals and make recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School.