Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship Program
The Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship supports outstanding doctoral students who have achieved candidacy and are actively working on dissertation research and writing.
Eligibility
Any doctoral program in the Rackham Graduate School may nominate doctoral candidates for this award. To be eligible, students must be advanced to candidacy by Rackham Academic Records and Dissertations no later than January 19, 2012 (for Winter 2012 or earlier). Preference will be given to nominees who are on track to complete their degrees within six years, excluding time spent on any Rackham approved leave of absence.
Selection Criteria
Fellowships will be awarded to outstanding students who will complete the dissertation in the year in which they hold the fellowship. Programs may have superb students who do not meet these criteria. If so, they are generally encouraged to nominate the students for other awards. If programs opt to nominate exceptional students whose careers are atypical for a Predoctoral Fellowship, please explain why an exception should be made in the Statement of Student Achievement and Potential. We strongly encourage programs to nominate a diverse group of students, as the selection committees strive to award fellowships to a diverse set of recipients.
Deadline
January 20, 2012
Award Description
Seventy-two (72) Rackham Predoctoral Fellowships will be available for 2012-13. Approximately 240 students are nominated each year. The fellowship provides three terms of support that may begin with Spring/Summer or Fall term 2012. Rackham Predoctoral Fellows are expected to work full-time toward the completion of degree requirements throughout the period of the award. Fellowships include a stipend of $28,200(currently), candidacy tuition and required fees for of twelve months. GradCare health and dental insurance will be provided during the fellowship period. Students may receive only one award.
Nomination Procedure
Students must be nominated by their program for this fellowship. Students should contact their program regarding their selection and nomination process. Each doctoral program may submit a list of up to five nominees online. Graduate programs may have nominees who by the nature of their dissertation topic would compete better in a graduate division other than the one in which the program resides; e.g., History students whose topic more properly lies in the Humanities rather than Social Sciences; Nursing students whose topic more properly lies in the Social Sciences rather than Biological and Health Sciences. If this is the case, programs may indicate on the online nomination form the division in which they would like the student to be reviewed.
Any department, interdisciplinary program or school which has an approved doctoral program in the Rackham Graduate School is invited to participate.
A complete nomination packet for the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship consists of the following and may be submitted online at https://secure.rackham.umich.edu/Fellowships/apps/index.php?entry=13.
- A Statement of Student Achievement and Potential indicating why these particular students have been nominated and the criteria used for the nomination (Faculty reviewers find these very helpful). If the student is taking longer than six (6) years, comments must be included as to the specific reasons. Please include the program’s requirements concerning students’ publications, if any. (1,500 words)
- Students’ personal statement describing their dissertation and any additional information they wish to bring to the attention of the selection committee. The statement should address the importance of the student’s work in the beginning two or three sentences. The statement should include the theoretical framework of the dissertation, its specific aims, methodologies (how the student will conduct the research), originality, and the significance and contribution of the project to the field. Fellowship committees place strong emphasis on this statement. The statement should be written with an interdisciplinary faculty review panel in mind; i.e., reviewers will NOT necessarily be familiar with the technical vocabulary of a specific field. (1,500 words)
- Copy of the dissertation title and dissertation abstract (plain text only). (150 words)
- Three letters of recommendation for each nominee, one of which must come from the faculty member who will supervise the dissertation, commenting on the student’s overall performance, potential and expected time to degree. NOTE: Letters of recommendation are reviewed very carefully and carry great weight with the selection committee. Several paragraphs are more helpful to the nominee than are one or two sentences.
- Current curriculum vitae (c.v.).
Contact Information
Questions? Contact the Fellowships Office at 734-764-8119 or flwships@umich.edu
Office hours: 8 AM – 5 PM EDT, Monday through Friday