Graduate Program Funding
Funding and Award Packages
Award Packages
The award package for graduate research / teaching assistantships and fellowships includes 10-month tuition and a minimum stipend $24,000 for Spring and Fall semesters for Ph.D. students.
In many cases, additional stipend support is available through funded grants. Students are encouraged to discuss with faculty and the Department of Biology Graduate Director to inquire about these opportunities at the time of application submission.
Financial Support Programs
Merit-based financial support for Graduate Students is available through graduate research and teaching assistantships, fellowships, and tuition scholarships. Each category of support is awarded annually on a competitive basis. Award recipients are expected to perform specific duties for 15 hours per week during the academic year. The responsibilities, often described as an internship, are defined and evaluated by the academic department or the Graduate School depending upon the appointment. The selection / appointment process, eligibility criteria and award package for graduate assistantships, fellowships and tuition scholarships are described below.
Selection and Appointment
The selection process for each category of financial support is aggressively pursued between February and June for the subsequent academic year. New and continuing graduate students are encouraged to apply early for these awards with the academic chair or director of graduate studies. Additionally, students may apply for financial support administered through the Graduate School. The appointment for graduate assistants and fellows begins on August 15th and ends on May 15th of each academic year. Please note if a funding offer is not presented in writing by June 15 from the academic department or the Graduate School, the likelihood of obtaining one of these awards is greatly diminished. After June 15th, new and continuing students are encouraged to seek external or need-based financial support for the upcoming academic year
Eligibility
The minimum GPA requirement is 3.0 for new and 3.2 for continuing students. However, because these awards are merit-based and reviewed competitively, the definition of quality academic performance may vary. Award recipients must enroll for the fall and spring as full-time students defined by a minimum of 9 credit hours. Additionally, students are required to pay their own student fees each semester.
Graduate Funding Opportunities
Internal Funding
Search Internal Funding at Howard
https://gs.howard.edu/graduate-school-competitive-awards
Graduate Assistantships
New Students
Edward Alexander Bouchet Doctoral Scholars Fellowship (Deadline: December 2, 2024)
https://gs.howard.edu/resources/edward-alexander-bouchet-doctoral-scholars-assistantship
Domestic and international new Ph.D. students who are also new to the Graduate School (first time applicants).
Applicants must have a master’s degree and be accepted into the Ph.D. program.
The minimum, cumulative GPA requirement from the applicant's current or most recently attended institution is 3.5.
McNair Graduate Assistantship Program (Deadline: December 2, 2024)
https://gs.howard.edu/resources/ronald-e-mcnair-graduate-assistantship-program
New and continuing students who are seeking a Ph.D. and were McNair scholars as undergraduates.
Domestic and International students are eligible for this assistantship.
The minimum, cumulative GPA requirement is 3.2 from the candidate’s current institution.
Current Students
Just-Julian Graduate Research Assistantship (due to COAS by February 1)
https://gs.howard.edu/resources/ernest-e-just-percy-l-julian-graduate-research-assistantship
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be a Ph.D. student in good academic standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher, and who are:
- Enrolled full-time
- Making good progress toward the degree (if a continuing student)
- Must be endorsed by the dean of the faculty/research mentor of the respective school or college
- Must be sponsored by a faculty, research scientist, or administrator actively involved in research
Hawthorne Dissertation Research Assistantship (Deadline: January 27, 2023)
https://gs.howard.edu/resources/hawthorne-dissertation-research-fellowship
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must have:
- Evidence of terminal year progress towards the dissertation made sufficient research progress to indicate completion within the year of the award;
- Admitted to candidacy; and
- Obtained a minimum cumulative doctoral study grade point average of 3.2
Direct questions about Graduate Assistanships to Gloria Lloyd (glloyd@howard.edu)
The Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
The Bouchet Honor Society seeks to develop a national network of preeminent scholars who exemplify academic and personal excellence and foster environments of support and advocacy for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the academy. Howard University Bouchet Society members contribute to the advancement of their field(s) of study and are committed to the application of that knowledge to improve the lives and conditions of the communities they serve. Members exhibit the highest values of Howard through their character, leadership, advocacy, scholarship, and service.
HOWARD BOUCHET GRADUATE HONOR SOCIETY NOMINATION PROCESS AND REQUIREMENTS
Students seeking membership into the Bouchet Honor Graduate Society can apply for membership or nominate themselves by submitting a Nominee Completion Form (online). Bouchet Honor Graduate Society membership is available to any individual who is currently a doctoral student in good academic standing and who has shown outstanding promise as a scholar as well as research achievement, as evidenced by independent investigation or current work on a dissertation research project.
Membership into the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society is a competitive process. All student nominees or applicants must be PhD students currently enrolled full-time in the Graduate School, must be in good academic standing and must have advanced to candidacy (also called ABD or “all but dissertation”). Candidacy means that the student has finished all required coursework, passed all required qualifying and preliminary exams, and is currently working on their dissertation research. Inductees are expected to attend the Howard Induction Ceremony and Yale-hosted Annual Bouchet Conference in April.
Nominees/applicants are required to submit all application materials by February 16, 2022 (11:59 pm, EST).
External Funding (Federal Agencies)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
October 18, 2021 (Monday): GRFP application deadline for Life Sciences
Fellowship benefits:
- Five year fellowship period with three years of financial support
- Annual stipend of $34,000
- Cost-of-education allowance of $12,000 to the institution
- No post-graduate study service requirement
- Access to supplemental funding to sustain research while on medical deferral (e.g. family leave)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- NIH Dissertation Award (R35) (Deadlines: February 16, June 16, October 16)
- https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs/research-education/r36
- Mental Health Research Dissertation Grant to Enhance Workforce Diversity
- https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-21-325.html
- Aging Research Dissertation Awards to Increase Diversity
- https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-19-394.html
- Substance Use/Substance Use Disorder Dissertation Research Award
- https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-20-208.html
- AHRQ Health Services Research Dissertation Program
- https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-18-765.html
Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program
https://science.osti.gov/wdts/scgsr
Priority Research Areas for SCGSR 2022 Solicitation 1 (Deadline: May 4, 2022)
IV. Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- (a) Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
- (b) Biomolecular Characterization and Imaging Science
- (c) Plant Science for Sustainable Bioenergy
- (d) Environmental Microbiology
- (e) Environmental System Science
- (f) Atmospheric System Research
- (g) Earth System Model Development: Computational Climate Modeling
- (h) Regional and Global Model and Analysis
External Funding (Other)
External Funding Opportunities (Graduate School Website)
https://gs.howard.edu/funding/external-funding-opportunities
PROFELLOW
Online resource for information on professional and academic fellowships
Annual Yale Bouchet Virtual Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education (February 15, 2022)
https://gsas.yale.edu/diversity/office-graduate-student-development-diversity/edward-bouchet-conference/annual-conference
Quantum Science Summer School (Deadline: February 18, 2022)
Summer School on Innovative Approaches in Science in Research Triangle Park, NC (Deadline: February 18, 2022)
https://www.ascctox.org/innovativescience2022
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar (Deadline: October 27, 2021)
https://cifar.ca/next-generation/global-scholars/