LOUISE T. DOSDALL FELLOWSHIP
STANWOOD JOHNSTON FELLOWSHIP
FRIEDA MARTHA KUNZE FELLOWSHIP

2009-10 Instructions to Applicants

Deadline:  12:00 noon, December 1, 2008

 

Eligibility:

Students must be registered for credit in the University of Minnesota Graduate School at the time of application.  Applicants will be considered for any of the following fellowships for which they are qualified:

 

Dosdall Fellowship:

For students who show exceptional promise for a successful career in research.  Open to women graduate students in the natural or physical sciences and engineering where women are underrepresented (i.e., fewer than 50%) in the graduate program (e.g., chemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, and physics).  Before applying, students should verify their eligibility by checking their program’s official fall semester 2008 enrollment statistics (available online at: http://www.grad.umn.edu/Programs/index.html) to see that women represent fewer than 50% of enrollees.  One award.

 

Johnston Fellowship:

For graduate students in biochemistry, chemistry, geology, geophysics, microbiology, or physics.  One award.

 

Kunze Fellowship:

For graduate students in biochemistry, chemistry, or biomedical sciences.  One award.

 

Amount:

$22,000 for the academic year, plus tuition and subsidized health insurance for the academic year.  Summer 2010 health insurance will be provided if the Fellow remains eligible. 

 

Application Procedure:

Applicants should submit four sets (collated and stapled) of the application form and supporting documents, in the following order:

1) Application form, signed and dated.

• Application available online at http://www.grad.umn.edu/fellowships/applications.

2) Research proposal, including title of project.

• Up to three pages, double-spaced, 12-point type, with margins not less than 1 inch, and title of project at top of page.
• Your research proposal should describe the research or study you plan to pursue in the coming academic year.
• If you choose to include key references, they must fit within the three-page limit.

3) Personal biographical statement.

• One page, single or double spaced, 12-point type, with margins not less than 1 inch.
• Your biographical statement should provide an account of the various sources, influences, and previous efforts that led to your choice of academic discipline and research area, while filling in any gaps in your record.  It should offer a picture of your motivation and purpose as well as a description of long-range personal and professional plans and goals.  It should not be an extension of the research proposal section.

4a)  A current University of Minnesota graduate transcript.

• Transcripts are available at http://onestop.umn.edu/onestop/grades.html.

4b)  An explanation of any “Incomplete” grades (if applicable). 

In Addition

5) Two letters of recommendation.

• One of the letters must be from the major advisor.
• Each letter should be no more than one-page, on letterhead, with the recommendation cover sheet attached.
• Letters should be sent directly to the Graduate Fellowship Office for duplication (314 Johnston Hall).  Or, applicants may bring sealed envelopes directly to the Fellowship Office.
• No more than two recommendations will be forwarded to the committee.

Please Note
Since the selection committee reviews only applications that are complete in every detail, students should verify with the Graduate School Fellowship Office that all required supporting materials (two letters of recommendation) have been received.

 

Selection Criteria:

The review and selection will be conducted by University of Minnesota faculty, which will select the awardees
based on the following criteria: 

a) the strength of the overall academic record,
b) the timeliness of progress toward the degree,
c) the cohesiveness of the study or research plan and the clarity with which it is conveyed to the non-specialist, and,
d) the strength of the letters of recommendation.

 

Award Policy:

Duplicate Awards - Recipients may not hold concurrently a second fellowship, scholarship, grant, or similar award that duplicates the benefits of the Fellowship.

Supplementation - Recipients may hold concurrently a graduate assistantship of up to 25% time without reduction in the Fellowship stipend.  Likewise, recipients may hold concurrently a non-Graduate School-administered fellowship, scholarship, grant, or similar award, or outside employment, provided it does not exceed the value of a 25%-time assistantship in the student’s department.  Any additional support, in whatever combination, may not exceed the dollar value of a 25% assistantship in any given semester.

Terms of Award - Although recipients need not be in residence during the tenure of the fellowship, they must be registered for credit in the Graduate School both semesters of the academic year. Note: The donor of the Johnston Fellowship asked that recipients sign a note saying they will repay the amount of the award, if they are able to do so in the future (a moral obligation only).

 

Notification:

Applicants will be notified of the outcome, in writing, by the end of March, 2009.

 

 

	Questions? Graduate School Fellowship Office 314 Johnston Hall 101 Pleasant Street SE Minneapolis, MN  55455 Phone: (612) 625-7579 Fax: (612) 625-6820 gsfellow@umn.edu