Instructions to Nominees

(A link to the DDF Nominee Application Form is provided at the bottom of this page.)

U of M DOCTORAL DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIPS for 2010-11

Program Nomination Deadline:  12 Noon, Friday, March 12, 2010

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
            The purpose of the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) program is to give outstanding final-year Ph.D. candidates who are making timely progress toward the degree ― typically those entering their fifth or sixth year of graduate study ― an opportunity to complete the dissertation within the 2010-11 academic year by devoting full-time effort to the research and writing of the dissertation.  The award includes a stipend of $22,500 for the academic year beginning September 2010, tuition for up to 14 thesis credits each semester, and subsidized health insurance through the graduate assistant plan.  Summer 2011 health insurance will be included for those who remain eligible.

            Terms of Award:  Dissertation Fellows must register in the Graduate School for thesis credits each semester.  Tuition for coursework is not covered since program coursework is to be complete and Fellows are expected to work full-time on their dissertations.  Fellows may hold supplemental support of up to the value of a 25 percent graduate assistantship in the student’s department in each semester.  Awards may not be deferred beyond the original award period.  The awards of Fellows who pass their final defense prior to May will be pro-rated.

ELIGIBILITY:
            The competition is open to Ph.D. candidates nominated by their program who have an approved degree program on file at the Graduate School, who will have passed the written and oral preliminary examinations by the March 12 nomination deadline, and who will have completed all program coursework by the end of spring semester 2010 (i.e., they may be registered for program coursework in spring 2010).  Students are ineligible if they have incompletes in official program coursework from a prior term showing on the transcript at the time of the deadline.
            The award is intended for students making timely progress who, typically, will be entering their fifth or sixth year of graduate study, having entered the Graduate School in fall 2005 or later with a bachelor’s degree (or 2007 or later with a master’s degree).  Programs will be asked to provide an explanation of individual circumstances, for nominees who entered the Graduate School before fall 2005 (or 2007 with a master’s), to establish that the nominee is making good progress.
            It is strongly recommended that candidates have a thesis proposal on file at the Graduate School by the deadline.  Also, it is expected that Fellows will graduate by the end of spring 2011, but not later than the end of fall 2011.  Students who would graduate later should be nominated in another year.  Previous recipients of this award are ineligible.

 
NOMINATION AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
            Students must be nominated online by their program and should consult the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) regarding the program’s deadline and nominating procedures.  The DGS will transmit the program’s nomination, both electronically and in hard copy, to the Graduate Fellowship Office by the deadline.  The following should accompany the application form:

   The Personal Statement:  This one-page statement, written by the student, should provide an account of the various sources, influences, and previous efforts that led to the choice of academic discipline and research area while filling in any gaps in the record.  It should offer a picture of the student’s 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.

   The Research Proposal:  The research proposal must represent the student’s own thinking and must be written by the student.  All specialized terminology must be defined.  With faculty reviewers drawn from many different fields across the University, the proposal ― except for the methodology section ― must be written in plain English that is clear and unambiguous, so that the proposal is accessible to readers completely outside the discipline.  Nonetheless, the intellectual underpinnings of the research and its significance must come through.
            The DGS or the nominee should ask individuals who are completely outside the major field and unfamiliar with the discipline to critique the proposal to assure that it meets this wide-audience test.  Be advised that many nominees have been rejected in past years because their proposals contained undefined specialized words and dense syntax, making their research completely incomprehensible to reviewers.
           The proposal must be presented - single- or double-spaced, 12 point type, with margins not less than one inch, - in seven sections, not to exceed three pages, identified by these sub-headings:

      1)  Dissertation Title.  Centered and bolded, top of first page.
      2)  Background.  This should provide a brief overview of the research, placing it in the context of previous research
            in the field, identifying deficiencies in understanding that logically complement the objectives.
      3)  Goals and objectives.
      4)  Design and methodology.  Whether the research is in the sciences or the humanities, this section should provide
            the analytical, theoretical, or conceptual framework that gives relevance to the topic.  While it may be more
            technical, this section should be detailed enough so that reviewers can judge the soundness of the research design.
      5)  Potential significance of the research.  This section should answer the question “So what?”  What important new
            knowledge will be obtained; what substantive questions will be answered; and what is the relevance of the
            research, in the larger context, to the needs of science, technology, the arts, or society?
      6)  Progress to date and schedule for completion.
      7)  Key references. (Must be included within the three-page limit.)

Faculty References:  Two faculty references, one of which is from the adviser and one from a non-adviser.

• Nominee should sign the letter of recommendation cover page (included at the end of the application), and provide one to each recommender.

• Co-advisers may co-author one letter.

Transcripts: Copies of transcripts from each college or university attended, including the U of M - your program has copies of all transcripts on file.

• You may print a copy of your current U of M transcript at http://onestop.umn.edu/grades_and_transcripts/index.html.

Degree Program Form:  An up-to-date copy of the approved degree program, available from your program, with all grades posted.

• Handwritten changes are acceptable.

REVIEW AND SELECTION:
            The review will be conducted by the Graduate Fellowship Committee, composed of sixteen faculty members from across the University.  Each nomination will be independently reviewed and rated by four faculty members drawn from disparate disciplines.  At least one of the four reviewers will come from the same broad disciplinary area, such as biology or physical sciences, as the nomination.  For example, a nomination from an engineering program might be reviewed by a four-member panel of faculty from civil engineering, history, linguistics, and physics.  Thus the nomination must be comprehensible to all individuals in this diverse review panel ― especially since all reviewers have an equal voice in the final decision.
            Selection of recipients will be based on the following criteria:  the importance of the research and the clarity with which it is conveyed to the non-specialist; the potential for the student to make an unusually significant contribution to the field; the degree to which the research manifests the student’s independence, originality, and resourcefulness; the potential for the student to become an influential leader in the overall discipline; the soundness and design of the methodology; the comparative strength of the academic record; the publication record and its significance, in the context of norms for the field; the timeliness of progress toward the degree; and the clarity and coherence of the program’s presentation.

            The DGS will be notified of the outcome in mid-May.

DDF Nominee Application form is available at:
http://www.grad.umn.edu/fellowships/ddf/DDFNomineeApplication2010.doc