Bernadette Gray-Little Doctoral Fellowship

The Bernadette Gray-Little Doctoral Fellowship program recognizes the contributions and commitment of Chancellor Gray-Little to graduate education during her service to the University of Kansas. The Fellowship will provide financial support to outstanding students in the first year of their doctoral programs at the University.

NOMINATION PERIOD

December 5, 2022 - January 25, 2023 at 11:59 PM CST

 

Eligibility

  • Recipients may be from any area of doctoral study in a program on the Lawrence or Edwards campus.
  • Recipients of the Fellowship will be selected through a nomination/application process early in the spring semester prior to the fall start of the student’s first academic year. 
  • Students are qualified for nomination if they are applying to start their first year in a doctoral program. Students who have completed a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree at KU are eligible if they will be starting their doctoral program in fall 2023.
  • Fellows may be either domestic or international students.

Students funded by the Self Graduate Fellowship, University Graduate Fellowship, or the Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship are not eligible. 

Award Details

Fellows are appointed as 50% (.50 FTE) Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs).  They will receive a stipend of $26,250 and sponsorship of up to nine (9) hours of tuition, course fees, and technology fees each semester. In addition to the GRA stipend of $26,250, tuition support averages between $8,000 and $9,000 per fellow, bringing the average total fellowship package to $34,000. No summer appointment funds are available through this Fellowship fund. 

Nomination/Application Process & Documents

Maximum 5 nominations per department.

Process:

  • To be considered for a Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship, a new applicant to KU must be nominated by a department as a candidate for the award.  Departments will identify their most competitive student who exemplifies the Chancellor’s values and work with the student to compile a nomination packet. 
  • To nominate a student please select the nominating information through Slate and complete the nomination form. Nomination instructions will be provided to departments prior to the opening of the nomination cycle.
  • The nomination for this award matches the nomination process for the Chancellor's Doctoral Fellowship. Individuals nominated will be reviewed for both the Bernadette Gray-Little Graduate Fellowship and the Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship.

Documents:

The nomination must include the following:

  • The candidate's graduate application
  • A departmental letter of nomination that addresses:
    • the candidate's academic excellence and research productivity (publications, creative works, awards, scholarships, and funding will be highly valued) 
    • how the candidate shows their vision for their field of study and how they plan to use a doctoral education from KU to launch themselves into a leadership role in their field

Selection Criteria

The nominations will be reviewed by the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty and assessed on the following criteria:

  • Documentation of academic excellence and research productivity
  • Clarity of vision for their field and leadership potential
  • Potential impact of research

The top ranked nominations will constitute the pool from which fellowship award will be offered. Please note that this is an ongoing process, as offers may be declined by the nominee, in which case the next top ranked nomination will receive a fellowship offer.

Notifications will be sent out to departments starting February 27, 2023.

CURRENT BERNADETTE GRAY-LITTLE FELLOW

  • 2022-2023 | Sayed Maaz Sadat, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering