Summer Research Scholarship

Graduate Studies provides funding to assist graduate students with conducting their thesis and dissertation research projects during the summer session. This funding is to support students who do not hold KU employment during the summer. This scholarship is not intended to be used for recruiting new students to KU.

NOMINATION PERIOD

Cycle II 
March 7 - 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM CST

Eligibility

Any KU graduate student who meets all of the following criteria is eligible to be nominated:

Note: Students who meet the early summer graduation deadline are not eligible to receive this award.

Award Details

  • Awardees will receive a $6000 scholarship applied directly to their KU account.
  • Awardees must be enrolled in the spring semester for their award to post to their account.
  • Awardees must send a thank you letter to the donor responsible for their award (donor information will be provided in notification email).

Nomination Process & Documents

  • Nominations are reviewed and awarded each spring by Graduate Studies. 
  • Each department may nominate one student who would benefit from summer support.  
  • Nominations must be submitted electronically by the deadline to be eligible for funding in summer 2025. Nominations must be submitted using the online form. 

Directors of Graduate Study or Graduate Coordinators/Graduate Staff can submit a nomination via the nomination button below. The nomination will require three attachments uploaded as three separate PDF files:

  • A nomination statement or recommendation by the student’s department, preferably from their graduate advisor or Director of Graduate Studies;
    • If nominating a student in a terminal master's degree, please include that in the nomination statement.
  • A clearly stated proposal from the student (one page) with specific details of their research/progress plan for the summer; and
  • Student's current curriculum vitae or resume.

Nominators will receive a system confirmation that their nomination was successfully submitted upon completion of the online form.  

Selection Criteria

The Office of Graduate Studies will review the nominations and select the awardees. Preference will be given to:

  • doctoral students who will have completed their comprehensive exam prior to the nomination deadline.
  • master's students enrolled in a terminal degree.
  • students with clearly delineated research goals for the summer term.

While the time required to process award decisions will depend upon the number of applications received, we aim to notify all nominators and graduate students via email by March 24, 2025.

It is expected that the summer research scholarship will be the student's primary form of financial support during the summer. Students are not eligible to receive SRS funding if they accept a GTA/GRA/GA appointment concurrent with the award.

Summer Research Scholarship Nomination Form

Nominate Here