Most external fellowships and training grant programs supporting Ph.D. level graduate training cover some, but not all, of the tuition, insurance, stipend, and fees UO provides to trainee positions. Previously, applicants to individual fellowships needed to secure support separately from multiple units to cover required differentials—an administratively burdensome process. We have now transitioned to an automatic approval process for the most prestigious, high-impact fellowships and also have a mechanism to request support for similar fellowships.

Our process is based on the following guiding principles, established in coordination between the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, the Office of the Provost, and the Division of Graduate Studies.

Guiding Principles

1. As an R1 institution, the University of Oregon has a responsibility to provide robust training to support our Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars through institutional training programs and/or independently secured fellowships. 
2. Training mechanisms that are critical to support centrally must involve full-time trainee effort for research training or dissertation work for nationally competitive awards. Research training fellowships should incorporate faculty mentorship and include the use of an individualized training plan. Prestigious fellowships intended to fund dissertation work should involve full-time effort and incorporate support from the applicant’s mentor. Funding mechanisms that cover the majority of candidates’ costs for the project period, such as stipends, tuition, fees, and insurance, will be prioritized.
3. Graduate funding mechanisms that provide funding only for research supplies or travel, or supplements to faculty research grants, are not considered training mechanisms for the purposes of this institutional support mechanism. While it is critical to support trainees across disciplines, we recognize that the funding mechanisms to support graduate students in different fields will vary. The above stipulations align with the majority of prestigious externally-funded research training or dissertation support mechanisms for graduate students.
4. Institutional support will be prioritized for external fellowships that a) are prestigious in their field, for either the scholar or university, b) awarded to the student through a nationally competitive process, c) increase the trainees’ competitiveness in the job market, and/or d) support trainees from underrepresented backgrounds.
5. The process for requesting and committing institutional support should be transparent, equitable, and minimize administrative burden for those requesting and committing support.

Process for Providing Institutional Support

Individual Pre-doctoral Fellowships on the Pre-approved List

Support to cover tuition, fees, stipend, and insurance differentials for individual graduate fellowships that meet the core principles will be automatically approved.

Graduate students seeking support to cover tuition, fees, stipends, and/or insurance differentials for a funding mechanism on the pre-approved list do not need to take any action, as their EPCS record will be used to track submissions and award outcomes. All submissions must be processed and submitted by Sponsored Projects Services to be eligible for institutional support (except for NSF GRFP applications, as they may only be submitted by students as individuals). Additionally, any tuition support will be provided in line with UO’s participant support process.

Individual Pre-doctoral Fellowships not on the Pre-approved List

If the graduate student is applying for a grant not listed above, institutional support may be requested via the External Fellowship Support Request Form. OVPRI, in consultation with the Division of Graduate Studies and the applicant’s school or college, will review the sponsor’s guidance and funding parameters and determine if the intended funding mechanism aligns with the principles above. The request may be supported in full, or in part, via central funds based on alignment with principles and budgetary capacity. 

This form should be prepared by the applicant's Department Grant Administrator (DGA). The request form below must be submitted at least 10 business days prior to the sponsor deadline to guarantee institutional review and/or approval of this request prior to submission.

External Fellowship Support Request Form

Institutional training grants

• Faculty applying for institutional training grants are expected to submit a request for support via the OVPRI institutional support request form. Research Development Services will coordinate the commitments between units and prepare and finalize a Memorandum of Understanding prior to submission.
• In reviewing any request for institutional support, the PI is expected to consider the sponsor’s allowable costs and ensure that applications request the maximum possible funding for tuition dollars, insurance, fees, and stipend.

Individual postdoctoral fellowships

The majority of postdoctoral trainees are expected to have differentials for insurance and stipends covered by their faculty sponsor. Exceptions will be considered for programs that support trainees from underrepresented backgrounds. Applications for exceptions will be processed through the External Fellowship Support Request Form.

Implementation Guidance for Department Grant Administrators

Once a student wins the pre-approved award. To apply the pre-approved external fellowships institutional support for a specific term, Department Grant Administrators (DGAs) should complete the Division of Graduate Studies’ intake form (UO-SEFT). This form will allow DGAs to request the following for their fellows/trainees: 1) residency rate, 2) GTFF eligibility, and 3) tuition differentials. Note: Stipend, insurance, and fee differentials are handled by the school/college. Tuition differentials are covered by the Division of Graduate Studies.