From left: Mingjiang Zhong, Bruce McWilliams and Udom Sae-Ueng
Full financial support is offered to all full-time Ph.D. students, including tuition and stipend. The support is typically in the form of teaching assistantships for the first year (two semesters is a degree requirement) and later as either a teaching assistant or as a research assistant. Every effort is made to provide continuous financial support for students who are in good standing in the program.
The basic monthly stipend for 2011–2012 is $2150/month. In addition, the Department of Chemistry provides a $50/month supplement provided to assist in covering the cost of health insurance. This departmental support is guaranteed for 9 months during the academic year. Support for the summer is normally provided from research funds by the student's research advisor, so the basic annual stipend is $26,400. Including the graduate tuition ($37,500) and fees ($642) that are paid for each student, the total value of the offer to each incoming student is $64,542.
A small number of outstanding incoming students will receive additional fellowships beyond the basic stipend based on merit. We are grateful for the endowed funds that establish two supplemental named fellowships:
Note that Dr. Vida has a preference for students from his home country of Hungary. If there are no Hungarian students who are eligible, a top student will be selected from among other excellent applicants.
Astrid and Bruce McWilliams Fellowship in the Mellon College of Science will support MCS graduate students conducting leading-edge research in emerging fields such as nanotechnology, biophysics and cosmology. The fellowship will provide full tuition, stipend and fees for one year, or until the recipient graduates, whichever comes first. The student will receive $1000 in a discretionary fund for conference travel or other research expenses. To be eligible, students must be in at least their third year and have completed all of the requirements for the Ph.D. that are expected at their stage in the program. Each MCS department may nominate 1–2 students. All McWilliams fellowship recipients.
Thanks to generous gifts from alumni and friends, the department also offers the John & Nancy Harrison Legacy Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry and Biochemistry is awarded to a dedicated graduate student based on research accomplishments and promise. The fellowship provide $3000/year as a supplement to the students' stipend with up to $1000/year of the fellowship funds to be used for the student's travel to conferences. Students must have ABD status to be eligible. Previous recipients supported by the Harrison's gift include Jeff Pyun, Tomislav Pintauer, Bhaskar Datta, Nicolay Tsarevsky, Arani Chanda, Wade Braunecker, Hongchen Dong, and Wenwen Li.
Students whose goal is a terminal Masters degree do not receive financial support from the department. Occasionally, students may receive support from their industrial employers. Full-time Ph.D. studies are required to receive a stipend from the Department of Chemistry. More details about financial support and policies can be found in the Guide to Graduate Studies.