Attachment 3

Graduate School Opportunities for Advanced PhD Students

Graduate School fellowships for advanced PhD students include Endowed PhD Fellowships, Research
Enhancement Fellowships, the Final Year Fellowships, the Summer Research and Travel Grant and the
PhD Achievement Award. The goal of these fellowships is to increase the amount of support that students
have for their work toward the PhD, especially in fields where research assistantships are generally
unavailable and teaching is the primary means of support.

Advanced Fellowships

The annual stipend for advanced PhD fellowships is $30,000 for one academic year. The fellowships also
include tuition, health and dental insurance, university mandatory fees and eligibility for Graduate School
travel grants for conferences and research.

Each PhD program may nominate up to three candidates for each type of fellowship for a total of up to 9
nominees per program. A student may be nominated for no more than two of the advanced fellowships.

The allocation of advanced fellowships will depend on the quality of the applicant, the program’s ranking
of its candidates, and the amount of available Graduate School funding. The advanced fellowship
evaluation task forces will not change the rankings provided by the program.

1. Endowed PhD Fellowships are for students who have passed their screening and/or qualifying
exams, who are making good progress to the degree in terms of both quality of work and timing,
and who can provide a compelling statement about their current or planned research. Rather than
nominating students for specific endowed fellowships as in the past, programs will submit a
ranked list of applicants, checking off the fellowships for which they believe the student is
eligible.

2. Research Enhancement Fellowships are designed to provide additional opportunities for

outstanding PhD students in any field whose research requires work in particularly complex or
distant settings, expertise in languages classified by the federal government as “less commonly
taught,” or other unusual expenses for activities that are essential for the student’s research.
Selection will be based on the quality and research potential of the graduate student and the
likelihood that the additional resources will have a notable effect on the academic career of the
student. The fellowship provides one year of fellowship at the Graduate School fellowship rate
and up to $5,000 in research, travel, or training funds. Candidates must be doing high-quality
work, making timely progress to their degree, have completed at least two years in their USC
PhD program, and must be able to make a compelling statement about their current or planned
research and why the planned extra work is essential to the research.

3. Final Year Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis, with emphasis in fields where
research assistantships are not generally available. The Final Year Fellowship is intended to
facilitate the completion and submission of dissertations. Upon completion of this fellowship,
recipients are no longer eligible for further funding as a graduate student at USC.

The application for a Graduate School Fellowship for Advanced PhD Students includes the following:

A. Information provided by the student to the program’s designated fellowship nominator:

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 1. For Endowed and Final Year Fellowships: a description of the student’s
dissertation, which should demonstrate the project’s contribution to the field and its
grounding in relevant scholarship and methodology. The proposal should make a
compelling statement about the planned work and be accessible to scholars in a broad
range of fields. The research area/dissertation description submitted by the candidate
to the PhD program should be in 12-point Times New Roman, single-spaced with 1”
margins, numbered pages, and a header on every page that includes the student’s
name and title of the dissertation (500-1,000 words).

For Research Enhancement Fellowships: a description of the planned area of

research, probable or existing dissertation topic, and a specific statement as to the
nature of the additional research, travel, or training and why it is essential for the
student’s research program. The statement should be in 12-point Times New Roman,
single- spaced with 1” margins, numbered pages, and a header on every page that
includes the student’s name and title of the dissertation (750-1,250 words).

2. A curriculum vitae

3. Plans for degree completion, including dates of screening, qualifying exams and
anticipated dissertation defense (100-500 words)

4. USC unofficial transcript or STARs report (scanned documents are acceptable).

5. Signature page signed by the student’s dissertation advisor, department chair, and
Dean or Dean’s proxy affirming that the student is making satisfactory progress to
the degree. Candidates for the Dissertation Completion fellowship will be asked to
acknowledge that they are making satisfactory progress to the degree and that they
understand that they will no longer be eligible for funding as a graduate student at
USC upon completion of the dissertation completion fellowship.

A. Information provided by the student’s home program:

1. The rank order of candidates submitted for each type of fellowship.

2. One letter of recommendation for each candidate provided by a faculty member in

the student’s home program and uploaded as a PDF document by the program’s
designated nominator.

USC Graduate School Summer Research and Writing Grants

As part of USC’s on-going commitment to PhD student support, the graduate school is pleased to
continue to offer a limited number of USC Graduate School Summer Research and Writing Grants at
$5,000 each. The goal of these grants is to increase the amount of summer support that students have for
their work toward the PhD in fields where research assistantships are generally unavailable.

Students are eligible to receive one USC Graduate School Summer Research and Writing Grant during
their time at USC. They must be making good and timely progress toward their degree, and must have
completed at least two years of study toward the PhD by May 2018.

Each PhD program may nominate two candidates. The process is like the process for advanced fellowship
nominations. The program’s designated nominator will submit materials supplied by the student and the
department chair to the graduate school through an online portal.

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From the student
• A brief description of how s/he intends to use the funding (up to 500 words). This may include
staying in one place for research and writing, and/or travel for research and professional purposes.
Plans should be specific for each month of the summer, listing chapters or segments to be written
or researched, and the specific purpose of any planned travel.

• A current curriculum vitae

• A current transcript or OASIS/STARS report

• A copy of the signature page below signed by the program’s DGS or the student’s dissertation
advisor, the department chair, and the dean or dean’s proxy affirming that the student is making
good progress to the degree.

From the department chair

• A ranking of the two candidates

PhD Achievement Awards

To recognize our current PhD students’ academic professional development, the Graduate School will
provide USC PhD Achievement Awards for students with exceptional academic profiles. Six awards of
$3,000 will be made to students from across the university. Each recipient’s primary faculty advisor will
receive a $500 USC Graduate School PhD Mentoring award. Each USC PhD program may nominate one
candidate.

Current students from every PhD program at USC are eligible. The award is for exceptional achievement
as a USC PhD student. The student’s overall profile as a doctoral candidate may include such elements as
significant publications as the sole or primary author; job offers that signal the outstanding quality of the
student’s doctoral work; major awards in a broadly conceived field; and other markers of excellence
appropriate to the student’s field.

Departmental nominators will be asked to submit applications with the following information:
 A statement by the student describing her or his academic vision – what s/he has achieved and
hopes to achieve in terms of an academic contribution to the relevant field (up to 500 words)
 Documentation for publications, awards, job offers, other achievements
 A letter of nomination from the student’s academic advisor or other faculty member who can put
the student’s work into the broader context of the given field
 A copy of the student’s most recent curriculum vitae and transcript
 Sign-offs from the department chair and dean of the school supporting the nomination.
 Contact and general academic information for the nominee and primary faculty advisor

Submissions will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary faculty committee. Recipients of the USC PhD
Achievement Awards will be invited to lead the column of PhD graduates at the university
commencement.