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NDSU Graduate School Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
Request for Proposal

The NDSU Graduate School is pleased to announce the availability of Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships. These awards are designed to increase the completion rate of Ph.D. students and to encourage the submission of competitive proposals to external funding agencies.

Description of the Program

Support will be available for up to 12 months to enable students to dedicate their time exclusively to dissertation research. The stipend level will be $1,333 per month or the equivalent of their current stipend if it is higher, and it may be augmented from other sources. In addition, up to $2,000 may be awarded for research supplies and to support student travel for presentations at national/international meetings. It is anticipated that up to 5 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships will be awarded. The Graduate Dean will form a committee to evaluate the applications.

Applications must be made by the students and include supplemental information provided by their advisors, along with endorsement from their Program Chair and/or Graduate Director. Students must have advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. before funding can begin. In addition, students are expected to complete their dissertation during the year of funding. Successful applications will have research programs that are eligible for funding from research directorates at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, or some other external funding agency (the agency must be clearly specified in the application). The faculty advisors are required to submit a proposal to the funding agency identified in the application by the end of the 2009 calendar year.

Primary Evaluation Criteria:

• Quality of Research Summary and Credentials of the Ph.D. student (5 pages, prepared by student)
• A timeline indicating likelihood of completion of dissertation in 12 months (prepared by student)
• Quality of Mentoring Plan (2 pages, prepared by adviser)
• Potential for the PI to submit a competitive proposal to an external funding agency

Proposal Requirements Checklist. Submit as separate items in the following order:

1. Cover Page that states the student's name, date student passed or is scheduled to complete her/his candidacy examination (prelims), GPA, and highest degree held, as well as the adviser's name, office address, phone number, and e-mail address.
2. Departmental Endorsement Letter from the Program Chair and/or Graduate Director, including an explanation of how this award will increase the number of Ph.D. students in the department.
3. Research Summary written by the student which describes the proposed research and consists of no more than 5 double-spaced pages, font no smaller than 10. The summary should include the topic name, an abstract, and a description of the work to be completed during the award.
4. Projected Timeline for completion of the Ph.D. degree by the nominated student.
5. Description of the student's credentials, including a vita, graduate transcripts, and a list of any previous scholarly activity related to the proposed research project.
6. Budget which includes (a) stipend, travel to meetings, and research supplies and (b) budget justification.
7. Mentoring Plan written by the advisor which describes the research environment and resources available to the student and consists of no more than 2 double-spaced pages.
8. Curriculum Vitae and Current and Pending Support forms for the student's advisor.
9. Plans by the advisor to seek additional funding. Provide preliminary project title, estimated total request, the funding source, and the target date for submission.

Award Announcements and Additional Information:

Submit original + 5 copies (stapled) to the NDSU Graduate School , 201 Old Main, on or before March 14, 2008. Awards will be announced on or about March 28, 2008, and funds are expected to become available on August 1, 2008. Please direct your questions to David A. Wittrock at 231-8909 or david.wittrock@ndsu.edu

Note: This program is closely patterned on the ND-EPSCoR Doctoral Dissertation Research Assistantship program and language from their RFP is used by permission.