Fellowships, Travel, & More
Are you a College of Natural Sciences graduate student or postdoc looking for fellowship funding? This page provides fellowship resources that will help you find funding opportunities and support you with tools, workshops, and more to optimize your writing and guide you through steps to get your application submitted.
Workshops for Fellowship Applicants
For assistance with NSF GRFP and NIH NRSA applications, participate in one of our workshops. Detailed information about our workshop offerings is provided below.
Program Contact: Dr. Angel Syrett - angelita@austin.utexas.edu
NIH NRSA Writers' Workshop | Held twice annually in fall and spring
The NIH NRSA F31 and F32 Workshop is taught by Dr. Angel Syrett and is offered twice per year, in the Spring and Fall. It is designed to coach graduate and postdoctoral researchers through the process of writing and applying for NIH NRSA F31 and F32 fellowship applications. Workshops are preceded by a 1-hour information session and sign-up and begin two months before the NIH deadlines of April 8th and December 8th.
Workshop Features
- Weekly individual coaching sessions
- Structured, step-wise timeline
- Access to correctly formatted templates
- Access to successful fellowship application examples
- Peer-review and critique
- Slack workspace-based peer network
NIH NRSA F31 and F32 Fellowships for Graduate and Postdoctoral Researchers
NSF GRFP Information Session and Writers' Workshop | Held annually in fall
The NSF GRFP Writers' Workshop is taught by Dr. Angel Syrett and is offered in the Fall of each year. It is designed to coach graduate and undergraduate researchers through the process of writing and applying for NSF GRFP applications. Workshops are preceded by a 1-hour information session led by Dr. Syrett and a panel discussion by past GRFP awardees. The information session is hosted by the Office of Graduate Studies, and after the information session, attendees are invited to sign up for the GRFP Writers' Workshop.
Workshop Features
- Weekly Writers' Group meetings featuring Past Reviewer Guest Speakers and Past Awardee Guest Speakers
- GRFP Support Network including Past Reviewers, Past Awardee Peer-Mentors
- Access to a large collection of resources and successful examples
- Peer-review and critique guided by GRFP Merit Review
- Slack workspace featuring Past Reviewer, Peer-Mentor and Peer Network
Fellowship Opportunity Resources
Fellowship Aggregators
UT Austin Graduate School page of fellowship opportunities - includes federal and private fellowship opportunities as well as fellowships offered by Departments, Colleges, and the Graduate School
National Academies list of fellowship opportunities - links to federal and private fellowship opportunities
Pivot Funding Database
To search an even broader portfolio of funders for fellowship opportunities, use the Pivot online database. Pivot tracks both federal and private foundation funding opportunities and enables to you conduct advanced searches for funding opportunities that meet your self-determined criteria (e.g., open to international students, student- or postdoc-only opportunities, type of research and more). Those searches can be scheduled to run automatically on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, with the results emailed directly to you.
Responsible Conduct of Research
Some grant proposals require specific plans addressing training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) for participating researchers. Find more information about required content for your RCR training plan, as well as federal RCR guidelines and RCR trainings available to you.
Federally Supported Fellowships
Several federal agencies offer graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. More information about some of these programs is provided below.
NSF GRFP & NIH Training
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)
NSF GRFP fellowships provide three years of full salary and tuition support to graduate students. College seniors and first- and second-year graduate students are eligible to apply. You must be a U.S. citizen, national or permanent resident to be eligible.
National Institutes of Health Research Training and Career Development
This comprehensive website provides information and links to active funding opportunities for various NIH fellowships and career development grants, including:
- Predoctoral (graduate student) Fellowships (F31) (U.S. citizens/permanent residents only)
- Postdoctoral Fellowships (F32) (U.S. citizens/permanent residents only)
- Career Transition (postdoc-to-faculty) Awards (K99) (Open to international postdocs)
- Research Transition (postdoc-to-faculty) Awards (R00)
Other Federal Fellowship Opportunities
- DOE (Energy) Computational Science Graduate Fellowships
- EPA Graduate Student and Postdoc Fellowships
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG)
- NOAA Student and Postdoc Opportunities
- NSF Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students
- NSF Funding Opportunities for Postdoctoral Fellows
Non-Federal Fellowship Opportunities
Below is a list of select fellowships recently awarded to College of Natural Sciences graduate students or postdocs. Many other fellowship opportunities exist - it would be impossible to list them all! You can consult the lists above or search the Pivot funding database to find even more fellowship opportunities.
Non-Federal Fellowship Opportunities
- American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowships (U.S. citizens only)
- Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows Program (U.S. citizens only)
- Google Ph.D. Fellowships
- IBM Ph.D. Fellowships
- Lymphoma Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships
- National Academies Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowships (U.S. citizens only)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowships (Canadian citizens only)
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships (Canadian citizens only)
- Simons Foundation Life Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships
- National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award
- Stengl-Wyer Graduate Fellowships
- Stengl-Wyer Postdoctoral Scholars
Opportunities for International Students and Postdoctoral Researchers
Below is a short list of fellowships that are open to international students and postdocs. This list is not exhaustive; to search for even more opportunities, use Pivot and filter your search results to display opportunities for international applicants.
International Applicant Opportunities
- American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry (DAC) Graduate Fellowships
- Google Ph.D. Fellowships
- IBM Ph.D. Fellowships
- Lymphoma Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowships (Canadian citizens only)
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships (Canadian citizens only)
- NIH Pathway to Independence (postdoc-to-faculty transition) Award (K99/R00)
- Simons Foundation Life Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships
UT Austin Funding Opportunities
- Graduate Student Professional Development (Travel) Awards
- Graduate School Continuing Fellowships (must be nominated by your department to apply)