Off-Campus Dissertation Fellowships
- Types of Fellowships
- Eligibility
- Award Amount
- Nomination
- Deadline
- How to Apply
- Application Guidelines
- Contact Us
Off-Campus Dissertation Fellowships support students conducting dissertation research away from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
Types of Fellowships
| Type of Fellowship | Description |
| General Off-Campus Dissertation Fellowship | Award is for one semester. |
| Georges Lurcy Fellowship | Award is for one academic year. Only available to doctoral students for study in France. Students can be from any field. |
| Werner Friederich Fellowship | Award is for one academic year. Preference is given to students who need to study or conduct research in Switzerland. Must be from the following programs: History, Art History, Music, or any Humanities program. |
Eligibility
You are eligible for any Off-Campus Dissertation Fellowship if:
- You are a doctoral student in a residential program administered by The Graduate School. At the time of the award, you must be a fully-enrolled, degree-seeking student.
- You are engaged full-time in research.
- You need to conduct research off-campus in order to complete your dissertation.
- Your travel is beyond commuting distance from campus.
- Your travel is for more than six weeks up to one full semester.
If you are awarded this fellowship, you should register for 3 credit hours of Doctoral Dissertation Credit (994) only.
Special purpose fellowships:
You are eligible for the Georges Lurcy Fellowship if you need to study or conduct research in France. You can be a doctoral student from any field.
You are eligible for the Werner Friederich Fellowship if you are a doctoral student in History, Art History, Music, or Humanities. We will give preference to those who need to study or conduct research in Switzerland.
Before applying for any of these fellowships, you must:
- Complete course requirements
- Pass written and oral preliminary exams. We will waive this requirement if it is not normal within your department to complete oral exams prior to field research.
- Have your Dissertation Prospectus formally approved
You may not hold any other service award, fellowship, scholarship, or outside employment without prior permission from The Graduate School.
You may apply for an Off-Campus Dissertation fellowship if you are receiving a five-year Royster recruitment fellowship. If awarded, this fellowship will count towards your service semesters.
You cannot apply for both the Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship and the Dissertation Completion Fellowship at the same time.
If you received the Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship in the past, you are not eligible to apply again.
Applying for both the general and special purpose fellowships:
If you are not selected for a special purpose Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship, we will consider you for a General Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship for one semester. Please indicate your interest on your application.
Award Amount
The fellowship provides a non-service stipend, tuition, fees, and health insurance.
| General | Lurcy | Friederich | |
| Stipend | $10,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Tuition | Full tuition (For 3 credits of 994 only) | ||
| Fees | Included | ||
| Health insurance | Included | ||
| Length of support | 1 semester | 1 9-month academic year | 1 9-month academic year |
| RA/TA position | No service appointment, fellowship, scholarship or outside employment may be held during the award period without prior approval from the Graduate School. | ||
Depending on funding, this award may change from year to year.
Nomination
Your department may nominate two students per semester for the general fellowship. In addition, they may nominate one student per year for the Georges Lurcy fellowship, and one student per year for the Werner Friederich fellowship.
Deadline
Deadlines are posted on the funding deadlines calendar.
How to Apply
- Please check with your department for their internal deadline. You must complete your application early enough for your department to nominate you to The Graduate School by the deadline.
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Prepare an abstract, research description, workplan, research description, curriculum vitae, and IRB approval (if necessary). Arrange for one letter of recommendation from your dissertation advisor. Be sure to follow the application guidelines.
We encourage you to apply for IRB approval before or at the same time so IRB approval will not hold up your award.
View Frequently Asked Questions about the online award application.
- Before submitting your application, we suggest you get feedback on your research description from a person outside of your field to help ensure it is widely understandable to a lay audience.
- Submit your materials to The Graduate School Award Online Application.
- Once you submit your application, your recommender will receive an email asking him/her to submit a letter via the online system.
- At the same time, the fellowship and award approver for your department will receive an email notifying them that you submitted your application.
- Once your letter of recommendation has been submitted, your department may nominate you for the fellowship. If your department selects your application, they must nominate it to The Graduate School by the deadline.
- If you applied for the spring semester, we will notify you at the end of November.
If you applied for the fall semester or for the Lurcy or Friederich fellowship, we will notify you in the middle of April.
Application Guidelines
We will not consider your application if you exceed any of the page limits or if you do not follow the proper format.
A complete application includes:
- Online Application
- Attachments:
Abstract
Format: No More than ½ page. Double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, numbered pages, and your name on each page.
Include:
- Summary of your research
- Justification for Off-Campus Research: Why this off-campus research is critical to your dissertation
Research Description
Address your research description to an audience of intelligent reviewers who may not be familiar with your field. Clearly explain the importance of your research to a lay audience. Do not use jargon or technical, field-specific terminology.
Format: No more than 3 pages. Double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, numbered pages, and your name on each page.
Depending on your field of study, include:
- Background:
- A summary of key literature
- General concepts
- Frame of reference for your study
- Your research questions
- Significance of your research
- Methodology and Research Design:
- Description of the data or other materials which will be/have been collected and analyzed
- Methods of collection and analysis
- Design considerations
- Description of any necessary approvals, such as Human Subjects Review
Research Progress, Work Plan, and Timetable
Format: No more than 1 page. Double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, numbered pages, and your name on each page.
Include:
- Describe your research progress made to date
- Describe your planned sequence of tasks to be completed, with estimated timetable
- The research tasks you will complete during the fellowship period
- Specific off-campus location(s)
- Date of proposed travel
- Resources you will utilize
Citations (optional)
- May be included for important references
- Can be either footnotes or endnotes
- Can be single-spaced
- Will count towards the page limit of the section in which they are included
Curriculum Vitae and Other Sources of Funding
Format: No more than 2 pages. 12-point font, 1-inch margins, numbered pages, and your name on each page.
- Include recent professional activities, awards, honors, courses you have taught, and research publications/presentations.
- Other sources of funding, including:
- Departmental funding received
- External funding (please note if received or pending)
- Because University funding is limited, application for external funding is encouraged, and such efforts will be viewed positively by the reviewers.
Letter of recommendation from your Dissertation Advisor
Indicate the email addresses of your recommender in your application. Once you submit your application, your recommender will receive an email asking him/her to submit a letter of recommendation.
Instructions for recommenders:
Each letter of recommendation should be no more than 4,000 characters (spaces included), which is approximately 600 words or one single-spaced page.
Letters of recommendation should be written “To the Fellowship Committee.”
Include:
- The quality of the student's research
- A rating of the student’s overall ability and potential for a successful career based on the recommender's knowledge of other students in the same field
- The recommender's assessment of the need for the student to conduct off-campus research as a critical part of his/her dissertation
- A description of other funding received or pending (if applicable)
We can only accept letters of recommendation through the online system. Recommenders cannot submit letters directly to The Graduate School or to the student’s department.
IRB approval (if necessary for your research)
- You will be asked to list this as part of the application form.
- Attach a copy of the IRB approval email or letter you received
You may submit your application prior to receiving IRB approval. We strongly recommend that you submit an IRB application as soon as possible.
If IRB approval is required for your research, proof of IRB approval must be received by The Graduate School no later than six weeks after the date on the award letter. Otherwise, your fellowship award will be forfeited.
Contact Us
Graduate School Fellowships Office
gradfunding@unc.edu