Newsletter

Welcome back, or welcome, to the Fall 2026 semester! The Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards is here to support you in your academic and professional development. OGFA supports your graduate education by assisting with the pursuit of external funding opportunities while providing workshops and resources designed to help you build valuable skills. This semester, we are reintroducing the OGFA Networking Event (on October 8) as well as offering a full slate of workshops covering the ins and outs of fellowship and grant applications. We are also excited to kick off the third annual Graduate Student Op-Ed Competition this September. Read about these opportunities, and others, in the newsletter below. 

Are you interested in applying for external fellowships and awards but don’t quite know where to begin? Check out the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards Let’s Meet webpage for more information on how to jumpstart your fellowships and awards journey.

OGFA and The Graduate School want to celebrate you! If you were awarded an external fellowship or grant to support your graduate education for the current academic year (2026-2027), submit your award information here so we can recognize your achievement.

Letters of recommendation play an important role in the fellowship and grant application process. They serve as external validation of your qualifications and help sing your praises to application reviewers while providing additional detail and context. Because of the weight letters can carry in an application, it’s worth thinking strategically about your letters and who you ask to write them. Below are our top tips for ensuring your letters make an impact.

  1. Consider diversity across your letters: When submitting multiple letters of recommendation, you should think of your letters as a “packet” that covers a range of information. Three writers who all know you in a similar way and can say similar things about you may make a less compelling packet of letters, since their letters will likely have some repetition in the information they provide. Instead, try to select writers who can say different things. For instance, consider asking your advisor, who can comment on your overall trajectory and research experience; another professor who supervised you in the lab and can provide details on specific projects; and another who supervised you as TA and can discuss your mentoring skills. Done well, these three letters would complement each other, providing a well-rounded portrait of you.
  2. Give your writers what they need: Even recommenders who know you well will appreciate materials to help them write their letters. Give your letter writers a brief summary of the fellowship/grant you’re applying for—don’t expect them to be familiar with the award or to do their own research into it. Tell them the what, why, and when details. Then, aim to provide your writers with drafts of your application materials, such as personal statements and research statements. It can also be useful to provide them with your CV and a reminder of key accomplishments or experiences you want them to know. Help them help you!
  3. Avoid writing your own letter: Occasionally, potential recommenders may ask the applicant to write a letter, which the potential recommender says they will then sign and put on their letterhead. Essentially, this is asking you to write your own letter, and you should decline this offer. First, letters are typically meant to be confidential assessments of the applicant, so writing your own letter is, at best, an ethical grey area. Second, and perhaps more importantly, you are simply not positioned to write your own strongest letter. Letters are meant to place you in broader context, evaluating your abilities and strengths from a “big picture” perspective. Simply put, a letter you write yourself will not be as robust, meaningful, or compelling as a letter provided by a recommender who’s invested in your success and who takes the time to write a letter of their own. If you’re given this option, explain that you are not comfortable doing so, and offer instead to provide information and materials to assist their letter writing. You could, for instance, provide a bullet point outline of accomplishments and experiences you hoped that writer would address.

There’s more to letters than we can cover in a short Pro-Tip, so join us on September 23 at 11 am (via Zoom) for a workshop on Letters of Recommendation. In this workshop, we’ll help you think through potential recommenders and cover the ins and outs of securing strong letters to accompany your fellowship and grant applications. Register here: Zoom registration link.

FSU doctoral student earns prestigious literary arts fellowship to preserve 
legacy of historical communities

Christell Victoria Roach, a Florida State University doctoral student, has been named a YoungArts Fellow to support her development of OTOWN, an augmented-reality application that maps archival photos, poetry, and oral histories onto neighborhoods to highlight their historical impact. Read more.

FSU student invited to nationally competitive Coro Fellows Program for emerging public affairs leaders

Ella Garcia, who is working toward her master’s degree in public administration, was accepted into the Coro Fellows Program housed at University of Missouri-St. Louis. As a Coro Fellow, Garcia will participate in a full-time, graduate-level leadership training program. Read more.

Physics alumnus Scott Riggs founds AI startup to help researchers solve persistent scientific mysteries

Scott Riggs, who earned his Ph.D. in physics from Florida State University, founded the AI startup findwhatmatters.ai to develop IGOR, an AI co-scientist designed to help researchers solve complex scientific problems and accelerate breakthrough discoveries. Read more.

Chemical oceanography doctoral student Neda Mobasher uses coral skeletons to reconstruct Earth’s climate history

Neda Mobasher, a Florida State University doctoral student and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, uses coral-based climate records from the tropical Pacific to reconstruct long-term patterns in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and inform future climate and weather predictions. Read more.

If you are a current FSU student, please register with your FSU email.

Funding Your Graduate Education: Database Search
Intro Meetings provide an introduction to OGFA and external funding for your graduate education, including how to navigate funding databases to identify fellowships and awards.

Info Session: Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship
September 8, 10 am (Zoom) - Register Here
The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship supports the early stages of dissertation research in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. The award provides $52,000 in stipend and research funding and emphasizes innovative approaches to scholarship. In this info session, participants will learn about the application process and key elements of a competitive submission.

Getting Started with the Fellowship and Grant Application Process
September 15, 11 am (Zoom) - Register Here
Successful fellowship and grant applications require an intentional and organized approach. This workshop will guide students through breaking down an application, building a realistic a timeline, and understanding common application components such as letters of recommendation. Participants will leave with practical strategies to help launch their application process with confidence.

Letters of Recommendation for Fellowship and Grant Applications
September 23, 11 am (Zoom) - Register Here
Letters of recommendation play an important role in the fellowship/grant process, providing key information about the applicant’s qualifications and abilities. In this workshop, we’ll consider the role of letters, how to strategize recommenders, and how to help your recommenders provide strong letters.

Developing and Communicating Scholarly Identity
October 1, 10 am (Zoom) - Register Here
Applying for fellowships and grants requires communicating who you are, what you do, and why it matters. In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to create and present your scholarly or professional identity, including your broader impacts and values, and how to link that identity to funding applications.

Communicating Significance in Fellowship and Grant Applications
October 6, 10 am (Zoom) - Register Here
Explaining your research to a broad audience of fellowship reviewers can be challenging. In this interactive workshop, we will practice pitching the significance of your research and refining the answer to the elusive “so-what” question.

Preparing CVs and Resumes for Fellowship and Grant Applications
October 14, 12 pm (In-person, HSF 3008) - Register Here
CVs and Resumes play vital roles in the fellowships and awards application process. Join OGFA and the Career Center for an interactive, in-person workshop on preparing high-impact CVs and Resumes!

AI and Graduate Fellowship and Grants
November 5, 2 pm (Zoom) - Register Here
With the ever-increasing impact of generative AI, this workshop will review FSU and funding agency policies regarding the use of AI in fellowship and grant applications. We’ll also consider where and how AI may be useful in the application process.

 

Op-Ed Competition

The Graduate Student Op-Ed Competition is an academic research writing competition that challenges graduate students to present their research and its significance to a general audience via a concise opinion piece known as an op-ed. Op-eds are limited to 600 words and will be judged by a diverse panel of readers. All currently enrolled FSU graduate students are eligible to participate. Registration will open in September.

Read more about Lorem Ipsum

Graduate Student Resource Fair 

The largest graduate and professional student event of the year is coming up!

Join us on Wednesday September 9, from 4-6 p.m. in Ballroom D at the Student Union. Connect with fellow students, build your network, talk to campus resources, enjoy free food, grab some swag, and make sure to stop by OGFA's table!

RSVP Here about Lorem Ipsum

OGFA Networking Event

Join us on Thursday October 8, from 4-6 p.m. in the HSF Great Hall for a Networking Event aimed at creating interdisciplinary collaborations and peer support networks.

Get out of your disciplinary silos! Come grab a bite to eat, learn about fellowships and awards, and meet other FSU graduate students!

RSVP Here about Lorem Ipsum

All award titles below are hyperlinked to the award webpage.

HHMI Gilliam Fellowship

The HHMI Gilliam Fellows Program is an early career initiative that supports PhD students and their faculty advisors as they pursue ambitious science and build inclusive training environments. The program is unique in supporting both graduate students and their faculty PhD advisors as mentor-mentee pairs. Second- and third-year PhD students in the basic biological and biomedical sciences may apply.

Deadline: October 27, 2026

Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship

ACLS invites applications for Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships, which support dissertation projects that expand the traditional boundaries of doctoral research through new methodologies, innovative dissertation formats, and collaborations with partners within and beyond the academy. The program is open to doctoral students in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.

Deadline: October 28, 2026

Critical Language Scholarship

The CLS Program provides immersive summer programs for U.S. graduate students to learn languages of strategic importance to the United States. Participants receive the equivalent of one year of language study in eight weeks, through intensive language instruction and cultural activities that reinforce both language learning and intercultural competence. 

Deadline: Mid-November

Boren Fellowship

The Boren Fellowship provides funding for U.S. graduate students to pursue intensive language study and, when appropriate, research in world regions critical to U.S. interests and traditionally underrepresented in study abroad. The fellowship supports the development of language and cultural expertise in areas such as Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East, with an emphasis on languages important to U.S. national security.

FSU campus deadline in November; contact OGFA to apply.

 
 

 

 

Visit Collection 

The work and research in action of graduate students at Florida State University broadly impacts the campus community and the world around us. OGFA initiated the Grad Impact: Digital Narratives Project to capture and amplify the lived graduate student experience at FSU. Check out some of our grad student highlights below.

Ifeoluwa Ayandele

Creative Writing
"A graduate degree teaches you resilience."
View Profile

Alexa Putillo

Biological Oceanography
"Advancing science to support marine conservation.”
View Profile

Gulzhan Oralova

Art Education
"Master your craft, lead your field."
View Profile

Chashi Mahiul

Computer Science
"Depth transforms curiosity into real impact."
View Profile

Thomas Bissen

Exercise Physiology
"To develop myself to help others."
View Profile

Keat Zhen Cheong

Violin Performance
"Refine artistry, deepen knowledge, expand network."
View Profile

Click here to see more #Gradimpact student profiles.

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