Interested in applying for 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.
Graduate Student Success
Each April, The Graduate School hosts the Annual Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence, and we want to celebrate you! If you were awarded an external fellowship or grant to support your graduate education for the current academic year (2025-2026), submit your award information here so we can recognize you at this year's event.
Pro-Tip: The Value of Applying (It's About More than Funding!)
Aside from the possibility of securing funding for research and professional development, applying for fellowships and grants is a great way to build critical skills. At OGFA, we encourage you to view the pursuit of external funding as an integral part of your graduate training—the application process can help you clarify your goals, refine how you communicate your research/work, develop skills in project management, and make you a better collaborator. In the excerpts below, you can see how graduate students who have worked with OGFA to apply for external funding describe the skills and perspectives they built through the process.
Funding opportunities are always competitive, and you’re never guaranteed to win the thing you apply for. But you can be sure that the process is worthwhile. Even if you don’t get the funding, you will engage in meaningful work that furthers your scholarly and professional development. OGFA is ready to support you in that endeavor!
Carine Schermann, PhD Candidate in Modern Languages and Linguistics
Recipient of Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship and the
Boston College African and Africana Diaspora Studies Program Dissertation Fellowship
Applying for fellowships has been both challenging and transformative. Even if I hadn’t received any funding, the application process itself was invaluable. It pushed me to clarify my academic project (its purpose, stakes, and the kind of language I want to use to communicate it). I was also able to reflect on who I am as a scholar: what I value, how I want to present my work, and how my methodologies align with my principles.
The process helped me better understand how to use the resources available to me: how and when to reach out to mentors, how to manage my time strategically, and how to structure long-term goals. Most importantly, it reinforced that academic writing is fundamentally collaborative. Whether I’m preparing a grant proposal or a dissertation chapter, feedback from others (both specialists and non-specialists) makes my work stronger.
Practicing writing for broader audiences has been especially meaningful. Making my research accessible is a priority for me, especially in relation to the communities I work with. Fellowship writing gave me a chance to develop that skill intentionally, and I truly believe it’s made me a better writer (especially in English which is not my first language).
Daniel Gutierrez, PhD Candidate in Biological Science
Recipient of McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Applying for funding has allowed me to improve and practice most, if not all, of the skills that an academic would need for their career: formulating a cohesive research project, identifying relevant hypotheses, designing an appropriate methodology, thinking about broader impacts, and, most importantly, being able to communicate all of this for a broad range of audiences, both general and specialized. Learning how to take and incorporate feedback is a fundamental skill that is only learned through experience, too.
I have learned how to frame my specific work into a broader academic or knowledge framework that is of interest to a larger audience than my direct peers and colleagues. This skill is something that I personally have had to work on constantly, and grant/fellowship writing has forced me to think about the broader impacts of my research and how it fits into larger questions. I have also learned to accept rejections as part of the process; not every application/proposal will be the best fit for every funding source, and there are always very competitive proposals being submitted.
Graduate Students in the News
doctoral students spotlighted at inaugural Graduate Research Showcase
Florida State University’s Discovery Days continued its celebration of research excellence with the inaugural Graduate Research Showcase, where doctoral students shared insights from their academic journeys and groundbreaking research. The event spotlighted the dedication and innovation of FSU’s graduate scholars. Read more.
Student Spotlight: Kadesha Reynolds
Kadesha Reynolds is a Florida State University alumna and third-year doctoral student studying applied and computational mathematics through the Department of Mathematics, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, with plans to graduate in May 2028. In 2023, Reynolds earned a highly competitive McKnight Dissertation Fellowship to support her doctoral studies. Read more.
FSU Graduate Student Op-Ed Competition showcases excellence in research communication
The Graduate School at Florida State University and the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards have announced the winners of the annual Graduate Student Op-Ed Competition, an initiative designed to spotlight the written communication skills of graduate students across disciplines. Read more.
FSU graduate student named McCain Global Leader
Florida State University graduate student James Eggers, in the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (Anne’s College), has been named one of 22 McCain Global Leaders for the 2025 cohort. The McCain Global Leaders program supports emerging leaders dedicated to democracy, human rights and freedom. Read more.
Spring 2023 Professional Development
If you are a current FSU student, please register with your FSU email.
Funding Your Graduate Education: Database Search
OGFA staff will facilitate small group meetings to assist graduate students with navigating award databases to identify fellowships and awards that are a good "fit" to support their graduate education.
- January 25 | 11 AM | Register here
- February 21 | 2 PM | Register here
- March 21 with a focus on international students | 10:30 AM | Register here
- April 19 | 11 AM | Register here
Fulbright U.S. Student Program Info Sessions
- General Info Session | January 23 | 11 AM | Register here
- Academic Grants | January 24 | 10 AM| Register here
- Arts and Creative Projects | January 25 | 11 AM | Register here
- English Teaching Assistantships | January 26 | 1:30 PM | Register here
Building Cohesion in Application Writing
January 31 | 12 PM | Register here
Facilitated by the Center for Intensive English Studies, this workshop is intended to support English as a Second Language students who are interested in developing their fellowship and award application writing skills. “Cohesion,” or flow and connection across an application, is essential for writing high-quality application essays. This workshop will provide guidance and instruction on achieving cohesion.
CV/Resume Workshop with The Career Center
March 22 | 10:30 AM | Register here
CVs and Resumes are an important part of your scholarly and professional profile, and they play vital roles in the fellowships and awards application process. Join OGFA and the Career Center for a workshop on preparing high-impact CVs and Resumes! Time-allowing, we will also provide feedback on your CV/Resume!
Proposal Planning and Writing with the Office of Research Development
March 30 | 2 PM | Register here
This workshop will focus on breaking down fellowship application guidelines to identify what is required in a competitive application. Evangeline Coker from the Office of Research Development will discuss how to strategize and plan an application and provide tips for writing high-impact proposals.
Communicating the Significance of your Research
April 13 | 1 PM | 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 to your target audience and refining the answer to the elusive “so-what” question.
Three Minute Thesis (3MT)
Are you interested in developing your research communication skills? If so, consider participating in the spring 2026 3MT competition, an oral presentation competition!
Read more about Lorem Ipsum
Three-Part Grants Workshop
OGFA, OPDA and the Office of Research will host three interconnected workshops to assist postdocs and grad students in preparing external grant applications. Attend all workshops and submit an external award application to receive a $1,000 grant!
Read more about Lorem Ipsum
HSF Excellence in the Visual Arts Award
Are you an artistic graduate student? If so, apply to participate in the HSF Excellence in the Visual Arts Awards! You can win up to $500 and have your work exhibited in the HSF House. Click here to see the 2025 winners.
Read more about Lorem Ipsum
Funding Alerts
All award titles below are hyperlinked to the award webpage.
Sigma Xi Grants-In-Aid of Research
Sigma Xi provides research funding for graduate students in any field of study. U.S. citizenship is not required. Sigma Xi members can apply for up to $5,000, while nonmembers can apply for up to $1,000. Allowable expenses include research equipment, travel to and from research sites, and reimbursement of human subjects.
Deadline: March 15, 2026
American Society of Civil Engineers Fellowship
The Jack E. Leisch Fellowship provides $5,000 for graduate students (master's or doctoral) studying transportation planning, roadway geometric design, traffic operations, and safety performance. Students must be a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers or the Transportation & Development Institute to apply.
Deadline: March 27, 2026
Elizabeth Bartman Museum Internship
Provided by the Archaeological Institute of America, this program provides up to $4,000 for a graduate student to participate in a museum internship in the U.S. or abroad. Internships must last for a semester, at least. Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate program in archaeology or a related field (including anthropology, art history, classics, and history).
Deadline: April 1, 2026
Florida Nurses Foundation Scholarships and Grants
The Florida Nurses Foundation provides more than 30 fellowships and grants annually. Applicants do not apply for a specific funding opportunity, but instead submit an application and are matched with available fellowships/grants. The application portal opens in January.
Deadline: June 1, 2026
Celebrating Graduate Education
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.
Leila Khalil
Nutrition and Food Science
"Advance knowledge, inspire change, empower future."
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Arijit Gupta
Physics
"Cultivating curiosity, deepening knowledge, seeking understanding."
View Profile
