Funding & Assistantships
Doctoral students usually do more than simply fulfill the degree requirements while engaged in the PAP program. Some of these extracurricular activities, like attending lecture series, workshops, and brown bag seminars, are expected of any member of the community of scholars. Others, like serving as research or teaching assistants, provide opportunities for both professional development and remuneration.
Funding Opportunities
Information about graduate scholarships, fellowships, and other awards administered through the Office of Graduate Studies is available at the scholarship and awards website. PAP students are encouraged to seek non-PAP sources of funding and the University has made this relatively easy to do by consolidating the search and application process for many of these awards. The opportunities discussed below are administered by the PAP program and the School of Government and involve different application procedures.
PAP students are encouraged to present their research at scholarly conferences and workshops. The PAP program provides travel support to help defray some of the costs of attending these meetings. Students can also seek travel support from some of the funding sources listed on the OGS scholarship and awards website.
Graduate Assistantships
While doing their coursework, many PAP students also serve as graduate assistants (GAs). Most of these positions are funded by the College, by faculty-supervised contracts, or by external grants in support of faculty research (the latter two sources also known as “soft money”). They usually include both a tuition remission and a stipend, the amount depending on the number of hours per week that the student is expected to devote to the project and calculated as a share of a full-time equivalent (FTE). GA positions attached to the PAP program usually fall within the range of 0.15 to 0.30 FTE—requiring between 7½ and 15 hours of effort per week, with stipends between $3,500 and $7,000 for the academic year—but appointments up to 0.49 FTE are not uncommon.
Although positions funded by soft money are almost always graduate research assistantships (GRAs), internal funding is often used to support graduate teaching assistantships (GTAs). GTAs provide doctoral students with classroom experience as teaching assistants (graders, guest lecturers, lab or recitation leaders) or as instructors of their own courses.
Research Traineeships
PAP doctoral students may apply for an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) in Ecosystem Services for Urbanizing Regions. ESUR trainees participate in an interdisciplinary program that explores solutions designed to assure ecosystem service support for rapidly growing urban areas. Students complete four core courses and problem-based research projects in addition to their doctoral studies in PAP. The training program also features extensive collaboration with a diverse group of community partners in the classroom and the field. ESUR trainees receive funding for 2-3 years, including an annual $30,000 stipend, full tuition remission, and $10,500 in research funding to support dissertation research.
Research Fellowships
Hatfield Research Fellowships place qualified doctoral students in public and nonprofit organizations as paid researchers. Placements provide students with opportunities to conduct dissertation research, acquire advanced research skills and experience, and receive assistance in research funding. Sometimes research fellowships are combined with graduate assistantships. The program is administered by the Center for Public Service in the School of Government. The availability of a research fellowship will depend on the fit between the student’s research and the needs of the hosting agency.