Thanks to the generous support of Kenneth and Mary Sue Coleman, the Graduate Endowment shall support one or more summer graduate fellowships for graduate student(s) in the Department who demonstrate the potential for excellence in teaching or research.

Thanks to the generous donors of the Ken and Mary Sue Coleman, Chris and Vicki Gorman, and Penny Miller Graduate Summer Fellowship, the department is pleased to invite all current graduate students to apply for the Graduate Student Summer Fellowships.  The maximum award for this term is $2000, and we intend to support several awards.  Funds may be used exclusively for professional development, which may include specific research activities (e.g., dissertation work), field work, preparing new courses, or taking coursework elsewhere to develop new skills—including teaching skills, language study, accessing data sets, or any other activity that is directly related to the student’s professional development.

Students awarded with a summer fellowship are required to submit an activity report to the DGS no later than 09/01. The report should indicate how the funds were spent and how the award has helped the student make progress in the program.

Submission instructions: By March 25, please submit the required materials specified below to the DGS with a copy to the Department Manager.  

For full consideration proposals should be submitted as one PDF document.  Proposals should include (1) a completed cover sheet, which can be found on the DGS website here; (2) the student’s CV, (3) a description of the professional development activity, and (4) a proposed budget for the award amount (not to exceed $2000).  Descriptions should not exceed 2 single-spaced pages.  Though the proposal should address anything the student deems relevant, below are some guidelines for how the proposal will be evaluated:

• How will the proposed activities help move the student’s research progress forward?  How likely is it that these activities will produce a tangible outcome for the student, such as a conference paper, grant application or publication?
• Do the student’s skills (e.g., language, statistics) align well with the proposed work?
• What is the student’s current status in the program?  Is s/he making timely progress towards the degree?  Does this proposal come at a time that would be most beneficial for the student?
• How has the student used funds in the past?

Proposals will be evaluated by the Graduate Committee, and recommendations will be passed to the department chair.  Final determination on all proposals will be made by the department chair.

Thanks to a generous gift from Ken Griffin, the department is pleased to support students' summer development with the Ken Griffin Graduate Research Fund. These research awards can be used to support travel fees and expenses, living expenses, room and board, conference fees, and/or other costs related to graduate student summer research. 

Submission instructions: All applicants for the Coleman-Gorman-Miller fellowship will be considered for the Griffin Fund.

This award is given yearly to full-time graduate students in Political Science who are seeking a PhD and have need of funds for research and/or travel related to their degree.  Students who wish to apply for this award should submit a one-page letter indicating how they would like to use the funds and how these funds will support their academic pursuits.  

Submission instructions: By March 25, please submit to the DGS with a copy to the Department Manager a one-page letter indicating how they would like to use the funds and how these funds will support their academic pursuits. Please write “Endowed Award” in the subject line.

This scholarship is named in honor of S. Sidney and Margaret L. Ulmer.  Recruited as department chair in 1963, Dr. Ulmer was a renowned scholar in judicial behavior and built the Political Science into a leading department focused on quantitative research on political behavior.  This scholarship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student in the area of Public Law and Judicial Behavior.

The Graduate Program Committee of the Political Science Department will determine the winner(s) of this award, and the winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards banquet.  Unless the student requests otherwise, the full award amount will be entered into the student’s account through the Student Financial Aid office for the following fall term.

Submission instructions: By March 25, please submit to the DGS with a copy to the Department Manager a one-page letter from the student outlining the research project to be supported with the award funds. Please write “Ulmer Scholarship” in the subject line.

Named in honor of Malcolm E. Jewell, who was a Professor of Political Science for 36 years from 1958 to 1994, this award recognizes the most outstanding Political Science graduate student. All graduate students are eligible to receive this award, and students are automatically considered for this award in the spring of each year. The Graduate Program Committee of the Political Science Department will determine the winner(s) of this award, and the winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards.

This award recognizes a graduate student for the best research paper completed between the award due date and the previous calendar year. The paper must be based upon original research in any area using any method. Graduate students may self-nominate or be nominated by a faculty member, and any Graduate Student is eligible to receive this award.  The Graduate Program Committee of the Political Science Department will determine the winner(s) of this award, and the winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards banquet.

Submission instructions: By March 25, please submit the paper to the DGS with a copy to the Department Manager. Please write “Crum paper award” in the subject line.

This award recognizes the graduate student who shows the most long-term promise for having an impact on the field of Comparative Politics.  All students whose major field is Comparative are automatically nominated for this award each year.  The winner(s) of this award will be determined by a vote of the Comparative faculty, and winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards .

This award recognizes the graduate student who shows the most long-term promise for having an impact on the field of International Relations. All students whose major field is IR are automatically nominated for this award each year.  The winner(s) of this award will be determined by a vote of the IR faculty, and winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards.

This award recognizes the graduate student who shows the most long-term promise for having an impact on the field of American Politics. All students whose major field is American are automatically nominated for this award each year.  The winner(s) of this award will be determined by a vote of the American faculty, and winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards.

This award recognizes an outstanding woman graduate student in any field.  All women graduate students are automatically nominated for this award each year.  The winner(s) of this award will be determined by a vote of the WIPS faculty, and winner(s) will be announced at the Department’s spring awards.