MCB students are competitive for a variety of extramural fellowships through federal or private agencies as well as University fellowships. Many students are awarded with National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowships, Berkeley Fellowships, and fellowships from other agencies such as the DOD, DOE, and American Heart Associatiation.
Students are encouraged to seek out fellowships in support of their graduate research. The Graduate Division maintain a list of current fellowship opportunities and general advice in their Fellowship Guide available here. Please find a list of the most common fellowships our students apply for below:
| FELLOWSHIP TYPE | PROGRAM | PROGRAM SYNOPSIS | LINKS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | Elizabeth Roboz Einstein Fellowship | One-semester fellowship to fund doctoral candidates in the neurosciences relating to human development. Applicants must have demonstrated distinguished scholarship, as well as the ability to conduct research at an advanced level. | Application |
| Berkeley | UC Berkeley Minority Health/Global Health (MH/GH) Disparities Research Fellowship | The Minority Health/Global Health Disparities Research Fellowship at UC Berkeley funds international summer research experiences for qualified Berkeley students. The program provides training in infectious disease research, with a focus on diseases that disproportionately affect people in developing countries. | Program Announcement |
| Berkeley | UC Mexus-Conacyt Doctoral Fellowships for Mexican Students | Provides up to five years of funding for Mexican students doing their doctoral studies at one of the ten University of California campuses. Students may pursue doctoral studies in most of the academic disciplines, with the exception of the arts. Provides full non-resident tuition, fees, a stipend, and support towards health insurance. | UC Institute for Mexico and the United States |
| Berkeley | Thomas C. Alber Science & Engineering for Global Health Fellowship | The Thomas C. Alber Science & Engineering for Global Health Fellowship is named after Dr. Tom Alber, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and founding Faculty Director of CEND. Dr. Alber believed that scientists from across the UC Berkeley campus have the potential to make an impact on our understanding of diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poor as evidenced by his own contributions to the tuberculosis and HIV fields in his career as a structural biologist. In recognition of Dr. Alber's contributions to CEND, Henry "Sam" Wheeler, Jr. is allowing CEND to use part of his gift to fund the S&E fellowship in Dr. Alber's honor. | Program Announcement |
| Berkeley | Mentored Research Award | Gives academically promising graduate students an opportunity to conduct pre-doctoral research while developing and strengthening relationships with faculty advisers. Must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents whose backgrounds, life experiences, and/or work contribute to diversity. The Graduate Division requests nominations from departments in the Spring semester. | Application |
| Berkeley | UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship | Open to doctoral students who demonstrate strong potential for university teaching and research, and who are in their final year of dissertation work. Must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents whose backgrounds, life experiences, and/or work contribute to diversity. The Graduate Division requests nominations from departments in the Spring semester. | Application |
| Berkeley | Hellman Fellows Fund | The Hellman Graduate Awards is a pilot program developed in 2014 in partnership with UC Berkeley to provide doctoral student support on campus. The goal of the grant is to enhance funding packages for new or continuing students during their studies at UCB and is open to any field on campus. Mentor must be Hellman Faculty Fellow to nominate a student. | Program Announcement |
| Federal | National Science Foundation | The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science and engineering. The GRFP provides three years of support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. | Program Announcement |
| Federal | DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program | The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Program is a joint program of the United States Army, Navy and Air Force within the University Research Initiative (URI), designed to increase the number of U.S. citizens trained in disciplines of science and engineering important to defense goals. DoD awards approximately 100-150 new three-year graduate fellowships each year to individuals for study and research leading to doctoral degrees in, or closely related to, the disciplines of aeronautical and astronautical engineering; biosciences; chemical engineering; chemistry; cognitive, neural and behavioral sciences; electrical engineering; geosciences; civil engineering; computer and computational sciences; materials science and engineering; mathematics; mechanical engineering; naval architecture and ocean engineering; oceanography; and physics. | Program Announcement |
| Federal | DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship | The DOE CSGF is open to U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens who plan full-time, uninterrupted study toward a Ph.D. at an accredited U.S. university. We encourage applications from students in engineering and the physical, computer, mathematical or life sciences. The fellowship provides four years of support, but must be renewed each summer. | DOE - CSGF Eligibility & Program Requirement Page |
| Federal | NIH: Ruth Kirschstein NRSA Individual F31 Fellowship | The overall goal of the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. In order to accomplish this goal, NRSA training programs are designed to train individuals to conduct research and to prepare for research careers. | NIH web site: F31 Information (See first two links of F31 section of table) |
| Federal | DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship (SCGF) Program | The DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship program (SCGF) has supported outstanding graduate students pursuing graduate training in basic research in areas of physics, biology (non-medical), chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computational and computer sciences, and environmental sciences relevant to the Office of Science mission areas to encourage the development of the next generation of scientific and technical talent in the U.S. | Home page - US Dept of Energy, Office of Science |
| Private | American Association of University Women (AAUW) | American Fellowships support women scholars who are completing dissertations, planning research leave from accredited institutions, or preparing research for publication. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Candidates are evaluated on the basis of scholarly excellence; quality and originality of project design; and active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research. | AAUW Fellowship Page |
| Private | HHMI/International Student Research Fellowships | The HHMI International Student Research Fellowships are designed to facilitate the research training of outstanding international predoctoral students in the biomedical and related sciences, including physical and mathematical sciences. | Program Announcement |
| Private | Ford Foundation | Through its program of Fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, to maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and to increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students | Program Announcement |
| Private | HHMI/Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study | The goal of the Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study program is to ensure the development of a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles in science, including college and university faculty, who have the responsibility to teach the next generation of scientists. Students are chosen for their academic excellence, scientific potential, and commitment to the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the sciences. | Program Announcement |
| Private | UNCF/Merck Science Research Dissertation Fellowship | UNCF /Merck Graduate Science Research Dissertation Fellowships will help African American graduate students complete coursework, conduct research, and prepare the dissertation required for a doctoral degree in the biomedically relevant life or physical sciences and engineering. | UNCF/Merck Science Initiative |
| Private | American Heart Association (Western States Affiliate) | To help students initiate careers in cardiovascular and stroke research by providing research assistance and training. | Program Announcement |
| Private | Irving H. Wiesenfeld and Kathleen L. Miller Graduate Fellowships | The Irving H. Wiesenfeld and Kathleen L. Miller graduate fellowship provides research funds for UC Berkeley graduate students engaged in neglected infectious disease research. | Program Announcement |
| Private | Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds | The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds awards PhD fellowships to outstanding junior scientists (max. age: 27 years) who wish to pursue an ambitious PhD project of approximately 3 years in basic biomedical research in an internationally leading laboratory. | Program Announcement |
| Private | The Hertz Foundation | Providing unique financial and fellowship support to the nation’s most remarkable PhD students in the physical, biological and engineering sciences. Hertz Fellows become innovators and leaders serving in ways that benefit us all. | Hertz Foundation Home Page |
| Private | Aging Research Dissertation Awards to Increase Diversity (R36) | The National Institute on Aging (NIA) announces the reissuance of a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that provides dissertation awards (R36) in all areas of research within NIAs mandate to increase diversity of the research workforce on research on aging and aging-related health conditions. These awards are available to qualified Predoctoral students in accredited research doctoral programs in the United States (including Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories or possessions). | R36 - Announcement |
| Private | ASM Robert D. Watkins Graduate Research Fellowship | The goal of the fellowship is to increase the number of underrepresented groups completing doctoral degrees in the microbiological sciences. The ASM Robert D. Watkins Graduate Research Fellowship is aimed at highly competitive graduate students who are enrolled in a Ph.D. program and who have completed their graduate course work in the microbiological sciences. The fellowship encourages students to continue and complete their research project in the microbiological sciences. | Home Page |
| Private | The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans | Each fellowship supports up to two years of graduate study – in any field and in any advanced degree-granting program – in the United States. (A New American (a naturalized citizen, green card holder or DACA recipient if born abroad; a child of naturalized citizens if born in this country.) | Soros Fellowship Home Page |
| Private | Epilepsy Foundation | The Epilepsy Foundation supports a series of grants and fellowships to advance the understanding of epilepsy that will lead to better treatment, more effective prevention, and ultimately to a cure. Funding is available to researchers at all professional levels including students, junior investigators and established investigators. | Home Page |
Other good resources for fellowships to check are the campus' Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/ and Science Magazine's GrantsNet http://www.grantsnet.org.