The university has several programs for graduate students that provide funding for research and travel, opportunities to develop one's skills as a teacher, and awards for excellent teaching or service.
Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship
The Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship (AGGRS) provide up to $2000 for dissertation research support to doctoral candidates without any other research support from their department or advisor due to lack of funds. Other eligible candidates include those pursuing a comparable graduate degree requiring a thesis. Although eligibility is based on financial need, awards are based on merit.
All doctoral candidates who have passed the Candidacy Exam and whose dissertation project has been approved by their advisor are eligible to apply. MFA students are also eligible to apply for funds to support their MFA project. Previous AGGRS awardees are not eligible for a second award. The competition is held twice each year, during Autumn and Spring Quarters. Faculty members of the University Research Committee, representing all ten academic areas, will review applications and make final recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School.
College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Awards
Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences invites you to nominate outstanding graduate students for the Graduate Student Awards. Any graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences is eligible for nomination, based on the criteria below. Each award includes a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship that will be added to the recipient’s statement of account.
- Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Service (2 awards):
- One award to honor a student who demonstrates excellence in service to the department, college, university, or community. The nominee should directly or indirectly promote opportunities in public education and the service should be above and beyond the scope of their graduate assistantship or fellowship.
- One award to honor a student who demonstrates excellence in mentoring. The nominee should be an advanced graduate student who provides exemplary and effective mentoring for undergraduate and/or new graduate students. The nature of the mentoring may include mentee's personal, professional, and/or academic success.
- Graduate Student Award for Teaching Excellence (2 awards):
- Two awards to recognize excellence in teaching by a graduate student in any instructional capacity, including instructor of record, recitation, or lab. Nominees must have served as a GTA for at least two semesters within the last two years.
- Two awards to recognize excellence in teaching by a graduate student in any instructional capacity, including instructor of record, recitation, or lab. Nominees must have served as a GTA for at least two semesters within the last two years.
Council of Graduate Students Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service
The Council of Graduate Students Edward J. Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service encourages and enables graduate students across the university to participate in professional conferences, both in their respective fields and in the broader community by reimbursing or partially reimbursing the expenses incurred by graduate students during travel to conferences and meetings to present original research.
The Ray Award evaluators give substantial weight to the applicant's service to his/her department, the university, and the surrounding community when making award decisions. Evaluators also take into account the academic standing of the applicant, the applicant's professional goals, the nature of the conference being attended, and the applicant's ability to convey the focus of his/her research to a general audience. Eligibility information is available here.
Council of Graduate Students Distinguished Service Award
The Council of Graduate Students annually recognizes members of the university community (students, faculty, and staff) for their exceptional support of the graduate student population and for their contributions to enhancing the graduate student experience. A commemorative certificate is presented to each recipient.
Nomination Deadline: The nomination process takes place early in the spring semester and awards are given in May. Contact the Council of Graduate Students for more information at cgs@osu.edu or see additional award information on their website.
Council of Graduate Students Career Development Grant
The Career Development Grant program encourages graduate students to prepare for placement into their chosen field. Students will submit their Career Development Grant Application to the Council of Graduate Students (CGS) for an opportunity to receive an award to defray costs associated with the development of their careers.
By offering grants of up to $350 each, CGS will be providing an incentive for graduate students to invest effort in their own career development while attending OSU. These grants will provide subsidy for expenses incurred by the activities outlined by applicants in their Career Development Plan. The Career Development Grants will be awarded to individuals demonstrating strong linkages between their stated professional goals and their submitted Career Development Plan. Additionally, applicants will be evaluated upon the relevance and strength of proposed activities as they relate to the applicant's resume and the Career Development Plan.
Critical Difference for Women Awards
The Critical Difference for Women Awards is a scholarship/grant-offering program of OSU that provides financial support to women students (and some men), faculty, and staff. It offers (1) Re-entry Scholarships for women who have interrupted their education due to unforeseen obstacles such as family responsibilities or financial constraints and who are seeking undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees; and (2) Coca-Cola Dissertation Grants for Research on Women, Gender, and Gender Equity. Administered through the Women's Studies Department, these awards typically have a spring deadline.
Department of Political Science Grant Competition
The department annually awards grants to PhD students in Political Science. The awards will be made from the department's general resources and several department endowment funds, including Study/Research Abroad, the Ripley Graduate Research Awards (for research in American Politics, including Canada) and Madison Scott Grants for minority students. Grants can be used to pay for research-related expenses such as travel, buying data, or conducting a survey and/or experiment. Grants can also can be used to pay for training such as at ICPSR. They can also be used to pay for travel to present work if it is accepted at MPSA or APSA or other major conferences.
Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum
Every spring quarter, the Council of Graduate Students hosts the Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum for graduate study at The Ohio State University. Students enrolled in any area of graduate study at The Ohio State University are invited are invited to submit their work. Submissions are due in January. In February, eight papers from each of the 10 graduate school areas are chosen for the competition. Those selected give a public presentation on their research. Three winners are selected from each of the 10 Graduate School areas, and the winners are announced in April at the Research Forum. First prize is $300 cash and a $500 travel award, second prize is $200 cash, and third prize is $100 cash.
Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS)
Awards are provided through the following Area Studies programs:
The East Asian Studies Center
The Center for Slavic and Eastern European Studies
The Center for Latin American Studies
Global Gateway Graduate Student Research Abroad Grant
The Global Gateway Graduate Student Research Abroad Grant encourages and promotes the professional and academic development of graduate student researchers at The Ohio State University by providing financial support that allows students to undertake research abroad. Students will be able to assist the University pursue its strategic international goals by creating and bolstering relations with universities and other institutions across the world.
Graduate Associate Teaching Award
The Graduate Associate Teaching Award (GATA) is the University's highest recognition of the exceptional teaching provided by graduate students at Ohio State. A $1500 award is given to the ten GATA recipients along with a plaque, which is presented to the awardees during a visit to their classes.
Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability Grants
To support the study of American democracy, IDEA funds seed grants for individual research projects on a yearly basis. These grants are available to both faculty and graduate students. Proposals should be related to the general topic of "democratic governance," broadly conceived. Proposals that include the U.S. as a focus or a case will be given special consideration, as will those from graduate students and faculty at the rank of assistant professor. The proposed research need not follow a particular format or methodology, and may be quantitative, qualitative, normative, or philosophical in nature, consistent with the interdisciplinary focus of IDEA, and as appropriate to the contribution that the research intends to make.
LASER/Humanities Institute Graduate Fellow Program
LASER and the Humanities Institute are accepting applications for the LASER/Humanities Institute Graduate Student in Residence Fellows program. This collaboration between the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Humanities Institute is designed to support research in the area of Latino and Latin American Studies.
LASER/Humanities Institute Graduate Student in Residence Fellows will be selected on a competitive basis based on accomplished work of the highest distinction and on the promise of further outstanding achievements in the areas of diversity, inclusion and with an emphasis on scholarship on the global Latin/o Americas. The program will support one junior and two advanced graduate students. Fellows will be in residence for two semesters at the Humanities Institute and will receive support for research, travel, and professionalization. The fellows will present the findings of their research at the annual Latino Role Models Day.
Mershon Center for International Security Studies Grants
The Mershon Center for International Security Studies Grants supports travel, research, or enrollment in courses at accredited universities in other countries. Funds may be used for a variety of purposes related to the conduct of research and study: travel costs, food and lodging expenses, tuition at an accredited foreign institution, interview or library fees, survey costs, and other expenses related to the student's research project.
Office of International Affairs Academic Enrichment Grant
The Office of International Affairs Academic Enrichment Grants support Ohio State’s Discovery Themes, faculty and student research and the development of new education abroad programs – activities that will have a lasting impact on increasing global awareness and finding solutions to the world’s greatest problems. The grant competition, with separate tracks for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students, is sponsored by the Office of International Affairs, the Office of Research, PHPID, the Office of Undergraduate Education and the China Gateway.
The Phyllis Krumm Memorial Scholarship
The next competition for the Phyllis Krumm Memorial Scholarship will be held in Spring 2008. Up to three awards of $1,000 each will be given to deserving graduate students for research or study in a European country or in China. Applicants must be enrolled as a post-baccalaureate student at OSU in an academic program of study in any field. Students must demonstrate excellence in scholarship and an appropriate background for research or study in Europe or China (including the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and/or Taiwan). They must be of good character and intend to conduct research or study requiring independent international travel (i.e., unassociated with an organized study abroad group). Preference is given to U.S. citizens, pursuing a career in diplomatic or other governmental international service.
The Presidential Fellowship
The Presidential Scholarship is a year-long fellowship given by the Graduate School that recognizes the outstanding scholarly accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project. Students do not apply directly to the Graduate School, but are nominated by Graduate Studies Committee Chairpersons. There is a fall and spring competition. Read more about the Presidential Fellowship.
The Preparing Future Faculty Program
The Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program offers Ohio State graduate students the opportunity to experience first-hand the unique challenges and rewards of an academic career at a smaller college or university through a partner relationship with a mentor-faculty member at one of Ohio's leading liberal arts colleges and state universities.
Ohio State's PFF program has been approved as a Graduate School course, and graduate students' participation in the program is noted on their Ohio State transcripts. The premiere feature of the PFF experience is a mentorship with an accomplished faculty member at a PFF partner institution. After being "matched" with a mentor from a corresponding field of study, graduate students make between two and four visits to their mentor's school. The specific activities pursued within the mentorship are jointly selected by the graduate student and their faculty mentor.