Fellowships & Grants

The Department of Sociology and the Rackham Graduate School offer the following grants and fellowships to qualified candidates:

The Block Grant is a departmental award intended to provide funding for expenses such as travel to conferences and workshops as well as interviewing, transcription, photocopying and other research expenses. Applications for the Block Grant will now be reviewed four times each year (rather than with a rolling deadline); the deadlines for the 2007-2008 academic year are: 10/15/07, 12/1/07, 2/1/08, 4/1/08. Click here for downloadable instructions and application.

The Dissertation/Research Grant Application is intended to defray research related expenses of completing your dissertation or thesis research. Students should submit a budget, an evaluation from the thesis advisor and a prospectus. Applications are due twice a year, in mid-October and mid-February. Click here for downloadable instructions and application.

The One Term Dissertation Fellowship consists of candidacy tuition, registration fees plus a stipend of $7,800 for one term. Recipients will be eligible for GradCare health insurance coverage provided by the Rackham Graduate School during the term of their award. Students should apply for the award in the term that they expect to finish their dissertation, as they may receive only one One Term Dissertation Fellowship during their career at the University. Click here for downloadable instructions and application.

Applications for the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship are submitted to the Sociology Graduate Office. CAGA reviews the applications and may nominate up to five students for the award competition. Applications should be submitted to the Sociology Graduate Office by January 4, 2008. (Application forms can be found on the Rackham Web site)

The Susan Lipschutz, Margaret Ayers Host and Anna Olcott Smith Awards for Women Graduate Students are intended to aid women graduate students who show "promise of the development of useful original ideals." Women graduate students actively pursuing a doctoral degree in any Rackham program, and who have achieved candidacy by the application deadline, are eligible to be nominated. Nominees must have a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher. CAGA reviews the applications and may nominate one student for the award competition. Applications should be submitted to the Sociology Graduate Office by January 4, 2008. (Application forms can be found on the Rackham Web site)

The Mark Chesler endowment, created in 2004 to honor the unique sociological vision of Professor Mark Chesler upon his retirement from the University of Michigan, supports up to two annual paper awards for students whose scholarship contributes to our sociological understanding of diversity, social justice, participatory action research, intergroup relations, or service learning. Normally, one award will be given for the best undergraduate paper, and one for the best graduate paper. Each recipient of the Mark Chesler Student Research Award will receive a prize of $250.

For information about all Rackham administered fellowships and grants, including Rackham Conference Travel Grants, please click here for downloadable instructions and applications.

The Rackham Fellowships Finder is a great resource for locating funding opportunities outside of the University.