The Application Process

Applying for external fellowships and grants is an important part of your graduate study. For many doctoral students, securing external research grants will be essential in order for them to complete their dissertation. Even if securing external funding is not essential to the completion of your degree, it is always a good idea to apply for external funding as a graduate student. By applying for funding, you will be learning a valuable skill that you will need for the rest of your career. The process of writing a funding proposal will force you to think seriously about your proposed masters or doctoral research project and will help to accelerate your progress on the project, and if you secure external funding, this will have a real impact on the quality of your research and your future career. Applying for external funding is a time-demanding and rewarding process, and it is best to approach your funding applications with a basic understanding of the process, as well as the resources and time required to successfully complete and submit a funding application.

Each funder has their own time table for the the process of applying for funding. Generally the time frame from when you submit your application to when the money is made available to you is about 10 months. There are programs in which the turn-around time is as short as 6 months and other programs in which the turn-around time is as long as 12 months. Graduate students typically apply for funding 12 months before they actually need the money. Additionally, it is wise to begin to work on your applications 4-6 months before the deadline. The most successful graduate students consider how to incorporate applying for funding into their graduate career from their first semester of graduate study. This approach ensures that the student does not miss funding deadlines, is able to take advantage of pre-dissertation funds that will help the student to establish a funding track record, conduct a pilot study to test their research design and acquire any specialized skills that may be needed for the research project. Our funding time-line is an 18 month model of how to incorporate funding into your graduate study. Even if you are no longer in your first year of graduate study, it is possible to take this model and adapt it to meet your current needs. If you would like assistance with this process, schedule an appoint with a Chaser staff member.

The Application Process:

• Identify funders that are a good match for you
• Learn the deadlines
• Get the applications and guidelines early
• Speak with the program officer
• Begin to develop your proposal early
• Do preliminary research
• Begin to develop the budget early
• Request letters of recommendation early
• Ask a variety of people to review and critique your proposal
• If you need to process through ORSP, allow enough time

Points to Keep in Mind:

• Plan ahead
• Share with your committee your plans
• Secure letters of recommendation early
• Proposal needs to be well developed
• Be realistic about how much time it will take to develop the proposal
• Determine early if you will be applying directly to the funder or through ORSP
• If applying through ORSP, make sure you complete the endorsement process
• IRB review is required if you will be talking with humans on conducting research on humans or animals.
• If required, go through the IRB review well in advance.
• IRB website: http://orsp.rutgers.edu/humans1.html

Time-line