PhD Students

A Guide to Fellowships

The following table of fellowship opportunities has been compiled by the Friedman School's Training Grant, Fellowship, and Finance Coordinator.

Fellowship NIFA/AFRI F31 GRFP
Mechanism USDA NIH NSF
Application Dates July 19, 2018 April 6, August 8, December 8, 2018 October 22-26
(based on field of study)
What does it pay for?

Predoctoral Fellowship: up to 2 years

$35,000 stipend per year

$22,00 tuition, fees, benefits, travel, workshops, supplies, and publications per year.

$3,000 Institutional allowance (in lieu of indirect costs) 

Predoctoral Fellowship: up to 5 years (typically 2-3 years)

$24,324 stipend per year

60% of tuition up to $16,000 per year

$9,850 institutional allowance (including health insurance costs)

Predoctoral Fellowship: up to 3 years of support

$34,000 stipend per year

$12,000 cost-of-education allowance per year
Topic Areas

AFRI Farm Bill Priority Areas:

1. Agriculture economics and rural communities.

2. Agriculture systems and technology

3. Animal health, production, and products

4. Bioenergy, natural resources, and environment.

5. Food safety, nutrition, and health

6. Plant health, production, and products.

 NIH Participating Organizations
There are over 20 NIH participating organizations, please visit the link above to view the complete list.

NSF Fields of Study:

1. Life Science, Geosciences

2. Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Engineering, Materials Research

3.Psychology, Social Sciences, STEM Education and Learning

4. Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Anatomy
Stage of Research The intent of the Predoctoral Fellowship Program is to support current doctoral students who are at the stage of conducting dissertation research, ultimately leading to completion of the dissertation and respective terminal degree. Predoctoral students, inclusive of those with baccalaureate and/or master’s degrees, who meet the criteria, may apply. *The predoctoral project director (PD) must be a citizen, national, or permanent resident of the United States. The purpose of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31) is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research. Applicants for the F31 must be candidates for the PhD degree and have identified a dissertation research project and sponsor(s). * By the time of award, the individual must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence 

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. Effective as of the 2017, graduate students are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted either in the first year or in the second year of graduate school.

*The applicant must be a US citizen or permanent resident by the application deadline.

Other Funding Opportunities

Job Opportunities

How to find them:

  • Chronicle of higher education (www.chronicle.com)
  • HigherEdJobs.com
  • AcademicKeys.com
  • Sciencecareers.org
  • Higher education research consortium (www.hercjobs.org)
  • Insidehighered.com
  • www.academic360.com

Friedman Career Services, including a section on developing a CV and applying for academic positions: https://nutrition.tufts.edu/students/career-services

Local, on-going opportunities to do a postdoc:

TEACRS Program - TEACRS fellows are provided with up to four years of support and a wealth of resources to better prepare them as future faculty. They spend 75% of their time in research, with the remaining time devoted to teaching and career development activities.

Tufts CTSI TL1 Fellowship Program – For those with an interest in clinical and translational research, you are encouraged to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship. These are prestigious, NIH-funded programs that provide a stipend and full tuition for the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Graduate Program.

Current Postdoc Opportunities:

 

  • The Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU) is searching for a full-time Research Associate (post doc) to be a part of a four-year grant funded through the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research that is modeling ways to transform the food system in Flint, Michigan for better health, economic and social outcomes.  The position will start as soon as an appropriate candidate is found, preferably Fall 2018.  Candidates will be based in Flint, Michigan, with frequent travel to the MSU campus in East Lansing, Michigan.

 

  • Child/Pediatric Postdoctoral Two-year Fellowship for 2019-2021​

    • ​The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition is offering one two-year postdoctoral fellowship for the 2019-2021 cycle. Applicants will be accepted from the fields of Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, Public Health, Psychology, Physiology or related fields to work with our multidisciplinary team. All applicants must have completed all requirements for their doctoral degree prior to beginning the fellowship. The position’s starting date is expected to begin in the fall of 2019, and salary will follow current NIH guidance. Our faculty study many facets of children’s healthy lifestyles and nutrition and related topics, and span from public health to clinical intervention to basic science (see www.chlnkc.org for more information). Candidates will select a senior faculty member (i.e., Ann Davis, Delwyn Catley, John Thyfault, Susana Patton) and a junior or clinical faculty member to lead their postdoctoral training, and will have oversight from a 4 member scholarship oversight committee to ensure productivity and training related to the candidate’s individualized career goals. We are specifically seeking candidates who plan to pursue NIH funding, likely by submitting an F or K application during their fellowship. There is the opportunity to earn hours toward licensure for those seeking clinical licensure, but this is primarily a research focused fellowship. The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition is a joint partnership between the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) and Children’s Mercy Hospital (CMH). Postdoctoral fellows will have the support of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at KUMC (http://www.kumc.edu/academic-and-student-affairs/opags/postdoctoral-affairs/prospective-postdocs.html), as well as support from the NIH funded University of Kansas Clinical and Translational Science Institute (http://www.kufrontiers.org/), and from the postdoctoral training program at Children’s Mercy Hospital. 

    • HOW TO APPLY: To apply, please submit the following documents to Ann Davis, PhD, MPH, ABPP at adavis6@kumc.edu: 1) A letter of interest identifying the position of interest, your qualifications, specific research interests, and goals for the postdoctoral training years (maximum one page).  2) Curriculum vitae; 3) Three letters of recommendation. Applications will be reviewed immediately upon receipt, and are due by December 9, 2018. 

       

       

      All qualified applications will be reviewed with an invitation for on-site interviews being issued soon thereafter. Candidates will be accepted for one year of employment, with successful candidates invited to stay for the second year. 

Professional Development

Current workshops and opportunities

On-going programs

Hirsh Health Sciences Library workshops - Sackler 510 (145 Harrison Avenue):

Resources for Scientific Manuscript Writing

Self-learning online resources:

Non-Degree Coursework offered by Tufts Clinical Translational Science Graduate Program:

  • Popular among students, Fall course taught by Jessica Paulus, Scientific Manuscript Writing, focuses on principles of scientific manuscript writing in greater detail for early stage researchers.  Students may also consider taking two courses in a year-long series, Fall with Jessica  and Spring with Rob Goldberg, PhD. Meeting all criteria and approval from the faculty instructor, non-matriculated students can enroll. Each course costs $1667 (Tufts or Northeastern students may be eligible for free or reduced tuition). Applications are due two weeks prior to the start of each semester. Follows the link here if you are interested:  https://sackler.tufts.edu/admissions/nonDegreePrograms/coursework

Reading

Surviving the Doctorate and Beyond: Recommended Reading

University-Wide Resources

Dining

Local Restaurants (recommended by other Friedman doctoral students)