Graduate Funding
You will be funded for six years on a Research Assistantship or a Teaching Assistantship, as long as you are making satisfactory progress. We cover tuition (minus quarterly university fees), health insurance and a salary that corresponds to the rates published on the UW Graduate School website for Variable Rate Oceanography RAs and TAs. Predoctoral Instructors will be paid the PDRAII rate or the student's current PDRA rate plus 10%, whichever is greater.
Student Academic Employees at the University of Washington are governed by a contract between the University of Washington and UAW. Details of the contract may be found at UAW Academic Student Employees (ASEs) Contract. Salaried positions at Oceanography, such as research assistants (RAs) or teaching assistants (TAs), are paid at the Oceanography variable rate listed in the variable rate graduate student salary schedule, according to the graduate student’s degree level.
There are also free of charge quarterly workshops for graduate students, as well as grant and fellowship opportunities to help you through your graduate career financially. Go to Grants and Funding Information Service (GFIS).
External Fellowships
National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) - As a means of increasing the number of U.S. citizens and nationals trained in science and engineering disciplines of military importance, the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to award approximately 200 new three-year graduate fellowships, subject to the availability of funds.
National Science Foundation Graduate Education (NSF) - The Division of Graduate Education (DGE) leads the National Science Foundation’s efforts to attract the most talented US students into graduate studies, and to support them in their quest to become the leading scientists and engineers of the future. In the past year, DGE supported approximately 4500 students in graduate programs in the various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.
EPA Science to Achieve Results Fellowships For Graduate Environmental Study - NCER’s Science to Achieve Results or STAR program funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review. The program engages the nation’s best scientists and engineers in targeted research that complements EPA’s own outstanding intramural research program and those of our partners in other federal agencies.
American Meterological Society Industry/Government Graduate Fellowships - AMS/INDUSTRY/GOVERNMENT GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS are sponsored by industry leaders and government agencies and are designed to attract promising young scientists to prepare for careers in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic fields.
Nancy Foster scholarships - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recognizes outstanding scholarship and encourages independent graduate level research -- particularly by female and minority students -- in oceanography, marine biology and maritime archaeology.
Hertz Foundation Fellowships - Since 1963, the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation has awarded over 1000 doctoral fellowships with the goal of supporting the early stage research endeavors of applied physical, biological, and engineering science students who possess the potential to change our world for the better by solving difficult, real-world problems.
NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program - The NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program is an Agency-wide fellowship program for graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering related to NASA research and development. This twelve month award strongly encourages a research experience at the NASA center extending the Fellowship.
The Link Foundation - The main goals of the Link Foundation Ocean Engineering and Instrumentation Ph.D. Fellowship are:
- To foster ocean engineering and ocean instrumentation research
- To enhance both the theoretical and practical knowledge and applications of ocean engineering and ocean instrumentation research, and
- To disseminate the results of that research through lectures, seminars and publications
Ford Foundation Scholarships-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, maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.
