Scholarships & Awards

Applying for grants and awards is an integral part of academic research. All students in the Ph.D. program are expected to apply for competitive fellowships, scholarships, and merit awards. Here you will find links to information about specific funding opportunities

University Aid

The University offers several scholarships throughout the year that are suitable for graduate students.

Pitt2Pitt Funding
Graduating Pitt undergraduates and alumni of an undergraduate program at Pitt can receive a Pitt2Pitt tuition scholarship when they enroll in a participating Pitt graduate or professional program.

Pitt Alumni Association Graduate Scholarship
A one-time $5,000 scholarship awarded to graduate students who also completed their undergraduate degree at Pitt.

The George L. Carson Graduate Fellowship for Pitt Alumni
Awarded to a graduate student who was affiliated with a Pitt athletics program as an undergraduate. Applications will be available in February and are typically due May 1. Contact the Student Life and Compliance Office in the Athletics Department with questions.

Owens Fellowship
A needs-based fellowship (approximately $6,000 per year) that can be used for tuition, books, and living expenses. Copies of GRE scores or other standardized test scores may be required. Applications are available in early May. Login to my.pitt.edu and go to the PittFund$Me link, for applications and information.

Provost’s Development Fund
A needs- and merit-based grant for doctoral students intended to provide financial support and professional development for women and disadvantaged students. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applicants must also be in the final year of their doctoral program, having completed all required coursework and working on their dissertation. Contact Linda Williams-Moore for more information.

K. Leroy Irvis Fellowships
In 1994, the University of Pittsburgh established the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowships to enhance the academic excellence and diversity of Pitt's graduate student body and prepare doctoral students for academic research careers. Each year, schools select distinguished doctoral applicants who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement to participate in this prestigious program, which provides a non-duty bearing fellowship for the student's first year of doctoral study as well as academic guidance and cohort-based mentoring throughout the student's doctoral studies.

Provost’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship (Internal/Pitt)
The Provost’s Dissertation Year Fellowship supports Underrepresented Racial Minority (URM)* students who are underrepresented in their field and whose racial/ethnic background contributes to the diversity of their program and field. The fellowship provides dedicated time for doctoral students to work full-time on finishing their dissertation during the last year of doctoral work. Stipend, Full Time Dissertation tuition scholarship, and health insurance is included x 1 year and is open to international students. Applications are due in March. For more information Visit: Provost’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship or contact: graduate@pitt.edu

Pitt Pharmacy Graduate Program Aid

Pitt Pharmacy offers several awards to incoming and current students

Pitt Pharmacy MS Scholarship
A $20,000 merit-based scholarship awarded to up to 2 US applicants submitting an application for a MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Student Excellence Award
Established in 2000 following a generous gift from Dr. Zola Horovitz who earned his degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh 1958 MS and 1960 PhD. This $2,000 merit-based award is awarded to PhD students in Pharmaceutical Sciences in recognition of outstanding academic and research achievements. Minimum criteria for this award includes:  a QPA ≥ 3.0 and no grade below a “B” in any graduate level course, advancement to candidacy, presentation of research at ≥ 1national meeting, ≥ 2 published papers or accepted for publication, continuation in the graduate program for at least 2 additional terms. Additional criteria considered include: Publications in high-quality, peer-reviewed journal, selection of research for oral presentation at scientific meeting, research awards, fellowship, grants, participation in School of Pharmacy sponsored events, leadership achievements.
To apply: Nomination letters must be submitted by the students’ research advisor. Students must submit their CV, graduate transcript, and copies of research publications. All applications must be submitted to Dr. Song Li by April 30th

Norman R. and Priscilla A. Farnsworth Student Award
Established in 2007 following a generous endowment from Norman and Priscilla Farnsworth, this $2,000 merit-based award is awarded to PhD students in Pharmaceutical Sciences with preference given to students engaged in natural products research. Minimum criteria for this award include: completion of 1st  year with a QPA ≥ 3.0 and excellent research progress.
To apply: Nomination letters must be submitted by the students’ research advisor and one additional faculty member in the School of Pharmacy. Students must submit their CV, graduate transcript, and copies of research publications. All applications must be submitted to Dr. Song Li by April 30th

Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
A $1,500 award in recognition of TAs that have gone above and beyond in their TA position. Minimum criteria includes: a QPA ≥ 3.0. Other criteria include: stellar attendance, punctuality, reliability, preparation, initiative, effective communication.
To apply: A letter of nomination and the students’ CV and transcript, along with any additional supporting documents must be submitted to  Dr. Song Li by April 30th

Randy and Renee Juhl Graduate Scholar Award
Established following a generous donation from Randy and Renee Juhl to support PhD students pursuing a Pharmaceutical Sciences degree in clinical and translational research. Preference is given to students who received a PhD from Pitt; students receive $5,000 - $7,200 annually for the duration of their PhD training. These awards are issued based on eligibility and do not require an application. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact Dr. Philip Empey

 

Travel Awards for Conferences

Travel awards provide students with support to travel to national conferences to present their scientific work.

Pitt Pharmacy Graduate Program Travel Award
A one-time travel award for students attending a scientific conferences to present a poster or give an oral presentation.

Graduate and Professional Student Government
Grant support for travel to academic and professional conferences. Applicants are eligible for one grant per fiscal year (July 1–June 30), and funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Nationality Rooms Scholarships
These scholarships reflect decades of work honoring education through cultural exchange. After the Nationality Rooms were built in Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, committees stayed together to raise funds enabling eligible Pitt students to study abroad, thereby experiencing another culture in depth. There are several different awards available.

Women’s Studies Student Research Fund
Awards of up to $1,000 to support travel expenses, clerical support, research materials, or other direct costs for research related to the study of women, gender, and/or sexuality.

External Aid

American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE)
The primary goal of the AFPE Pre-Doctoral Research Fellowship program is to positively impact patient and public health by supporting high performing students who possess the skill and aptitude to become outstanding scientists and leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, academia, and the government/nonprofit sectors.

  • Fields of Study: Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Level/Year: Enrolled in PhD or joint PharmD/PhD program, completed 3 full semesters of PhD credit, and will be awarded the PhD degree within 3 years
  • Application Deadline: Part 1: Early December, Part 2: mid-January
  • Award Amount: $10,000
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizen or permanent resident
  • Website: AFPE Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
  • Additional Information: Each Institution is limited to 5 application submissions, so if you are interested in applying, you must notify Dr. Kerry Empey

AAUW Educational Foundation Dissertation Fellowships - American Fellowships
The AAUW Educational Foundation Dissertation American Fellowships support women scholars who are pursuing full-time study to complete dissertations and who have an active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research. Funding is for dissertation year only.

  • Fields of Study: All fields
  • Level/Year: Final year
  • Application Deadline: Early November
  • Award Amount: $25,000
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents
  • Website: American Fellowships
  • Direct Contact: aauw@applyists.com
  • Additional Information: Must identify as a woman

AAUW Educational Foundation Dissertation Fellowships - International Fellowships
The AAUW Educational Foundation Dissertation International Fellowships support women scholars in the United States who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who intend to return to their home country to become leaders in business, government, academia, community activism, the arts or scientific fields. Funding for one year.

  • Fields of Study: All fields
  • Level/Year: All levels
  • Application Deadline: Mid-November
  • Award Amount: $25,000
  • Nationality: Cannot be U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident
  • Website: International Fellowships
  • Direct Contact: aauw@applyists.com
  • Additional Information: Open to international students, must identify as a woman

American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship
The American Heart Association Pre-Doctoral Fellowship supports the integrated research and clinical training of promising students who are matriculated in pre-doctoral or clinical health professional degree training programs and who intend careers as scientists, physician-scientists or other clinician-scientists, or related careers aimed at improving global cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and brain health. Funding includes stipend, health insurance and research support and is for up to two years.

  • Fields of Study: AHA awards are open all academic and health professionals. This includes but is not limited to all academic disciplines (biology, chemistry, mathematics, technology, physics, engineering, data science, etc.) and all health-related professions (physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists, statisticians, nutritionists, etc.).
  • Level/Year: All levels
  • Application Deadline: Mid-September
  • Award Amount: ($25,836 Stipend + $4,200 Health insurance + $2,000 Research support) x 1-2 years
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident, DACA, see website for additional designations.
  • Website: 2023 AHA Predoctoral Fellowship
  • Direct Contact: apply@heart.org

CGS ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award
The CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards are made annually to individuals who have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to their discipline. The fields of competition alternate yearly. Recipients receive a monetary award and present at the CGS Annual Meeting.

  • Fields of Study: Biological Sciences & Humanities and Fine Arts; Social Sciences & Mathematics / Physical Science / Engineering. Alternating years.
  • Level/Year: Final year/recent alumni
  • Application Deadline: Early July
  • Award Amount: $2,000
  • Nationality: Any
  • Website: CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award
  • Direct Contact: anaranjo@cgs.nche.edu
  • Additional Information: Open to international students.

Department of Defense SMART Scholarship-for-Service Fellowship
The Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program provides a combined educational and workforce development opportunity for STEM students. Funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), this scholarship includes a stipend, tuition, and a summer internship at a DoD facility. Funding is from one to five years.

  • Fields of Study: STEM
  • Level/Year: All levels
  • Application Deadline: Early December
  • Award Amount: $25,000-38,000 for 1-5 years (tuition, stipend, health insurance)
  • Nationality: Citizen of United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or United Kingdom
  • Website: Eligibility and STEM Disciplines
  • Direct Contact: smart@smartscholarship.org

Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund
The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund fellowship supports outstanding graduate students who demonstrate financial need and conduct research in any recognized field of study in the humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences. Funding is for up to three years. Note: The Office of the Provost runs an internal selection process for this award. Contact VPGodley@pitt.edu for additional information.

  • Fields of Study: Humanities; Social sciences; Natural sciences
  • Level/Year: All levels
  • Application Deadline: January    
  • Award Amount: Living expense $18,000/year + Research supports + Publication costs
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizen
  • Website: Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund
  • Direct Contact: graduate@pitt.edu

Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs
The Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowships support graduate students in any research-based field who have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level in the U.S., show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. Annual stipend is provided for three years.

  • Fields of Study: All fields in research based PhD programs
  • Level/Year: Requires minimum of three years of study left in PhD
  • Application Deadline: Mid-December
  • Award Amount: $27,000 x 3 years
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizens, Nationals, Permanent Residents, DACA, Asylees, Refugees, Temporary Protected Status
  • Website: Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs
  • Direct Contact: FordApplications@nas.edu

Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program is open to all academic disciplines and provides graduate students an opportunity to conduct research or teach English in more than 140 countries worldwide. The program facilitates cultural exchange and community engagement in an atmosphere of academic integrity and intellectual freedom to promote mutual understanding. Grant lengths and dates vary by award.

  • Fields of Study: All fields
  • Level/Year: All levels
  • Application Deadline: Early October
  • Award Amount: Varies by grant type
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizen
  • Website: Getting Started
  • Direct Contact: FBstudent@iie.org

Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study    
The Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study provides awards to pairs of dissertation advisors and their graduate students from populations excluded from or underrepresented in science and who are conducting research in the biomedical and life sciences. Funding is for up to three years. Note: The 2024 Gilliam competition will move to an open competition. Any eligible adviser-student pair (see program announcement for detailed eligibility guidelines) can apply.

  • Fields of Study: Biomedical sciences; Life sciences    
  • Level/Year: 2nd and 3rd year of PhD program/Advanced to candidacy by the time the fellowship starts    
  • Application Deadline: Early December    
  • Award Amount: $50,000/year x 1-3 years    
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizen/U.S. Permanent Resident/DACA/Populations excluded from science    
  • Website: Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study    
  • Direct Contact: gilliam@hhmi.org    
  • Additional Info: Dual-degree students are not eligible; prioritize minorities and under-represented groups

IBM PhD Fellowship Award Program
The IBM PhD Fellowship Award Program supports exceptional PhD students whose research addresses focused areas of interest in technology. Funding is for two years and includes internship opportunities. Note: The Office of the Provost runs an internal selection process for this award. Contact VPGodley@pitt.edu for additional information.

  • Fields of Study: Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Hybrid Cloud Quantum Computing / Quantum Systems Artificial Intelligence Cloud / Open Source Technologies Security / Cyber Security Data Science Systems
  • Level/Year: Requires minimum of three years of study left in PhD
  • Application Deadline: Early November
  • Award Amount: $60,000 year 1 + $35,000 year 2
  • Nationality: Students from U.S.-embargoed countries are not eligible
  • Website: IBM Global University Program Awards - PhD Fellowship Awards
  • Direct Contact: phdfellow@us.ibm.com
  • Additional Information: Open to international students who are not from U.S.-embargoed countries.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP)
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) seeks to ensure quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States by supporting outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers, early in their careers. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support in the form of an annual stipend, as well as tuition remission.

  • Fields of Study: Chemistry; Computer & Information Science/Engineering; Engineering; Geosciences; Life Sciences; Materials Research; Mathematical Sciences; Physics and Astronomy; Psychology; Social Sciences; STEM Education
  • Level/Year: Undergraduate seniors, 1st and 2nd year graduate students
  • Application Deadline: Mid-Late October
  • Award Amount: ($34,000 Stipend + Tuition/Fees) x 3 years
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizens, Nationals, and Permanent Residents
  • Website: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
  • Pitt-specific Information: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program - Includes Pitt events and a listing of recent University of Pittsburgh NSF-GRFP fellows and honorable mentions
  • Direct Contact: info@nsfgrfp.org
  • Additional Information: High priority in Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Science, and Computationally Intensive Research

Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships For New Americans
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships For New Americans supports early career graduate students age thirty or younger who are immigrants and children of immigrants poised to make significant contributions to U.S. society, culture or their academic field. Funding up to $90,000 is available over two years.

  • Fields of Study: All fields
  • Level/Year: 1st or 2nd year
  • Application Deadline: Late October
  • Award Amount: Up to $90,000 over two  years
  • Nationality: U.S. Citizen, Naturalized Citizen, Green Card holder, Refugee, Asylee, DACA
  • Website: Eligibility
  • Direct Contact: PDSoros@pdsoros.org
  • Additional Information: Must meet "New American Status"; see website for details

Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award
The Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award provides promising predoctoral students the opportunity to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers. Stipend, tuition, and research training experiences are provided for up to five years.

Spencer Foundation Dissertation Grants 
The Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program supports outstanding advanced doctoral candidates in any field so that they can devote themselves full-time to the completion of their dissertation. Candidates should have an interest in pursuing education research once their PhD is complete. The fellowship includes a stipend and two professional development retreats.

  • Fields of Study: All fields, but with an interest in pursuing research on education once PhD is complete.
  • Level/Year: Must have 1-2 years remaining in PhD
  • Application Deadline: Early October
  • Award Amount: $27,500
  • Nationality: Any
  • Website: NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program Guidelines
  • Direct Contact: info@naeducation.org
  • Additional Information: Open to international students.