The pursuit of external funding is an important component of life in academia.  Because doctoral students gain valuable experience by applying for, and winning, competitive external awards, and to encourage this pursuit, the Graduate School has created a policy to reward students who actively pursue and secure funding from sources outside the University.  The policy described here is effective for awards made on or after July 1, 2011.  For the original policy, which was effective from September 1, 2008, to June 30, 2011, click the related link to the right.

Eligibility criteria:

• This policy applies to doctoral students in good academic standing. The award must apply to a year in which the student is scheduled to receive stipend support from the Graduate School (i.e. years 1 through 5).
• The external funding must have been won on account of the student’s initiative.  Grants by faculty, even when they benefit a graduate student, do not count. Therefore, graduate student support through research grants and contracts, and awards such as IGERT, GAANN, etc., are not part of this incentive plan.
• External funding sources include all sources outside of Brown University.  In cases where regulations of the external agency prohibit, render ineffective or otherwise affect this incentive program, the rules of the funding source apply.

Incentives:

• If a student wins an external fellowship or award that supports the stipend, the Graduate School will continue to provide stipend support such that the total stipend support from both sources exceeds the regular Graduate School support up to a maximum of 1.25 times the current academic year stipend, or up to 1.25 times the full year stipend (academic year plus summer) for calendar year stipends.  The student will receive the full amount of the external award plus the Graduate School stipend, which will be reduced by an amount equivalent to 25% of the external award.  The total stipend support will be capped at 1.25 times the current academic year stipend.

The basis for calculating the stipends are the standard academic year and summer Graduate School stipends.

• For awards that specify the stipend, tuition and fees, (e.g. the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program) the guidelines of the funding institution prevail. When no such specification is made, for example in lump sum awards, the following will be funded in sequence of priority:
  • The stipend, up to 1.25 times the academic year (or full year) stipend
  • Health insurance
  • Health fee
  • Tuition
  • Stipends beyond the 1.25 limit.
• Doctoral students in ‘good standing’ who receive external funding greater than 2/3 of the academic year stipend during any given academic year, are guaranteed funding of the Dissertation Completion Proposal, including up to one academic year of stipend, generally in the form of a teaching assistantship.

Examples for calculating the incentives can be found here. 

RESTRICTIONS: Full concurrent awards are not permitted. A student can accept, for example, both a Javits and a National Science Foundation award, but must take them in sequential years. A student cannot hold a Javits (or NSF, etc.) in addition to Brown’s full University support.

Students applying for external funding should contact Associate Dean of Academic Affairs John Tyler  or Associate Dean for Administration and Program Development Brian Walton at the Graduate School for further information.

Students in programs in the Division of Biology and Medicine should contact the Associate Dean of Medicine, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for further information regarding that Division's support policies.