Department Grants and Fellowships

Click here to see a collection of past grant awardees' application materials, for use as a starting point if you are trying to apply to grants both internally and externally that could be a useful starting point for those of us trying to apply to grants both internally and externally..

Departmental Conference Travel Grant
The Department Travel Grant is available to help defray the costs for current graduate students traveling to participate in a professional conference. Applications are accepted between September and early April. Submissions should be sent to Professor Chris Parker via email with the Graduate Program Advisor copied on the email and should include evidence of acceptance to the conference as well as an endorsement for support from one's faculty adviser. Please include "Departmental Conference Travel Grant" in the subject line.  Decisions are made on a quarterly basis and subject to funding availability.  Each grant recipient is strongly encouraged to do a work-in-progress presentation before going to the conference.

*NOTE: If you have advanced to candidacy, you may be eligible to apply for the one-time doctoral student travel grant offered by the Academic Senate.

Louis Lancaster Graduate Fellowship
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Lancaster established an endowed fund for graduate students in the Political Science Department.  Their wish was to promote and encourage outstanding scholarship of Ph.D students in International Relations and Comparative Politics.  Graduate students are selected based on academic performance and do not apply directly for the scholarship. This award is presented at the end of the academic year.

Manzer-Wesson Award
The Manzer-Wesson Award recognizes excellence in graduate student academic writing.  The award is a combination of two separate funds: the Colin Reid Manzer fund and the Robert G. Wesson Fund.  Graduate students may be nominated by faculty to receive an award for: best seminar paper, best paper presented at a conference, best dissertation prospectus, and best paper to appear in a publication.  Graduate students may only be nominated by a member of the faculty. This award is presented at the end of the academic year.

Jennings Fellowship 

This a fellowship endowed by our former colleague Kent Jennings awarded at admission on the basis of merit to a student of American or Comparative politics, in accordance with the terms of the gift.

UCSB Grants and Fellowships

Broom Center Graduate Student Research and Travel Grants
The Broom Center for Demography awards funds to support graduate student attendance at training program in demographic methods and for small dissertation-related research projects on demographic topics.  For more information, visit the Broom Center website. 

UCSB Central Continuing Student Fellowships
Continuing graduate students are able to apply for fellowship funds from UCSB. Cover Sheets and instructions for each award application are sent out by the department's graduate adviser. Applications for Central Continuing Fellowships are typically available in early spring.

UCSB Crossroads: Integrating Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching in Graduate Education
UCSB Crossroads is a pilot program aimed at providing doctoral students with a year-long interdisciplinary research experience that is then extended into the graduate classroom through curriculum development and closely mentored teaching.  For more information, visit the UCSB Crossroads website. 

UCSB Dissertation Fellowship in Black Studies.
The Department of Black Studies at UCSB invites applications for two dissertation fellowship scholars.  The department is interested in scholars whose research focuses on intersections of race, class, gender or sexuality in African/Caribbean/African-American or Diasporic Studies.  For more information, visit the department's website. 

The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC) Pre-doctoral Fellowships
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center offers pre-doctoral fellowships to support UCSB doctoral candidates whose research facilitates dialogue across the traditional disciplinary boundaries within the arts and humanities, and/or between the arts & humanities, sciences, and social sciences.  For more information, visit the IHC website. 

Extramural Fellowships and Grants

Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF)
The Mellon International Dissertation Research Felowship (IDRF) offers nine to twelve months of support to graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who are enrolled in PhD programs in the United States and conducting dissertation research on non-US topics.  Eighty fellowships are awarded annuall and the amounts vary, averaging $20,000.  Deadline: November 5, 2013.  For more information, visit the Social Science Research Council website.

The Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
Fellowships are designed to encourage original and significant study of ethical or religious values in all fields of the humanities and social sciences, and particularly to help Ph.D. candidates in these fields complete their dissertation work in a timely manner.  For more information, visit the Newcombe Fellowship Website.

The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) Dissertation Fellowships
For more information, please visit the IGCC website.

Dirksen Congressional Center Congressional Research Awards
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congree.  For more information, please visit the Dirksen Center website.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant
For more information, visit the NSF website.

University of Minnesota Center for German & European Studies Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute (TASI)
The Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute provides a unique forum for advanced graduate students from North America, Germany, and other European countries to explore topics relating to Germany's and Europe's history, politics, and society.  The Institute offers a diverse mix of seminar discussions of key readings, research presentations by guest faculty and fellows, and informal discussions of fellows' research projects.  All selected applicants will receive fellowships.  For more information, please visit the TASI website. 

Note: Extramural proposals are submitted on behalf of the UC Regents, and therefore proposals are subject to review prior to submission. Please contact Paula Ryan in ISBER at <paula@isber.ucsb.edu> early on in the proposal development process but at least three weeks prior to Agency deadline to discuss the preparation, submission & required Office of Research review process of your proposal.