UW Linguistics external funding requirement

Each academic year (AY), you are required to apply for or otherwise procure external funding, beginning in your second year of the PhD program. External funding includes support that does not come out of the department's general budget (e.g., fellowships, TA/RA/SA-ships in other departments).

• First-year students: By the end of your first year, the department asks that you identify three appropriate external funding opportunities that you intend to apply for in subsequent years. This can include opportunities you are not yet eligible for, such as dissertation grants, as well as opportunities you strongly suspect will become available, such as TA positions in other departments (based on past job ads). Please note that this is not a commitment to apply for these specific opportunities. You may change your mind about which opportunities to apply for as you progress through the program and as your research trajectory comes into focus. This exercise is largely meant to help you practice researching funding sources and to familiarize you with available opportunities. Just for the 2021-22 AY, second-year students can likewise satisfy the requirement by identifying three external funding opportunities to apply for in subsequent years.

• After your first year: The department asks that you make a sincere and concerted effort to apply for or otherwise secure at least one external funding opportunity each AY. You can satisfy the requirement just by applying! It's perfectly okay not to get it. Ideally, the funding opportunity will include both a stipend and tuition waiver for at least one quarter, but it's not necessary for it to provide both. If you are awarded an external appointment/fellowship and the stipend is less than what you would normally make through an appointment in UW Linguistics, the department will make up the difference.

Please do see the FAQs for more information.

Funding resources

Sifting through funding resources can easily take you down a rabbit hole (much like doing a literature review). Use the following campus resources to ground your journey as you apply for external funding.

Graduate Funding Information Service (GFIS)

Use GFIS to facilitate the SEARCH process.

The UW Libraries' Graduate Funding Information Service (GFIS) provides resources and one-on-one advising on searching for funding opportunities. Topics and skills they review include the various kinds of funding opportunies, where to start searching for funding, when to search, and how to formulate search terms.

• GFIS Research Guide – links to various databases of funding opportunities and includes tips for the search process
• GFIS Blog – an excellent up-to-date snapshot of available opportunities!
• Finding funding for graduate school – a YouTube presentation by GFIS

Tip: The GFIS Blog allows you to filter for and view ads for past UW RA/TA/SA-ships. Many of these calls are issued on a regular basis and can inform what opportunities you apply for in the future.

Office of Fellowships and Awards

Use the office to facilitate the APPLICATION process.

The UW Graduate School's Office of Fellowships and Awards counsels graduate students on applying for fellowships and also coordinates and administers regional and federal fellowship and scholarship programs that require the school's involvement. In addition to helping you navigate applying for funding, for any programs that are not administered by the Graduate School, they will also review your applications essays and provide feedback.

• List of fellowships – a list of popular funding opportunities, many of which are administered by the UW Graduate School
• Fellowships timeline – an application timeline created specifically for UW Linguistics by Robyn Davis
• Events and deadlines – the office's calendar of information sessions and fellowship deadlines
• Contact info – reach out to them for one-on-one advising!

Tip: Check out their information sessions for fellowship-specific guidance.

Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC)

Use the OWRC to facilitate the WRITING process.

The Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC) is an incredible resource for both undergraduate and graduate students. The OWRC provides resources, workshops, tutoring, and one-on-one appointments to help students at any stage of the research and writing process. Though they don't specialize in applying for funding, you can definitely use them to help you craft your application statements (as well as in your research endeavors).

Tip: Review your application statement with an OWRC tutor! They can gauge how accessible your statement is to a non-LING audiance, which is an important aspect of applying for funding.

UW departments, centers, and programs

Additional ways of FINDING funding.

Many entities on campus list area-specific funding opportunities. They typically focus on smaller project grants (<$4,000) but also include some fully-funded fellowships. Though the project grants will not satisfy the external funding requirement if they are not nationally or internationally competitive, they may still provide a worthwhile means of funding your research!

Below are links to their respective funding pages:

• African Studies Program
• Canadian Studies Center
• Center for Global Studies
• Center for Korean Studies
• College of Arts and Sciences
• Department of Scandinavian Studies
• Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies
• French and Italian Studies
• Jackson School of International Studies
• Japan Studies Program
• Latin America and Caribbean Studies
• Near Eastern Languages and Civilization
• Simpson Center for the Humanities
• Slavic Languages and Literature
• South Asia Center
• Stroum Center for Jewish Studies

Funding opportunities

Below are some scholarships and fellowships that trend towards being more relevant to PhD students in UW Linguistics. This is just a mini table of awards. It is not an exhaustive list. I welcome you to suggest additional awards to include in the table via the anonymous feedback Google Form (accessible via Canvas). Thank you!

Click here to view a KEY for the table columns.