Graduate Fellowships

The Scholar-Teacher Award Program of the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences is designed to foster innovation in the undergraduate curriculum, give advanced PhD students experience teaching their own undergraduate courses while receiving pedagogical mentoring, and provide funding for graduate research. This prestigious fellowship allows graduate students to grow as educators and scholars by allowing them to propose, design, and teach an undergraduate seminar course.

Each STAR (Scholar-Teacher Award Recipient) will be provided mentoring from both the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation (CTEI) and a faculty mentor that the student identifies. CTEI staff will provide mentoring regularly in the application, preparation and teaching phases. (Please contact Allon Brann at [email protected] for more information.) Before submitting their application, the student should discuss the mentoring role with the faculty mentor of their choice and have the faculty mentor review the proposal. The faculty mentor will join a CTEI mentor for at least one classroom observation to provide feedback.

STAR courses may be offered as advanced undergraduate seminars or lower-level undergraduate seminars. Before preparing an application, students should consult with their departmental Director of Graduate Studies, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Chair to assess the department’s interest in the proposed course and ensure that it aligns with departmental teaching needs. If the student proposes a course for a center or program outside of their home department, they should consult with the director of the center or program to ensure that it is suitable.

Applicants must be PhD students in the School of Arts and Sciences in residence for the semester during which they teach; they must have achieved ABD status before teaching in the program. STARs will teach a one-semester course and receive a 6-month stipend. In addition, the Scholar-Teacher Award will provide tuition for the award semester (the semester of instruction of the proposed course) and health insurance for the half-year associated with the award semester. The Dean’s Office expects the department to ensure the student’s time is spent appropriately.

Please note: priority will be given to applicants who will be in their 6th year in the award semester. Students who will be beyond their 6th year in the award semester are ineligible with one exception: students who are supported in their 6th year by an external fellowship without any top-up from the university and will be in their 7th year in the award semester are eligible. Former Dean’s Teaching Fellows are ineligible. The award cannot be deferred or banked. If a student has banked university funding during the award semester, the award will be counted as one semester of banked university funding.

The complete application includes:

1. Letter of application addressed to the Scholar-Teacher Award Committee.
2. Curriculum vitae.
3. Course proposal, including the proposed semester of instruction, the cost of required texts, etc. A draft syllabus is encouraged.
4. Budget proposal for excursions or labs, if applicable. Please include funding source.
5. Letter of recommendation from the faculty who will be the STAR mentor.
6. Letter of endorsement from the Department Chair.
7. Letter of endorsement from the director of the center or program under which the course will be listed if not in the student’s home department.

The application will open on Monday, September 1, 2025 and close on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. The department must approve all materials. The applicant will need to create an account in Interfolio and upload the required documents, including the letter(s) of endorsement. The applicant will also provide the contact information of their mentor, who will then receive a link from Interfolio to upload a confidential letter of recommendation. Questions should be sent to Jasmine Harris at [email protected].

The application for Dissertation Prize Fellowship for AY26-27 will open in Spring 2026. 

The Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences also offers the Dissertation Prize Fellowship program, designed to allow final-year students to focus on dissertation writing without any teaching obligation for a semester. This fellowship is awarded each semester.

Applicants must:

• Be graduate students in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
• Complete their dissertation by the end of the award period

Please note that priority will be given to students in their sixth year in the award period; students who will be beyond their sixth year in spring 2025 are ineligible. The fellowship cannot be deferred or banked.

How to apply

To apply, students should submit their applications to their program’s Director of Graduate Studies. After reviewing the applications, each department should nominate up to three students for the fellowship and should submit their nominations at Interfolio link. Departmental nomination should be based on applicants’ research excellence and promise and the expectation of degree completion.

The student’s application should include:

1. Letter of application (addressed to the Dissertation Prize Fellowship committee), including a description of the dissertation, its contributions to the field, and a plan of degree completion in Spring 2025 (no more than one page)
2. Curriculum vitae

Departmental nominations should include:

• 1. The nominee’s application material
• 2. A letter of recommendation by the director of graduate studies