Prospective graduate students do not apply directly for the fellowship, but are nominated by their prospective faculty advisor or graduate director of their program. Students must apply and be admitted to the University through the departmental and UU Graduate School process. Advisors/graduate directors may only nominate one student.
2023-2024 cycle
Thanks to our partnership with the Wilkes Center for Climate and Policy, we will have more resources to award fellowships for 2023-2024. GCSC Graduate Fellows with research focused on climate science or policy will also be Wilkes Scholars.
In order to support nominations from a range of disciplines with differing graduate application due dates, we have two deadlines for fellowship nominations in this cycle:
- January 31, 2023, deadline 1 (award decisions anticipated by mid- February)
- February 28, 2023, deadline 2 (award decisions anticipated by mid-March)
Step 1: Nomination
Each nomination must include the following:
(a) A letter from the nominating GCSC affiliate faculty member indicating:
- That this student will be working under their supervision
- Why the student should be considered for a GCSC fellowship
- Faculty advisor’s support of the student’s participation in the fellowship program (see requirements of fellows)
- Available matching or supporting funds
- The department/advisor’s financial commitment for student support beyond their fellowship year. Please note if the student might be interested in the possibility of an additional year of financial support for work as a graduate Teaching Assistant in the Environmental and Sustainability Studies undergraduate program.
- Specifically indicate whether the student is being nominated for a 1, 2, or 3-semester fellowship. A partial GCSC fellowship can be combined with other available support (RA, TA, other GF) to make a competitive offer, and these details must be included when requesting 1 or 2 semesters of support.
(b) The nominee’s complete graduate school application packet
(c) A letter to the GCSC from the student describing their interest in interdisciplinary environment, sustainability, and/or climate related research and training. This letter should clearly indicate how their proposed work at the U of U links to the mission of the GCSC. Nominees with climate science or policy research interests should also address relevance to the Wilkes Center mission. This letter should be solicited by the nominating faculty member.
(d) A statement from the department’s chair of graduate studies indicating that the student has been (or will be, upon admission to the U) admitted into your department’s graduate program.
(e) The names and contact information of department personnel who should be consulted or informed regarding fellowship offers (i.e. graduate advisors, financial officers)
Step 2: Submitting nominations to the GCSC
To submit a nomination, compile the required nomination elements in a UBox folder and share the folder with: laurie.mecham@utah.edu and brenda.bowen@utah.edu by the nomination deadline.
Step 3: GCSC Graduate Fellowship offers
An interdisciplinary GCSC Fellowship Selection Committee will review all submitted nominations and will decide on fellowship offers to be made. As graduate application due dates in different academic programs at the U span from December to February, nominations will be reviewed starting in early February through mid-March. We will be in close contact with nominating faculty as decisions are made.
Step 4: Welcome the new GCSC Graduate Fellows!
Fellows are introduced to their cohort members and welcomed into our interdisciplinary community at the fall Retreat.