Individual Training Grants and Fellowships

Faculty and administrators: For support with institutional training grant data tables, please contact Mindy Donovan.

Support for Student Fellowship Writing

At UMass Chan we support student fellowship writing through on-campus programming, and we provide administrative support. We encourage our students to apply for fellowships as they are able. Students who are awarded a qualifying external award will be awarded an Incentive Award in the form of $5,500 per year of additional compensation (as of 2024). For more information on this incentive, see the student handbook. Below are summaries of our resources for the NIH F30/F31 and the NSF GRFP.

National Institutes of Health F30 & F31 Support

The NIH Kirschstein-National Research Service Award (NRSA) “enable[s] promising predoctoral students with potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientists, to obtain mentored research training while conducting dissertation research.” (NIH). These Fellowships provide up to five or six years of tuition and salary support for PhD and MD/PhD students, respectively. Students may apply twice in their graduate career.

The Office of Student Success runs Fellowship Writing Groups; signup opportunities are sent via email.

The following online resources are available to support your application (Must be logged into UMass Chan SharePoint)

• NIH F30 & F31 Getting Started Guide Start Here!
• F30 & F31 Writing Section-by-Section Tips
• A Practical Guide to Writing a Ruth L. Kirschestein NRSA Grant
• RTI’s F30/F31 Fellowship Checklist (Use the Graduate Office contacts on this page, not the checklist)

At least 6 weeks prior to your application deadline, contact Irina Parker (Basic and Biomedical Sciences students) or Praneet Mann (MD/PhD students) to receive the following documents, tailored for your fellowship application.

• Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research
• Description of Institutional Environment and Commitment to Training (includes personalized Education Information section)
• Description of Candidate's Contributions to Program Goals (for applicants who are applying for the F31-Diversity only)

PHS and BCCB students, please contact both Irina Parker and your program director(s) for assistance. ​

Other important contacts:

• Your department grants or contracts administrator (ask your mentor if you do not know who this is; you will need their support to submit your application)
• Your department science writers (if your department has one)

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The NSF GRFP supports outstanding graduate students with high potential early in their careers. Students in their first or second year may be eligible to apply; see the eligibility criteria here. These fellowships cover three years of training.

Applications are accepted once per year, typically with a deadline in October. Check the annual solicitation for the exact date each year. Students may only apply once.

Students applying for a GRFP will submit applications through the NSF portal but should contact their department grant administrator or the Office of Sponsored programs (for first years) to ensure UMass Chan has a record of the submission.

NSF GRFP Official Page

NSF GRFP Guide (internal)

NSF GRFP Checklist from the RTI (internal)

Additional resources

NIH Individual Fellowship Instructions (pdf)

UMass Chan RTI List of Funding Opportunities and Resources

UCSF Extramural Fellowships

International student resources

NIH Fogarty International Center Non-NIH Funding Opportunities