Receiving an internal fellowship not only provides you with financial support, but also enhances your CV. A range of fellowships are available for outstanding PhD students in both basic science and social and populational science programs. See a matrix of all awards offered through the Graduate Division.
Note that number of awards and the award amounts are subject to change each academic year based on available funding.
Scroll down or click on the links below for information about:
- How to Get One
- Nomination Criteria
- Nomination Procedure
- Terms and Conditions
- 2023-2024 Fellowship Recipients
How to Get One
- Graduate students are nominated by their graduate programs for internal competitive fellowships. We urge students interested in being nominated for a competitive fellowship to contact their program administrator.
- Please review the eligibility requirements on each fellowship. Awards are available to PhD students who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, undocumented, AB 540, and foreign nationals who are entering their first through sixth years of study as of the upcoming fall term with a 3.0 or higher GPA. ARCS Scholarship requires a 3.5 or higher GPA.
- Graduate programs with 50 or more students may nominate two students for each fellowship. Programs with fewer than 50 students may nominate one student for most of the fellowships. Eugene Cota-Robles and Rosenberg-Hill fellowships have different nomination restrictions.
- Graduate programs may nominate a student for more than one internal fellowship, but each student may only receive one fellowship at a time.
- Nominations for competitive fellowships (except Eugene Cota-Robles and Rosenberg-Hill) are reviewed and rated by the Graduate Council.
- Eugene Cota-Robles, Curci Scholars, and Rosenberg-Hill are reviewed and rated by faculty committee or Graduate Division.
- All recipients of internal fellowships and awards are subject to terms and conditions.
Nomination Criteria
- Extent and quality of previous academic work
- Evidence of research ability
- Promise of productive scholarship
- Grade point average of at least 3.0
- Some fellowships have additional criteria; please see individual award descriptions for details.
Nominees for diversity fellowships are evaluated on the following additional criteria. The faculty nomination letter should address one of the following:
- Experience, situations, or conditions that impeded advancing to graduate study, such as the absence of a family member who attended college
- Matriculation at a school with poor financial or curricular support
- Having a disability
- Having worked long hours while attending school
- Academic research interests focusing on cultural, societal, or educational problems as they affect educationally disadvantaged segments of society
- Evidence of an intention to use the doctoral degree toward serving educationally underrepresented segments of society
Nomination Procedure
Nominations are made by the graduate program administrators via the online nomination system housed in the Office of Registrar (OAR) staff portal. Programs nominating 1st year students as of the upcoming fall term will need to provide the following information:
- Undergraduate institution
- Prior graduate institution, if applicable
- GPA (most current)
- One recommendation letter from the student's application OR one recommendation letter from a UCSF faculty member.
- CV or statement of academic achievements, including abstracts of published papers, all postsecondary honors and activities
- Copy of the transcript submitted with the application
Programs nominating students entering years 2-6 as of the upcoming fall term will need to provide at least the following information (see individual fellowship pages for additional requirements):
- A single faculty letter nominating the student, describing their potential, academic achievements and significant research work.
- CV, specific format required. Students interested in being nominated for a competitive fellowship should contact their program administrator for the specific CV required format.
- Statement of interest: Students must provide 650 words maximum, single spaced, one page, self-authored description of their intended or current research project, focusing on how their work/performance meet the criteria of the fellowship. (Figures are permitted.)
- Unofficial UCSF transcript.
Programs are encouraged to nominate underrepresented minorities, students with physical challenges, and individuals from cultural, linguistic, geographic and socio-economic backgrounds who are underrepresented in graduate student and faculty populations. Students with AB 540 status or are undocumented students are eligible to receive many of these fellowships. Refer to individual fellowship pages for citizenship requirements.
Terms and Conditions
Acceptance and expenditure of internal fellowship and award funds constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions:
- You will register at UCSF and devote yourself to full-time graduate study, dissertation research, or dissertation writing.
- You will maintain good academic standing and make satisfactory academic progress according to the standards and practices of UCSF.
- You will not hold an appointment with more than 50% effort in student academic title codes while school is in session. Fellowship recipients may have an appointment up to 100% time during intercession (December and June-August).
- You will inform the Graduate Division immediately of changes in your status that may affect your award. This includes: the receipt of other fellowships or awards, change in residency status, withdrawal, leave of absence, advancement to candidacy, change in degree objective, or graduation.
- You will keep your contact information updated through UCSF's Student Portal.
- You will comply with the UCSF Controller's office Award Verification Process by certifying all expenses quarterly within the Award Verification System. For more information see Award Verification.
2023-2024 Fellowship and Award Recipients
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship
Jessica Blumenfeld – Neuroscience
Camille Derderian – Tetrad
Joe Germino – Biomedical Sciences
Chloe Ghent – Tetrad
Darwin Kwok – Biomedical Sciences
Nilsa La Cunza – Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
Alex Lee – Biological and Medical Informatics
Rachel O'Sullivan – Neuroscience
Sruthi Raguveer – Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Devin Schoen – Bioengineering
Lauren Shechtman – Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
Carolyn Smith Hughes – Epidemiology and Translational Science
Curci Foundation PhD Scholarship
Brenda Ametepe – Bioengineering
Haoyu Fan – Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Tayma Handal – Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
Nikhita Kirthivasan – Biomedical Sciences
Chloe Kong – Bioengineering
Chang Liu – Tetrad
Fletcher Jones Fellowship
Jean Digitale – Epidemiology and Translational Science
Erin Huiting – Biomedical Sciences
Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship
Sheyda Aboii – Medical Anthropology
Sirena Gutierrez – Epidemiology and Translational Science
Julius R. and Patricia A. Krevans Fellowship
Matthew Howard – Tetrad
Jennifer Langen – Neuroscience
Lloyd M. Kozloff Fellowship
Elisabeth Gebreegziabher – Epidemiology and Translational Science
Matilda Edlund Fellowship
Samuel Aptekar – Medical Anthropology
Julia Gordon – Sociology
Ralph H. Kellogg Endowed Chancellor’s Fellowship
Clara Kochendoerfer – Biomedical Sciences
UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship Program
Priscila Muñoz Sandoval – Biomedical Sciences
Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship
Evelyn Bigini – Nursing PhD
Renisha Campbell – Nursing PhD
Diana Ponce – Sociology
NIGMS Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Fellowship Program
Jayla Crawford – Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
Kevin Estrada Alamo – Biophysics
Cassandra Martinez – Biomedical Sciences
Gabriela Pena Carmona – Bioengineering
Christina Roca – Neuroscience
Eric Tang – Tetrad
Rosenberg-Hill Graduate Fellowship
Berty DC Arreguin – Sociology
Kourtney Nham – Sociology
UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship
Yewande Alabi – Biomedical Sciences
Michelle DeVost – Epidemiology and Translational Science
Brenda Lopez – Nursing PhD
Questions
Questions on Graduate Division fellowships may be directed to Annabelle De La Rosa, graduate student financial analyst. Students should contact their program administrator if they are interested in any of the fellowships detailed on the individual fellowship pages and summarized in the awards matrix.
