Purpose
As part of the UC Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Doctoral Diversity Initiative, this competitive fellowship is designed to facilitate the academic career development of students who show potential to become excellent faculty or researchers in institutions of higher education as well as to advance equity and inclusion in graduate education at the University of California. The intent of the program is to provide fellowships for students to explore, prepare for and pursue faculty careers at UC or other institutions.
Each recipient will be expected to work closely with a faculty sponsor whose role will be to mentor the graduate student through the development of a curricular plan and the selection of an appropriate dissertation topic leading to the completion of a doctoral degree.
Eligibility
- Enrolled in a UCSF PhD program. (Professional students [e.g. MD] are not eligible).
- Undergraduate or stand-alone master’s degree from a California Hispanic Serving Institution (CA HSI) – public or private – OR attended a federally-designated HSI California Community college where they complete at least 24 semester units (or quarter equivalent) before transferring to a UC. (See update note below.)
- Exceptional students with demonstrated research achievements.
- Advanced to candidacy prior to being nominated.
- Letters of support from faculty adviser(s) addressing the student’s performance and potential as an exceptional academic, and likelihood that the student will pursue a professoriate path after receiving their PhD.
- Have a demonstrated record of advancing equity and inclusion and show commitment to pursuing these efforts throughout their career.
UPDATE: Three of UC’s campuses (UCD, UCLA and UCSD) have recently met the minimum eligibility requirements to obtain the federal HSI designation but are not officially designated. While there is uncertainty regarding the future of such federal designations, for purposes of this fellowship program, UCD, UCLA and UCSD will be considered HSIs. As such, we will allow campuses to submit nominations of students that attended UCD, UCLA and UCSD for the 2026-27 cohort.
Support
- Up to three awards in total for UCSF
- $37,000 stipend divided equally over a twelve month period (September – August)
- Resident tuition and fees (covered by program)
- $10,000 professional development support
Awardees
2025-2026
Jaela Caston, Biomedical Sciences
Natalie Keller, Sociology
Gabriel Viramontes, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2024-2025
Selam Kidane – Sociology
Luis Santiago – Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
Steven Sun – Tetrad
Learn more about how this and other internal fellowships are awarded.