Eligibility
Application Preparation
Due Dates
Award Process
Award Administration
UCDC Internships
Eligibility
Q:
Who is eligible to apply for IGCC awards?
A: IGCC awards are only available to University of
California graduate students and faculty.
More information on fellowship eligibility can be found here.
Q: Does a student have to be advanced to candidacy
at the time they apply for a dissertation fellowship?
A: No. The requirement for the fellowship is that they advance by the end of the academic year in which they apply, usually June 30. (So, for 2009-10 awards, fellows have to advance by June 30, 2009.) Verification of advancement will be required if awarded a fellowship. If advancement is confirmed on the transcript, that is also acceptable.
Q: By saying that people cannot reapply to the dissertation fellowship,
does that mean if you apply once you can never apply again, regardless of if
you get
the fellowship or is it only if you receive the fellowship one year you cannot
apply for it again?
A: Those who are not eligible to re-apply for IGCC fellowships are those who
have already been awarded an IGCC fellowship. If you have applied in the
past and were not selected, you may certainly re-apply and may do so as many
times as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements of the current application.
Q: Can IGCC dissertation fellows engage in paid employment during the
term of their fellowship?
A: Possibly; however, the fellow must make a written request to and receive
permission from the IGCC Central Office to perform paid employment during the
fellowship term. Normally only ten hours per week of paid employment is allowed;
however, exceptions are sometimes allowed, particularly if the work facilitates
work
on
the dissertation.
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Application Preparation
Q: At UCSC we don’t have GPAs because
we have narrative evaluations. What should we put in the GPA box? For our
evaluations
do we just compile them
into one big document and upload them?
A: Since UCSC doesn't use the standard GPA scale for
grades, it is acceptable to write n/a in the GPA box. And yes, you should compile
all your narrative
course evaluations into one document and upload them so they can be reviewed.
Q: Should I double-space the narrative
essay?
A: Yes, please double-space your narrative essay.
Q: I used footnotes in the main proposal essay.
Is this normal and/or OK?
A: Footnotes are acceptable in lieu of the required bibliography and can be included behind the narrative essay section. You do not need to include footnotes in your word count. Alternatively, a literature review or bibliography is acceptable for demonstrating the primary sources of your research.
Q: The bibliography has to be included in the narrative proposal, but I’m not sure I understand where it goes in the proposal.
A: Unless you are using detailed footnotes, the mandatory bibliography (or literature review) should be submitted as an appendix so that all your sources can be reviewed as a single document. You still have up to two pages for appendix materials. A bibliography does not count against your appendix limit or word limit.
Q: Right now my total word count (excluding references) is 1,569. Does
this seem reasonably close enough to 1,500, or should I cut down to 1,500? Will
my application be rejected for being 69 words over the word count?
A: The IGCC steering committee does its best to make the process fair and
equitable to all applicants. The 1,500-word limit does create a need to be
concise, but since each senior faculty member on the committee volunteers their
time as a reviewer in addition to their own teaching commitments, this guideline
is in place to ensure each application gets a comprehensive review. For this
reason, the committee strongly encourages applicants to adhere to proposal
guidelines.
Q: Are abbreviations and acronyms acceptable
in the narrative and progress reports?
A: Yes; however, be sure they are properly identified when they are
used the first time. Avoid jargon, and write the narrative and progress reports
for a broad audience.
Q: What is considered a stipend? Is this the money that will be covering
the
living expenses and will not be spend on the research? If so, should I include
the detailed description of such expenses?
A: The $16,000 is intended to provide a means for your living expenses. You
do not need to provide a complex breakdown of what your living expenses are
and can simply list room and board on your budget at $16,000. You should, however,
break down the $4,000 in research and travel according to how it will be spent
(air travel, photocopying, etc).
Q: Who should a dissertation fellowship applicant ask to submit letters
of recommendation
for them?
A: One letter must be from the applicant's committee chair. The second
letter can be from any other faculty member the applicant chooses to ask, even
someone outside the University of California.
Q: Is a dissertation fellowship
application invalid if the letters of recommendation are not submitted to IGCC
by the application deadline?
A: No. IGCC realizes the submission of the letters is somewhat beyond the control
of the student; however, the student should ask for
them early to ensure they are completed on time. Letters of recommendation
must be postmarked by the application deadline to be included
with the proposal
when
forwarded to the Steering Committee. Late letters will not be included in time
for review, and committee members consider the letters a critical
element of the proposal
package.
Q: Does
IGCC require signatures from UC campus Graduate Studies Offices, Contracts & Grants
Offices, or Office of Sponsored Research?
A: For faculty grant proposals, yes, IGCC requires the signature of an official from the local UC campus Contracts &
Grants Office/Sponsored Research Office. For Ph.D. dissertation fellowship proposals, no, IGCC does not require any local campus signatures; however,
some of the local UC campuses have their own requirements. UC campuses which do require fellowship applicants to submit
their proposals for local review are UCI, UCLA, UCR and UCSC. It is the applicant's responsibility to adhere to all local UC campus
requirements and deadlines. Not doing so can result in delays in the receipt of proposals and possible disqualification of proposals.
Q: My campus Office of Special Projects
(OSP) requires all students to submit the application package to them first.
They
have a questionnaire
that I have to fill out and one of the questions asks about who is the Principal
Investigator (the professor responsible for the project) and I am not sure
whose name goes there. Should there really be a professor responsible for the
project, or should I just put IGCC?
A: It’s best for you to check with the OSP first since it is their form.
You are the only applicant performing research so you more than likely will
list yourself as the Principal Investigator, but you should follow their recommendation.
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Due Dates
Q: What is the cut-off time on the due date for submission of my application?
A: IGCC will accept applications until midnight on the day of the deadline. For example, if the due date is February 2, you have until midnight on February 2nd to complete your application.
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Award Process
Q: When are the award decisions announced?
A: Mid-May, each year.
If you have not received a response regarding your application by then, you may email igcc-cp@ucsd.edu to inquire about your application’s status.
Q: Who reviews the proposals?
A: A multidisciplinary
committee composed of representatives from each of the ten UC campuses and Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National
Laboratories. Information on the IGCC Steering Committee is posted on this site.
Q: Can applicants find out what types of projects
IGCC has funded in the past?
A: Yes. For past dissertation fellowship information, click here.
Q: Is there a set number of awards given out each year?
A: The steering committee determines the number of awards based on IGCC’s funding. Normally, IGCC awards about eighteen dissertation fellowships annually. The number of faculty awards varies from year to year. The number of internship awards is usually five.
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Award Administration
Q: When will funds be available for faculty grant awards?
A: A faculty grant recipient
should expect to receive funds five to six weeks after the transfer is completed.
All faculty grants are awarded funds contingent upon the state budget; therefore,
the transfer schedule is dependent upon the California state budget. As with
student fellowships, local administering units have the discretion to extend
advances.
Q: When will dissertation fellowship award recipients
receive their first stipend check?
A: The IGCC standard fellowship, IGCC-UCDC fellowship, and York fellowship
stipends are for a nine-month period October 1–June 30. The first stipend
check should be available on November 1 of the calendar year in which the award
begins.
(So for 2009–2010 awards, Nov. 1, 2010.)
An award recipient should verify this information with his or her local campus
fiscal
administrator.
Q: Can IGCC dissertation fellows accept other awards that overlap the
term of their IGCC award?
A: Possibly; however, applicants must submit an extended project budget
at the time of application that justifies the need for additional funds in order
to
be
eligible
to
accept multiple awards. Before accepting any other award from any other source,
the
IGCC fellow must make a written request to and
receive permission from the IGCC Central Office to receive the additional award.
IGCC reserves the right to negotiate cost sharing
directly with the other agency.
Q: Can IGCC fellowship recipients receive a summer
advance of their travel award?
A: Possibly.
The recipient must request permission from the IGCC central office to be reimbursed
for travel between July 1–September 30 (the summer before their official
grant
period).
Then it is up to the administering unit on the recipient's campus if they will advance travel
funds. Please note that IGCC
grant funding is always contingent upon continued funding by the State of California.
Administering units and award recipients incur expenses at their own risk prior
to the grant period if they do not request permission to do so.
Q: Does
IGCC allow fellowship recipients to defer their fellowships for one year?
A: No. Applicants who receive fellowships must use
the funding in the academic year for which it was intended. If an awardee is
not
able to use
the funding in this manner, they must decline the fellowship and reapply the
following year.
Q: Does IGCC grant fellowships if an
applicant is on another fellowship that covers living expenses, and the
applicant only
needs travel and research funding for summer research?
A: We do not allow carry-forwards or deferments on fellowships.
However, you can apply for a partial award if you wish for the travel and research
funding.
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UCDC Internships
Q: I would be interested in taking part in your
upcoming internship program and I would appreciate if you could tell if
I have to be a graduate student
from your university?
A: IGCC fellowship and internship opportunities are available only to students
who are currently enrolled at one of the campuses within the University of
California.
Q: I am interested in the internship program
but will be concluding my studies before summer. Are departing students
who will have
received their Master’s
degree before the internship starts eligible to apply for an internship award?
A: Yes, you do need to be an enrolled UC student at the time of application,
but you can still apply for internship funding even if you will be concluding
your studies before you begin the internship.
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