Frequently Asked Questions About
IGCC Fellowships and Grants

A: IGCC awards are only available to University of California graduate students and faculty.

A: Normally, IGCC awards between 20 and 25 dissertation fellowships annually. The number of faculty awards varies from year to year.

A: Mid-May, each year.

A: No. The requirement for the fellowship is that they advance by the end of the academic year in which they are seeking a fellowship, usually June 30. (So, for 2007–2008 awards, fellows have to advance by June 30, 2007.) Verification of advancement will be required if awarded a fellowship. If advancement is confirmed on the transcript, that is also acceptable.

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.

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.

A: Those who are not eligible to re-apply for IGCC fellowships are those who have already been awarded an IGCC fellowship in the past. This is a new policy that has been in effect for the last two years. 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 RFP.

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.

A: A multidisciplinary committee composed of representatives from each of the nine UC campuses and Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Information on the IGCC Steering Committee is posted on this site.

A: Yes. For past dissertation fellowship information, click here.

A: Yes, please double-space your narrative essay.

A: Footnotes are acceptable and often are included in the narrative essay section. You do not need to include footnotes in your word count. However, a literature review/bibliography IS required, so make sure you include one with your application.

A: Unless you are using detailed footnotes, the mandatory literature review/bibliography should be submitted as an appendix of up to two pages so that all your sources can be looked at and reviewed as a single document. You can use footnotes without affecting your word count limitation if you’d like to use the two-page appendix to present other information.

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.

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 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.  IFor example, if the due date is February 1, you have until midnight on February 1st to email a PDF of your application.

Q: I am a dissertation fellowship applicant and I can't cut and paste my application cover sheet into the rest of my application (or Adobe will not allow me to insert the cover sheet into the rest of my PDF.  What should I do?

A: Some applicants have reported trouble integrating the application cover sheet into the rest of their application documents.  If you are having this problem, there are two ways you can fix it. 

Option A) Download a new copy of the application form.  This is the simplest resolution.  ("download" should link to the coversheet link)

Option B) Open your cover sheet document and unprotect the document you have already prepared by selecting TOOLS>>UNPROTECT from the menu.  Enter the password: igcc2007 and then uncheck any editing restriction boxes that appear in the "Protect Document" window pane.

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 2007–2008 awards, Nov. 1, 2007.) An award recipient should verify this information with his or her local campus fiscal administrator.

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, breakdown the $4,000 in research and travel according to how it will be spent (air travel, photocopying, etc).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 apply the following year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please direct any other inquiries to IGCC Campus Programs at IGCC-CP@ucsd.edu.

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