This component of the Dow Sustainability Fellowship Program rebrands and expands U-M's existing interdisciplinary sustainability two-year doctoral fellowship program, previously known as the Graham Doctoral Fellows program. It continues the goal to create a lifelong community of scholars devoted to developing and implementing innovative ideas in pursuit of sustainability and becoming leaders in academia, business, government, and non-governmental organizations. Under the updated program, each cohort begins in September and concludes in April two years hence.
Nominations can come only from U-M –Ann Arbor faculty members on behalf of their advisees and each faculty member may nominate only one of his/her advisees per year. As a recipient of this award, each fellow receives $50K from the program ($25K per year) to support his/her doctoral-level research and studies, contingent on additional support from the student’s home department that increases the level of total support to at least the equivalent of a 50% GSRA appointment.
In addition to receiving funding, fellows participate in a series of cohort-building activities designed to expand individual understanding and effectiveness through regular engagement across a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. Fellows are required to participate in the program's co-curricular activities and are expected to collaborate with other fellows on projects that leverage their individual areas of expertise to develop interdisciplinary sustainability efforts. Doctoral fellows are also encouraged to mentor masters/professional degree fellows as appropriate, and participate in the proposal competition for the Distinguished Awards for Interdisciplinary Sustainability.
Doctoral fellows are selected using the following approach, which: 1) gives sustainability-oriented faculty a critical role in the nomination process; 2) establishes a screen to ensure a top quality applicant pool; 3) administers the fellowship selection process centrally in accordance with donor wishes; and 4) keeps administrative burden to a minimum.
- Step 1: Graham issues a call for nominations in December 2012. Schools/Colleges help promote the call to students through internal channels.
- Step 2: Interested doctoral students (who have secured a faculty nominator) submit an online intent to apply by February 1, 2013.
- Step 3: Applicants submit a complete application package to the Graham Institute by February 15, 2013 (faculty nomination and support letters are also due at this time).
- Step 4: Complete applications that fit with program objectives/criteria are reviewed by a multidisciplinary faculty committee. Reviews are due to the Graham Institute by March 15, 2013.
- Step 5: The 15 most highly ranked candidates are submitted to the Graham Executive Committee, which conducts a final review and recommends 10 candidates to receive the fellowship.
- Step 6: Fellowship winners are announced in late April and program activities begin in September 2013.
Please click here for the RFP and here for the online application.
