External Funding Opportunities

The Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards assists current FSU graduate students with articulating their interests and ambitions in support of identifying and applying for external fellowships, scholars, grants and awards. Our support ranges from help in identifying funding that best fits your academic and professional goals and needs to one-on-one meetings throughout the application process, careful review/feedback of application materials, and assistance with building your professional development toolbox. There are funding opportunities for every student regardless of the program, degree level, or stage in your program. Learn how to navigate the world of fellowships by requesting an intro meeting.

Your funding search here at FSU will most likely start with the funding search database Pivot. You should also familiarize yourself with internal funding opportunities offered through The Graduate School, Congress of Graduate Students (COGS), and your department. OGFA also publishes a monthly collection of Upcoming Fellowship Deadlines. To expand your search, check out other external funding databases, such as the University of Illinois' Fellowship Finder and Cornell's Fellowship Database. Once you have identified funding opportunities to which you'd like to apply, organize your funding search by downloading a funding search list template (for master's and specialist students; for doctoral students).

The first step in preparing your application is knowing the application deadline. Ensure that you have enough time to complete the application, undergo multiple revisions, and obtain all the necessary documentation. Before you begin creating your application materials, make sure that you understand the different elements of an application. Then, if you haven’t done so already, request a meeting with OGFA to begin reviewing your materials. Our workshops are also a great resource as your prepare your application. Some of the application components are out of your hand, like letters of recommendation. Make sure that you provide reasonable time for these elements to be completed; providing outside parties with all of the information they may need up front to help them.

So you've drafted your application. Now what? You will need to revise your application, likely multiple times. Successful competitive applications regularly go through several drafts before submission. OGFA can offer feedback on your application drafts in person and electronically. The revision process involves reading your application for clarity and ensuring that you show why you are a good fit for the fellowship by speaking to the mission of the funding organization, and most importantly, explaining why your work matters, even to non-specialists. You should always have several people review your documents. This can include OGFA, the Writing Center, and your faculty and staff familiar with your work. 

As you finalize your application materials for submission, follow up with your recommenders to remind them about the submission deadline. Submit early! We suggest submitting a week or two before the deadline so that you do not run into any problems with the submission system being overloaded, or if you do have an issue, you have time to resolve it with minimal stress.

If you received a fellowship, scholarship, or grant, congratulations! OGFA wants to celebrate you. Please share your success with us. We will add your award information to our Student Recognition Database so that the FSU community knows what awards FSU graduate students are winning. Finally, we want you to use your success to help other graduate students see the value of applying for external awards. Also, consider sharing your successful application materials with our office so that other students can get an idea of what it takes to put together a successful application (don't worry, all application materials shared are anonymous).