Student Awards and Grants

The Dissertation Research Grant is an award paid by The Graduate School to assist doctoral students with expenses associated with research necessary to prepare dissertations. Awards will be up to $1,000. The tiers will be determined by the rankings of the review committee. The applicant must complete the online application and submit their CV as well as the major professor's statement form to The Graduate School prior to the deadline.

*Click here to view the fellowship eligibility guidelines (updated 9-30-26)

 The Graduate School at Florida State University requests nominations for the Graduate Student Research and Creativity Awards Program. This awards program is designed to recognize the superior scholarship of FSU graduate students.

FSU graduate students will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to research and creative endeavors at the Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence held each spring in April. Awards of $1,000 will be made to two graduate students in each of the three disciplinary categories: Natural and Physical Sciences (includes mathematics and engineering), Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the Humanities and Arts.

Requirements

Each applicant must be an active, enrolled, FSU degree-seeking or professional graduate student in good academic standing and must provide the following to the Graduate School:

1. A brief cover letter from the nominee that clearly states in which disciplinary category the nominee wishes to be considered (at the discretion of the reviewers, any question regarding the disciplinary category will be discussed and resolved by the reviewers, the Dean of the Graduate School (or designee) and the faculty member who nominated the student).
2. One (1) letter of recommendation/nomination from a Florida State University faculty member (e.g., major advisor or co-major professor) or administrator that addresses the selection criteria above.
3. A clear, complete, and non-technical description (no more than three (3) pages and written by the nominee) of the program of research or creative activities accomplished as a graduate/professional student at Florida State University.
4. The nominee's vitae (CV) showing grants, awards, publications, performances, exhibitions (e.g., dates, locations, page numbers, co-authorship, publication status). Indicate with an asterisk (or by some other means) those publications, exhibitions or presentations that were selected through a formal independent referee or competitive process.
5. One (1) letter of endorsement from the Department Chair, Program Director, or Academic Dean (please see Instruction Form for details).The letter of endorsement is separate from the letter of recommendation noted above. A Department Chair, Program Director, or Academic Dean can only submit one or the other, not both. If a conflict exists, then another FSU faculty member or administrator should be identified and selected to complete either the letter of recommendation or the letter of endorsement.
6. It is very important that all application materials be saved as one PDF packet in the exact order listed above.

*Please review the Instruction Form below for more information regarding the nomination, submission and review process. The application cycle for this award is now closed.

Sponsored annually by the Graduate School at Florida State University, the Leadership Award recognizes outstanding graduate student leaders who are making a positive difference in their scholarly/creative work, campus, and wider communities. Graduate students who exhibit strong leadership skills are encouraged to apply.

FSU graduate students will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to leadership endeavors at the Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence held each spring in April. Awards of $1,000 will be made to three graduate students.

Requirements

Each applicant must be an active, enrolled, FSU degree-seeking or professional graduate student in good academic standing and must provide the following to the Graduate School:

1. A personal essay that includes a rationale for receiving the Graduate Student Leadership Award. The essay needs to explicitly address the evaluation criteria noted in the Instruction Form. Maximum Length is 2 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font. Calibri, with 1-inch margins. No cover page is required.
2. An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume
3. A Letter of Recommendation supporting the student for the Graduate Student Leadership Award. Maximum length is 3 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, Calibri, with 1-inch margins. Only one (1) Letter of Recommendation should be provided by a faculty or administrator who can address the leadership skills and efforts of the student in light of the evaluation criteria. The letter can be co-written. It is strong encouraged that the faculty or administrator sends the Letter of Recommendation to the student so that it can be combined with the PDF packet. However, if the faculty member or administrator does not feel comfortable doing this, the Letter of Recommendation can be sent via email directly to Joy Stein (ejs24@fsu.edu). 
4. It is very important that all application materials be saved as one PDF packet in the exact order listed above.

*Please review the Instruction Form below for more information regarding the nomination, submission and review process. The application cycle for this award is now closed.

The Excellence in the Visual Arts Award is an annual art competition open to currently enrolled students in any discipline/degree program at FSU. Sponsored by The Division of Undergraduate Studies and The Graduate School, the Excellence in the Visual Arts Award recognizes the artistic talents of undergraduate and graduate students at Florida State University. The works are selected by a panel of judges for their artistic merit; all awarded pieces are displayed in the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House gallery for one year, and finalists are eligible for cash prizes. The competition cycle opens each fall, with applications due in February.

To see a digital gallery of previous Art Award recipients, visit: https://hsf.fsu.edu/art-awards. Interested graduate students can reach out to ogfa-info@fsu.edu for more information on the competition and timeline.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland, Australia. The exercise develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of students' capacities to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

Doctoral students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their dissertation topic and its significance. 3MT™ is not an exercise in trivializing or ‘dumbing-down’ research but forces students to consolidate their ideas and crystalize their research discoveries.

All 3MT™Finalists will receive a certificate and a $100 award and are eligible for one of the three awards: 1^st Place ($1,000), 2^nd Place ($750), and the People’s Choice ($500) selected by the audience.

Please click here to view more information about this competition.