Graduate Fellowships

Cornell seeks to establish up to 100 new life sciences graduate fellowships. Graduate students teach and mentor undergraduates, assist faculty with their research, and infuse departments with a welcome diversity of experience and enthusiasm.

The presence of high-caliber graduate students is critical to a department’s health and reputation. This is true across all disciplines, but it is especially pronounced in the sciences. Departmental rankings, faculty recruitment, and undergraduate training all depend on the presence of top graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Not surprisingly, they choose graduate programs in part based on the funding offered. The prestige, flexibility, and financial support provided by a fellowship are important to recruiting them and helping them succeed.

Types of Support

Cornell welcomes gifts of all sizes. Select named opportunities are described below.

Endowed graduate fellowship: $100,000 and up for a partial fellowship; $1 million and up for a full fellowship
An endowed graduate fellowship is a permanent line of support for a PhD student in the life sciences. Typically, income generated from the endowment’s interest supplies tuition relief plus a living stipend for the full career of a graduate student, which usually is 5 years.

Term graduate fellowship: $50,000+ per year
A term fellowship gift is current-use funding that has an immediate impact. Supporting a graduate student for as little as one year can provide critical funding until a full fellowship is secured. This kind of fellowship can also be used to support a graduate student whose formal fellowship has ended, but who needs to remain at Cornell to finish dissertation research.

 

To discuss support for life sciences gradaute students, contact Laura Toy.