The majority of funding for our graduate students is offered in the form of graduate employee (GE) appointments. These appointments include a tuition waiver, competitive salary, and excellent health insurance benefits.
Serving as a GE not only enhances the graduate experience and provides the student with professional development opportunities, but it integrates the graduate student more fully into the university community. GEs are central to the University of Oregon’s academic mission and perform work that is central to the department’s goals. GEs in political science are assigned to work with instructors in the classroom, hold discussion sections, assist with grading, and/or provide assistance with faculty research.
New students must indicate their desire for a GE appointment on the online graduate application (no additional forms are needed). Review of applications will begin after the January 10 deadline. The department makes every effort to offer GE appointments to new students by March 15.
Institute for Qualitative & Multi-Method Research (IQMR) Scholarship
As a member of the Consortium on Qualitative Research Methods, the department may sponsor one qualified political science graduate student the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) scheduled for June 15-27, 2025.
Two rounds of funding:
- Round 1: Students apply directly to IQMR during the fall term and receive funding directly from IQMR.
- Round 2: Students apply to the department during the winter term and the department nominates one student to attend IQMR. This scholarship includes tuition and lodging directly paid to IQMR and $1,350 applied to the student's account to help with travel and meal expenses.
Eligibility: Students interested in attending IQMR must be available and willing to attend the Summer Institute in person. Applicants must demonstrate a strong link between their research project or plan and the training offered at IQMR and be at a stage in their academic career that they will benefit from this intensive program
Application:
Submit to gradcoordes@uoregon.edu by 4:00 pm, Tuesday, February 4, 2025:
- A personal statement specifying your research project or plan and how attending IQMR will help you develop that research project/plan. Applicants must demonstrate a strong link between their research project or plan and the training offered at IQMR
- Letter of support from faculty member. Please give faculty a minimum two week notice to write their letter of support.
Additional Information:
- Interested applicants can find additional information about IQMR on the Summer Institute (IQMR) website, or by speaking with Jane Cramer or one of the past recipients: Nina Kankanyan (2024), Madison Schroder (2023), Parichehr Kazemi (2020) and Mary Follo (2022).
- Note for graduate students with financial aid; Receiving this award may reduce your financial aid award. Please contact the Financial Aid Office prior to applying for this (and any other type of) support.
- This scholarship is funded through non-recurring summer session dividends and donors. The committee may choose not to award the scholarship in a given year; in this case, funds may be redirected toward other graduate scholarships, department allocations or expenditures, or held for the following year.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
As a member institution, the Department of Political Science may sponsor one qualified political science graduate student to attend the ICPSR summer program each year. The scholarship will cover tuition for up to two 4-week sessions or one workshop, along with funds to use toward travel if attending the in-person format. Students will indicate which format (in-person or online) they wish to attend along with which session(s) or workshop they would like to attend. The committee will consider funding a student for more than one session if there is a demonstrated link between the research project or plan and the trainings offered, and they have enthusiastic faculty support. The committee may choose to not award the scholarship, if applicants are not qualified or do not demonstrate a strong link between their research project or plan and the trainings at ICPSR.
The ICPSR Scholarship includes:
- Tuition that is direct-paid to ICPSR (Tuition ranges from $1,600 to $3,800)
- Scholarship funds for those attending the in-person format; applied to the UO student's account, based on the approved activity (up to two sessions or one workshop)
- One four-week session: $1,500
- Two four-week sessions: $2,500
- Workshop: will be determined at the time of award and will be based on the workshop length and airfare estimate (if applicable)
There are also several scholarships available to students through the ICPSR scholarship page. These scholarships open in late January and close in late February.
There are several workshops and sessions to choose from:
- The first four-week session will run from June 10 - July 5, 2024.
- The second four-week session will run from July 8 - August 2, 2024.
- Additional Summer Program courses (in shorter, three- and five-day formats) will be offered from May through August, in a variety of locations across the country, as well as in Ann Arbor. Information about the ICPSR Summer Program, along with available courses and workshops is available at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/sumprog/.
Application
Submit to gradcoordes@uoregon.edu by 4:00 pm, Friday, March 8, 2024:
- A personal statement specifying:
- The format in which you wish to attend ICPSR (in-person or online)
- Which session(s) OR workshop you would like to attend. You may request to attend up to two of the 4-week sessions or one workshop
- How the content or program offered at ICPSR will help you develop your research project or plans
- A faculty member letter of support. Give faculty a minimum of two-week notice to write their letter of support, which must be submitted directly to gradcoordes@uoregon.edu by the deadline listed above.
If you would like more information about the institute, please direct questions to Misha Myagkov or speak to Haifa Souilmi (2023 ICPSR attendee) or Irina Toland (2022 ICPSR attendee).
Neil D. Blackman Memorial Scholarship
Eligibility: Current sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student of any major. This scholarship is awarded to a financially, academically and intellectually deserving student to pursue studies in the humanities or political philosophy relevant to human rights, the responsibilities of individuals to democratic institutions, and public service. The student must demonstrate a broad historic perspective and the courage to practice their beliefs.
Award: $2,000
How to apply:
- Submit the scholarship application by April 19, 2024.
Exceptional Graduate Student Support Scholarship
Eligibility: UO political science PhD students in good standing may apply at any point after completing their second year in the program. This funding is aimed at students who have formulated dissertation projects, so will typically support those who have at least drafted a dissertation prospectus, but in some cases it may be possible to make a case for exceptional support to fund earlier skills acquisition for a student who already has a strong idea of the area of their future dissertation research. No student will be eligible for more than one Exceptional Graduate Student Support Scholarship while at UO.
Award: up to $3,000
How to apply:
Interested students should consult their dissertation chair or faculty mentor and request that they submit a statement of support to the graduate coordinator. The student must then submit the following to the graduate coordinator:
- CV
- Proposal, no more than 500 words, that describes the dissertation, the activity, and spells out very directly why skills gained from the activity are strongly necessary for dissertation work
- Simple budget
- Name of dissertation chair or faculty mentor who will provide statement of support
Williams C. Mitchell Graduate Summer Research Scholarship
Eligibility: Applicants must be PhD-seeking graduate students in UO political science in good academic standing based on the most recent department status report. They must also have completed a minimum of 75 credit hours of graduate work by the time of the award, including at least three PS graduate seminars. Previous recipients of Mitchell funding are eligible, but the committee will include reaching new recipients as one criterion in ranking proposals.
Award: $2,000
How to apply:
Submit a one‐page description of the proposed research to the graduate coordinator by 4 pm Monday, April 22, 2024.
- The proposal should delineate a discrete project or stage of your research that can be accomplished in the summer (as opposed to just generally moving along a larger project).
- Activities such as language study or skills acquisition can qualify, but such proposals must make clear why such language/skills are directly necessary for dissertation research.
- Proposals that necessitate funding for travel or other research‐related costs beyond living expenses will generally be prioritized, with possible exceptions for non‐travel or training‐related proposals that the committee judges to be exceptionally strong in scholarly terms.
Conference Travel Scholarship
Eligibility: All graduate students are eligible to apply for one conference travel scholarship per year. Scholarships are intended to cover direct expenses related to conference travel and are allocated annually, July 1 through June 30. Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Applicant must be a current graduate student in the Department of Political Science and must be in good standing at the time of the application and award.
- Paper may only be presented at 2 different conferences.
- Recipient must hold a public oral presentation of the conference paper prior to departure for the conference.
How to apply:
Submit an application to the graduate coordinator.
Supplemental Support for Dissertation Awards
Graduate students who received a full-year fellowship, award, or scholarship for dissertation research may request department funds to cover UO mandatory enrollment and course fees that are not covered by the graduate school or funding source. The department will attempt to cover such fees during terms in which the student will perform field research within the limits of available discretionary funds. The department expects that the funding source or graduate school will cover tuition costs.
Requests for Supplemental Support for Dissertation Awards should be emailed to the department head; please include the award letter and application materials (exclude transcripts).