Note: This is an annual competition. The next period for submitting applications for these positions begins in January 2010.

Summer Graduate Research Assistantship Fund

Each application for a Summer Graduate Research Assistantship must be submitted by a member of the faculty and must be in support of a named graduate student for the 3-month summer period. While the research project may be in partial fulfillment of the graduate student's degree requirements, the application must show how the research project will advance the faculty member's research agenda. The proposals will be judged by a subcommittee of the Research Council and funding will be available at the beginning of the summer term.

Guidelines

Guidelines are as follows:

• Award stipends are set at $3,600 for a 3-month period of activity in summer term.
   
• Appointments are 50% graduate research assistantships. The faculty member may supplement the amount of stipend paid to the student but in any event the appointment cannot exceed 50% effort. The department is required to have an open IRIS position number in order for the department to qualify for a graduate research assistantship. This position provides funds that can only be used for stipends and does not provide tuition waivers.
   
• If the student has not earned a summer fee waiver by virtue of an academic year GRA or GTA, the faculty member should seek support for maintenance fees for the summer term from the department or a restricted account.
   
• One application may be submitted from each department or comparable unit for each 20 full-time faculty members (or part thereof) in the department. Thus, a department with 20 or less faculty may seek one assistantship; a department with 21-40 may seek two, and so forth. A faculty member can only submit one application.

How to Apply

Applications are limited to a total of up to three pages. Appendices are not permitted. The application should clearly describe the proposed scholarly activity of the graduate student and how the student’s research activity will advance the overall scholarly program of the requesting faculty member. Applications leading toward submission of a proposal for external funding are especially encouraged. An endorsement by the Department Head must be indicated and the Department Head must email the endorsement to Jane Taylor (tayloje@utk.edu).

Selection

The awards committee will make decisions based on the quality of the proposed project and the active involvement of the graduate student in the research of the faculty member. The committee will give preference to faculty who have not received significant research incentive funds from the University in recent years and will seek to distribute the awards over as wide a range of disciplines as possible. For a list of recipients for 2009, click here.

Contact Information

Jane Taylor
Administrative Specialist
UT Knoxville Office of Research
1534 White Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37996-1529
Phone: (865) 974-0437
Fax: (865) 974-7400
Email: tayloje@utk.edu