Degree Type: Master's Students
Alfonso Carlos Peña Graduate Fellowship
The Peña Graduate Fellowship was established to provide support to graduate students engaged in research and/or activities related to wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (Intellectual House). Awardees must have financial need and an interest in and a commitment to addressing social and environmental issues impacting American Indian, Alaska Native, and/or other Indigenous communities.
Deadline: Monday, July 8, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PDT. No exceptions will be made.
Eligibility
- Graduate students enrolling in a full-time master’s or doctoral program (10+ credits per quarter) for the 2024-25 academic year, and previously enrolled in the 2023-24 academic year as a graduate student.
- Demonstrated financial need (FAFSA, WASFA or equivalent)
- US citizen, DACAmented, undocumented or hold permanent resident status
- Tribal enrollment verification or proof of lineage for American Indian and Alaska Native students
- Students in fee-based programs are eligible for the $20,000 stipend and GAIP coverage (no tuition coverage)
- The following are ineligible:
- Students who hold an F1 or J1 visa or will be enrolled in a foreign study, study abroad or international program or exchange
- Students enrolled in MD/JD/DDS/PharmD programs
- 1st-year graduate students
Nomination Process
Nominations must be made by the department in the MyGrad awards management system. Please login to nominate a student and submit the following:
- Letter of nomination from Department Chair or GPC describing how the graduate student meets the eligibility for the Peña Graduate Fellowship, the department’s plan for the second year of funding and how the department will provide support (outside of funding) to the student throughout their graduate studies at the University of Washington.
- Statement from student addressing their interest in and commitment to addressing social and environmental issues impacting American Indian, Alaska Native and/or indigenous communities
Questions?
Regarding questions about the Alfonso Carlos Peña Graduate Fellowship, please contact GSEE at uwgsee@uw.edu or 206.543.9016.
‘Be stubborn…keep trying,’ advises Mindy Cohoon on applying for fellowships
“I applied and applied and applied, and the third time I applied, I got it.”
Graduate student Mindy Cohoon, speaking of her process applying for the Simpson Center’s Digital Humanities Fellowship
Between her undergraduate and graduate years, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Ph.D. student Mindy Cohoon has received 23 fellowships, grants and scholarships. She credits her success to three factors: careful attention to the mission of the fellowship, getting feedback on her essays and applying to at least 10 fellowships per year.
Cohoon’s experience demonstrates an important truth about applying for fellowships: being rejected is a necessary component of success. Accept that you will sometimes be rejected and that it might be due to factors beyond your control. If you apply broadly and consistently for fellowships, then you will be rejected by some funders. Rejection does not mean that you are a weak applicant or that your research is unimportant. Funders are usually trying to select awardees from a pool of excellent applicants, so being rejected could mean that you missed being awarded by a hair’s breadth.
Among the awards Mindy has recently received are:
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Social Data Research and Dissertation Fellowship
Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships (due Jan 31)
Cohoon described her strategies for applying for fellowships and her research on Iranian and Iranian American women gamers to the Graduate School. Read the story here.