Nominations are open for GSEE’s 2026–27 Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship and Top-Off Funding.
The Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship and Top-Off Funding Awards are administered by the Office of Graduate Student Equity and Excellence (GSEE) and currently accepting applications from University of Washington doctoral programs. These funds are not for individual student applicants.
These two separate awards are intended to enhance the opportunity for University of Washington doctoral programs to recruit outstanding candidates and to increase University of Washington doctoral degrees granted to students who demonstrate exceptional merit through their work experience, research, scholarship, and/or service.
The Doctoral Recruitment Fellowships and Top-Off Funding awards have the following program criteria:
- Doctoral programs may only nominate ONE student from your program (not one student per award).
- If your department is already offering your student nominee a full funding package, you may apply for the Recruitment Fellowship or Top-Off funding. Priority for the Fellowship will be given to departments that are unable to offer a full funding package with admission. If you already offer full funding and choose to apply for the Fellowship, you are required to explain why this Fellowship is critically necessary to recruit your candidate.
- Given the specific purpose of the Recruitment Fellowship, we recommend that student nominees have not yet accepted their offer of admission.
Deadline: Monday, April 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT. No exceptions will be made.
Eligibility
- Admitted and enrolled full-time in a state-funded doctoral program starting Autumn 2026
- US citizen, DACAmented, or hold permanent resident status
The following are ineligible:
- Students who hold a temporary or student visa (F-1 or J-1)
- Students admitted only for master’s study
- Professional degree programs (Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy)
- Foreign study, study abroad, or international program or exchange
Award Descriptions
GSEE Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship
- This is a three-quarter award (Autumn, Winter, Spring) with a total stipend of $24,000. This award includes tuition, fees, and GAIP benefits (excluding the U-PASS).
- Doctoral programs must provide a funding match for at least three additional years after the award is completed. Funding should be commensurate with the level of TA/RA rates, including GAIP benefits at the time. Matching funds for years 2+ cannot come from other Graduate School funding resources.
- Students awarded a GSEE Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship cannot be assigned formal TA/RA responsibilities in the first year of this award.
GSEE’s Excellence Award: Top-Off Funding
- This is a one-time award of $5,000 in Autumn quarter of the first year of doctoral studies. Top-off funds are designed to enhance, not replace, a program’s offer of full funding (commensurate with the level of TA/RA rates, including GAIP benefits at the time of offer).
Nomination Process
Nominations must be made in the MyGrad awards management system.
Please login to nominate a student and submit a letter of nomination from the Department Chair or GPC describing the following (no more than two pages, double-spaced):
- Why Fellowship/Top-Off funding is necessary for recruiting this candidate. For Fellowship applicants only: If your program is already offering full funding for the candidate, please explain why this Fellowship is an incentive to recruit your candidate.
- The student’s academic merit as demonstrated by their research, scholarship, work experience, and/or service.
- The program’s plan for providing three years of commensurate funding upon completion of the Fellowship award (if applying for the Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship).
At the end of the statement, please include contact information (department, name, title, email, and phone number) of the person(s) completing the application.
Questions?
Please contact Fernando Puga, GSEE’s Fellowships & Awards Specialist at fernp21@uw.edu, the GSEE inbox at uwgsee@uw.edu, or by phone at 206.543.9016.