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Funding sections


Funding for Students

EU Center Funding

  • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS). Fellowships in European Union Studies: These grants provide substantial amounts of money for students pursuing graduate and professional degree programs with a focus on the European Union and relations between the EU and the United States. For details on the European Union Center FLAS, please consult our formal announcement. For more information on FLAS in general and to apply, please visit the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) website. Applications are submitted by the student's department and due February 15th. Please ask your department about its internal FLAS deadline.
  • Good Governance Study Abroad and Academic Certificate Program Scholarships: These program funds are available to undergraduates interested in careers in politics, public policy, and related fields. The EUC has not yet identified a new source of funding support for the 2008-09 GGC program. Please check back soon for an update. Good Governance Consortium Homepage
  • Graduate Student Research Travel Grant: EU Center graduate research travel grants provide up to $1,500* for travel and other costs associated with research related to some aspect of the European Union, whether for exploring a potential dissertation topic or for conducting dissertation research. Students in doctoral and professional programs in all disciplines and departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are eligible. The results of their research are to be submitted for publication in the EU Center Working Paper series or an academic journals.
  • Graduate Student Conference Travel Grant:These grants are designed to support the professional development of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate students who wish to present one or more papers at academic conferences on a topic of interest to the European Union Center, with priority given to applicants engaged in research on EU policymaking or transatlantic relations. These grants provide up to $500* for travel and other associated costs. Students in doctoral and professional programs in all disciplines and departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are eligible. Applications for the '09-'10 academic year must be submitted by April 18, 2008.

Other University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Funding Opportunities

  • Study Abroad Development Grants Program. "The Office of the Associate Provost for International Affairs (APIA) requests proposals for the Study Abroad Development Grants program. The purpose of the program is to facilitate the development of new or substantially revised faculty-led study abroad programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign."
  • Dissertation Travel Grants. "Dissertation Travel Grants provide reimbursement to subsidize travel and associated costs necessary for doctoral dissertation research, whether for exploring a potential dissertation topic (i.e., before extensive research has been done) or for conducting dissertation research. Approximately 12 grants at amounts up to $5,000 will be awarded given sufficient funding. Spring 2009 Travel Grant recipients are expected to use their funds for travel occurring in the period between May 1 and December 31, 2009."
  • The Nelle M. Signor Graduate Scholarship in International Relations Program. "The Nelle M. Signor Graduate Scholarships in International Relations are awarded annually to outstanding University of Illinois doctoral students conducting dissertation research. Preference is given to students studying international relations, though students of all disciplines may apply provided that their research includes an international dimension. The awards enable doctoral students to conduct field research abroad."
  • Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships. FLAS awards are available for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate students who wish to study a language of Russian, Eastern European, or the post-Soviet successor states. Fellowships may be used for the study of advanced Russian or any level of other applicable languages. In limited instances, study of elementary and intermediate Russian may be approved for applicants in professional degree programs.
  • Global Studies Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships. The International Programs and Studies Office of Global Studies provides grants for students pursing graduate and professional degree programs with a focus on global issues. Fellowships may be used for the study of Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Hebrew, Hindi, Korean, Italian, Lingala, Polish, Serbian, Croatian, Portuguese, Swahili, and Ukrainian at all levels, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish at third-year or above.
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign / Worldwide University Network (WUN) Research Studentships. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign / WUN Research Studentship is intended to provide University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate students the opportunity to participate in a short-term research experience with a faculty member at a WUN institution in the United Kingdom. The program is designed to enhance graduate student doctoral research in one of the following fields: Medieval Studies; Bioinformatics, Geography of the New Economy, Public Policy and Management; Oceanography and Climatology; and Smart Materials or Nanotechnology.
  • Maria Pia Gratton International Award. Available to all female graduate students enrolled at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as those who will be admitted to a graduate program beginning in the summer or fall. The award includes a $5,000 stipend and a tuition waiver and is intended to enable a female graduate student from outside the United States to have academic and cultural experiences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
  • Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society. Invited from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty members and graduate students for appointment as Faculty or graduate student fellows with the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society. Transnational and comparative projects are welcome, but they must contain a substantial US focus.

Non-University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Funding Opportunities

  • Fulbright U.S. Student Program Fellowships. Grants are awarded in all fields of study, for one year of study, research, or teaching, in one of more than 140 countries worldwide. US citizens with recent B.A./B.S.'s, as well as Master's and PhD candidates are eligible. For more information contact: David Schug, Scholarships for International Study, 321 International Studies Building, Champaign, IL 61820; (217) 244-0254. E-mail: dschug@illinois.edu.
  • Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowships. "The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, provides opportunities to graduate students to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. Research focusing on Western European countries will not be funded. A DDRA application must be submitted on behalf of the applicant doctoral student by a U.S. institution of higher education (IHE)." University of Illinois students contact the Graduate College Fellowship Office, 204 Coble Hall, MC-322; 333-0036, gradfellowships@illinois.edu.
  • George J. Mitchell Scholarship. "George J. Mitchell Scholarships provide a one-year postgraduate study in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. Applicants must be under the age of 30 and a U.S. citizen." For more information, contact David Schug or Laura Hastings, Directors of University of Illinois Scholarships for International Study at The Office of Prestigious Scholarships, Fifth Floor, Illini Union Bookstore, MC-317; 333-4710 fax 217-244-4851.
  • Rhodes Scholarships. "Rhodes Scholarships are available for two or three years' study leading to a degree at Oxford University, England. Seniors, graduate or professional students, and graduates are eligible to apply. Must be under the age of 24 and a U.S. citizen or a citizen of Australia, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, or Zimbabwe. Non-U.S. citizens are eligible to apply from their home country on the basis of degrees from U.S. universities."
  • Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) Fellowships for Study or Research in Belgium. "The BAEF will award up to eight fellowships each carrying a stipend of $24,000 for one year. If the fellow chooses to remain less than the full 12 months, the stipend will be prorated accordingly. The fellowship period must be at least 6 months. In addition to the stipend, the Foundation will provide health insurance. No other supplements can be expected. Applicants must be citizens of the United States and either have a Masters degree or equivalent degree, or be working towards a Ph.D. or equivalent degree. Preference is given to applicants under the age of 30 with a reading and speaking knowledge of Dutch, French, or German." Applicants must make their own arrangements to study at a Belgian university.
  • British Marshall Scholarships. "British Marshall Scholarships provide two to three years of study leading to a degree at any British university. Seniors, graduate or professional students, and graduates are eligible to apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens."
  • Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Foreign Language Enhancement Program (FLEP) Fellowships. "The Foreign Language Enhancement Program (FLEP) provides scholarships to help graduate students take advantage of less commonly taught languages not available at their home university, but offered at another CIC member university. Scholarships are intended to offset living expenses incurred while attending another CIC host institution during the summer session. Language study may be undertaken at any other CIC university and must be for credit-bearing courses."
  • DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Graduate Research Grant. "The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Research Grants are awarded primarily to highly qualified PhD candidates with ABD status at North American institutions or to individuals wishing to earn a doctoral degree in Germany. Funding may also be granted to recent PhDs who would like to conduct research in Germany. Grants are awarded for projects lasting from one to 10 months. Ten-month awards must fund projects occurring during the German academic year (October 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010). "
  • DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Graduate Study Scholarships. "The German Academic Exchange Service -Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst - (DAAD) offers scholarships to highly qualified students for independent study or to complete a full Master's degree at universities or institutes in the Federal Republic of Germany. Eligibility requirements: Graduating seniors and recent graduates who have completed their Bachelor's degrees no longer than six years before the application deadline are welcome to apply."
  • 2008 EUSA Haas Fund Fellowship Competition: The EUSA Haas Fellowship will offer two unrestricted fellowships of $1,500 each to students pursuing a PhD at an accredited institution in any country, who are writing an EU-related, doctoral dissertation in English, on a topic approved by the professor who will supervise it. Students must be able to demonstrate the relevance to EU studies of the dissertation topic.
  • Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program: The Gilman International Scholarship Program provides awards of up to $5,000 for U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad for up to one academic year. The program aims to diversify the kinds of student who study abroad and the countries and regions where they go. The program serves students who have been under-represented in study abroad which includes but is not limited to: students with high financial need, community college students, students in under-represented fields such as the sciences and engineering, students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, students attending minority-serving institutions, and students with disabilities. The Gilman Program seeks to assist students from a diverse range and type of two-year and four-year public and private institutions from all 50 states.
  • Presidential Management Fellowship: The PMF Program accepts applicants from a wide variety of graduate-level academic backgrounds and disciplines. However, applicants must have an interest in a career in the analysis and management of public policies and programs. All applicants must complete an application between October 1 and October 15, 2008 and submit a nomination form to a campus Nomination Official. A college dean, departmental chairperson, or graduate academic program director may serve as "nomination official" and may nominate applicants from Illinois. Students graduating with advanced degrees (master's, law or doctorate) between September 2008 and August 2009 from qualifying colleges and universities are eligible to apply in Fall 2008. These individuals must demonstrate an exceptional ability for, as well as a clear interest in and commitment to, leadership in the analysis and management of public policies and programs.
  • Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Sofja Kovalevskaja Award: The Humboldt Foundation invites applications for the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award for promising researchers who have earned a doctorate with distinction in the past six years and published in prestigious international journals or scholarly presses. Competition for the Award, which provides up to 1.65 million Euros over five years, is open to highly acclaimed scholars from all fields, sub-discplines, and nationalities. The Foundation especially welcomes applications from women scholars.
  • Alexander von Humboldt Fellowships and Awards: Germany's Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards ten German Chancellor Scholarships annually to young professionals in the private, public, not-for-profit, cultural and academic sectors who are citizens of the United States. The program also includes scholarships for citizens of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. The German Chancellor Scholarship Program sponsors individuals who demonstrate the potential to strengthen ties between Germany and their own country through their profession or studies. Prior knowledge of German is not a prerequisite. The program begins September 1 and lasts twelve months.
  • Fulbright Program - U.S. Student Program to Portugal: The U.S. Student Program is designed to give graduate students, young professionals or researchers opportunities for personal development through cultural exchanges. Projects may include university coursework, independent library or field research, or a combination. Nearly 200 Americans have studied in Portual through Fulbright Portugal. The application deadline for the 2009/2010 academic year is October 21, 2008. For more information please visit the Fulbright Portugal website.
  • University Association for Contemporary European Studies: UACES are offering travel scholarships to postgraduate students needing to do field-work in the UK for their PhD. Up to £3,000 is available (~ $6,000) to be spent on travel, accommodation and subsistence.Full details can be found on the UACES website.
  • Chateaubriand Scholarship Program: The French government awards 20 scholarships a year to American PhD candidates who wish to conduct research in France. Awards are for nine months and recipients receive a stipend of 1,300 Euros a month, round-trip airfare to France, plus money for research-related expenses in France.
  • Council for European Studies Fellowships: The Council for European Studies offers a variety of fellowships and funding opportunities for scholars engaged in research in the fields of anthropology, economics, history, political science, and sociology. Funding opportunities range from pre-dissertation and travel stipends to post-doctoral research fellowships. Eligibility is limited to doctoral candidates whose home institutions are current members of the council.
  • German Chancellor Scholarship Program: Scholarships provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to young professionals from the United States and the Russian Federation for professional development, study, or research. Applicants design individual projects specific to Germany and decide at which institutions to pursue them. Candidates from the fields of government, social and policy sciences, law, journalism, communications, management, finance, economics, architecture, public service, the humanities, arts and environmental affairs are welcome to apply. The program begins Sept. 1 and lasts 12 months. It is preceded by language courses taught in Germany, and previous knowledge of German is not a prerequisite. Scholarship funds are awarded as monthly stipends of EUR 2,000 to 3,500 and allowances are available for accompanying family family members, travel expenses, and German language instruction. All candidates must be citizens of the US or Russia, possess a bachelor's degree, and be under 35 years of age by the start of the award.
  • German Marshall Fund Fellowship: Offers dissertation, postdoc, and advanced research grants to US faculty and graduate students in order to improve the understanding of significant contemporary economic, political, and social developments relating to Europe, European integration, and relations between Europe and the United States. Recipients must be US citizens or permanent residents.
  • Robert Bosch Foundation: The program provides young American professionals (ages 23-34) with two high-level work placements in the federal government and private sector in Germany. Three seminars taking place throughout Europe provide an in-depth understanding of issues facing Germany and the European Union today. Candidates are competitively chosen from the fields of business administration, economics, journalism, law, political science and public policy.
  • Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst / American Institute for Contemporary German Studies Research Fellowship Program: The DAAD/AICGS Research Fellowship Program, funded by a generous grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), is designed to bring scholars and specialists working on Germany, Europe, and/or transatlantic relations to AICGS for research stays of two months each. Fellowships include a monthly stipend of up to $4,725, depending on the seniority of the applicant, transportation to and from Washington, and office space at the Institute.
  • The Consulate General of Sweden: The Consulate General of Sweden administers two travel grants for study or research in Sweden: The Bicentennial Swedish-American Exchange Fund, for non-academic research or professional enrichment, and the SASS Swedish Travel Grant, for academic study or research.
  • Jean Monnet Fellowships: Through its Jean Monnet Fellowship Programme the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies offers yearly between 15 and 20 fellowships to post-docs in an early stage of their academic career. During their stay at the RSCAS, fellows work on a selected topic that fits well in the overall research profile of the RSCAS and they are expected to participate actively in the academic life of the Centre and of the EUI. Each fellow is assigned a professorial mentor. Their stay at the Centre should result in the publication of either a RSCAS Working Paper or a publication in a scientific journal or with an appropriate publishing house.
  • IREX: Individual Advanced Research Opportunities Program (IARO): Grants of up to $40,000 for up to nine months to US scholars for research in the social sciences and humanities in Europe and Eurasia. Applicants can choose from fellowships in policy research and development or fellowships in the humanities. Limited funding is available for cross-regional research in Mongolia, Iran, and Turkey for humanities scholars. Grants of one to three months are available to master's students for research on policy-relevant theses or equivalent projects.
  • IREX: Short-Term Travel Grants Program (STG): Grants of up to $3,000 for up to two months of independent or collaborative research in Europe and Eurasia for postdoctoral scholars and professionals with terminal degrees. Successful projects must make a substantive contribution to knowledge of the contemporary political, economic, historical, or cultural developments in the region and must demonstrate how such knowledge is relevant to US foreign policy.
  • Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarships: Every year, the Rotary Foundation offers approximately 1000 Ambassadorial Scholarships for international study.

    Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships are grants of $23,000 for one year's study in a country different from the scholar's home country, usually in different language than the scholar's native language. These scholarships are awarded for graduate study in a field related to Rotary's objectives of world peace, international understanding, eliminating disease, conquering hunger and fostering literacy.

    Rotary Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarships are for three or six months intensive study of language and culture at one of a number of institutions which The Rotary Foundation designates. The three month award is worth $10,000; the six month award is worth $15,000. Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarships may be awarded to undergraduates who have demonstrated a potential for furthering the objectives of Rotary.

    Information and applications in PDF format are available at Rotary.org. Rotary Scholars are selected by communities in each Rotary District. It is recommended that a student apply through his home district, but applications are also sometimes made in the district where a candidate attends school. Applications must first be submitted through and endorsed by a local Rotary Club. For Rotary District 6490 (covering part of central Illinois) applications for the 2009-2010 academic year are due from local clubs to the district by July 14, 2008. The application should be submitted to a local Rotary Club well before that date. For District 6490, there is a mandatory interview for scholarship candidate on August 18, 2008. Other Rotary Districts will have different deadlines and interview dates. Applicants may not be the child or grandchild of a current, or recent, Rotarian. Questions and requests for help in making contact with a local Rotary Club may be submitted to District 6490 Outbound Ambassadorial Scholar Committee chair Tom Hodson at THodson@aol.com.