CLASS Summer Graduate Fellowship for Research Excellence

This endowed competitive fellowship provides summer funding to support the research and writing of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.  The purpose of this endowed competitive fellowship is to promote graduate student research excellence in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Houston.  These fellowships aim to help students from varied backgrounds and research fields who are carrying out ambitious projects which would benefit from additional support. Click here for more information, for the departmental nomination form, and for the application cover page. The application deadline for summer 2025 scholarships is January 31, 2025, at noon.

Finding Grants and Fellowships: An Introduction for Graduate Students

You can’t get involved with grants and fellowships too early. It’s an essential part of academia today, and that won’t change anytime soon. For the rest of your career, you will be expected to solicit external funding for research, travel, and leave time. As you go along, if you have any questions, talk to your advisor or other faculty who have grants experience.

Getting Started: Pre-Award Research/Funding Opportunities

Pivot

Pivot is an extensive database of funding opportunities that includes federal agencies, private and foundational sponsors. All UH faculty, staff and students have free access to this database. It is quite easy to join. You may join by going to http://pivot.cos.com/, clicking on the "Sign up” on the upper right side of the screen and filling in requested information. Pivot will automatically create a profile for you and match funding to your research.

A great place to start is the “Support” tab. There are FAQs, guides and even a YouTube channel with directions and explanations. The database is user-friendly. To begin searching for funding, click on “Search – for funding or scholars” and follow the prompts. Once you have set up a funding criteria, Pivot will send you weekly updates of funding opportunities that match your research interests.

Download list of Graduate Student Funding Opportunities

State Resources

One of the best places to look for funding is from local governments, which often offer grants to help scholars with their work. You can search for them on Pivot or find them online with a regular Google search.

International Resources

State governments offer opportunities for you to do research, and so do other countries. If your research takes you overseas, check what funding might be available from that country. In addition, Fulbright Fellowships are offered to many countries in a variety of disciplines. It’s easy to do a Pivot search to find out what grants are out there.