The Graduate Alliance for Education in Louisiana (GAELA) is committed to increasing the number of underrepresented students who earn doctorates in Science Technology and Engineering (STEM) fields. To this end, the program will award a limited number of Dissertation Writing Fellowships to deserving underrepresented students who are at an advanced stage of completing either a Ph.D. or a Sc. D. degree in an appropriate STEM discipline. Applicants must have advanced to candidacy (completed qualifying exams and successfully defended a research prospectus) and must be within two semesters of graduation. The fellowships carry a stipend of 21,000 for 10 months. Applicants should submit a copy of an approved research prospectus, certification of Advance to Candidacy, a letter of recommendation from the dissertation research advisor endorsing the application, and a personal statement of the applicant’s research progress, career goals and need for the fellowship. Receipt of a fellowship assumes that the recipient has completed all coursework and data gathering for their research project. Our objective in awarding the fellowships is to give students the freedom to concentrate on analyzing their data and writing the dissertation.

Applicants must meet all of the following requirements:

- U.S. Citizen or permanent resident

- Member of one the following racial/ethnic groups: Black (not Hispanic), Hispanic, Native American, Alaskan Native, or Native Pacific Islander.

- Enrolled in a full-time Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a STEM discipline.

- Advanced to Candidacy for a Ph.D. degree by no later than end of Summer (August) of 2010.

- Expected graduation by May 2011.

- Cognizant that the award takes precedence over all other employment obligations during the tenure of the fellowship.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide all information and documents required for the application packet. All required items must be included in the application packet or submitted directly to the GAELA office. The letter of recommendation can be e-mailed directly from the recommender.

- Each application packet should include the following items:

- Approved dissertation research prospectus

- Departmental Certification of successful Advance to Candidacy

- Statement of research progress, career goals and need for the fellowship

- Letter of recommendation from the lead dissertation advisor

For more information on the GAELA Dissertation Writing Fellowship, please contact  the GAELA Project Office:  605 Boggs Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118; phone: 
(504) 314-7692; Fax:  (504) 865-6768; e-mail: gaela@tulane.edu