There is a variety of extramural funding available to graduate students including academic fellowships, dissertation research grants, conference support, postdoctoral fellowships, and more. Besides the potential for substantial funding, the process of applying for fellowships is valuable professional training. The resources below will help you find and apply for these funding sources.

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Funding Search Databases

All members of the UCSB community have free access to Pivot, a funding search database, if they are connected to the UCSB network or if they sign up for an account with a ucsb.edu email address. Pivot offers a searchable database of 25,000 records representing over 400,000 individual funding opportunities from numerous sponsors across all disciplines. Students can create accounts and sign up for personalized e-mail funding alerts. For more information, visit the Office of Research Find Funding section.

The GRAPES database catalogs extramural funding opportunities of interest to prospective and current graduate students, students working on a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation, and postdoctoral scholars. It contains information on over 500 private and publicly funded awards, fellowships, and internships. Advanced search options allow users to refine their search by field, academic level, award type, award amount, and other criteria. GRAPES is maintained by the UCLA Graduate Outreach, Diversity and Fellowships Office.

Many funding opportunities and funding tips are posted in the Funds section of the UCSB GradPost. Especially view the Funding Resources archive for helpful hints on navigating the funding process.

Workshops and Advice

The Graduate Division and other campus units regularly host workshops related to extramural funding. Check the calendar for an up-to-date listing of these events.

The Graduate Student Funding Peer can assist students with questions about funding. Email fundingpeer@graddiv.ucsb.edu with questions or to set up an appointment. Current peer office hours for drop-in advice are listed at gradpost.ucsb.edu.

Sample fellowship proposals are available to view in the Graduate Student Resource Center (Student Resource Building 1215). View list of available sample proposals.

  • Graduate Program Advisor: Your program advisor may have a listing of the larger fellowships relevant to your field that students have commonly applied for in the past. Some even keep copies of sample winning proposals.

  • Faculty Advisor/Professors: Ask you advisor for possible opportunities specific to your research. Faculty members are signed up for many exclusive mailing lists that advertise funding in your area. If they don't already, ask your advisors to forward you any relevant announcements.

  • Peers: Look to the fellow students in your program to see what they've applied for or currently have. If you are applying to a fellowship someone in your department already has, ask if it's okay to review their application or set up a coffee break to ask for advice.

Other Opportunities and Resources

Many central fellowships are awarded on a department level. Continuing grad students can apply for a number of central fellowships administered by the Graduate Division. There are also other sources of campus funding including travel grants, childcare grants, dissertation awards, and fellowships offered by other UCSB centers and units.

All current graduate students applying to the Fulbright Program must participate in the internal campus selection process. Students interested in applying are encouraged to contact Anna Theogarajan, the campus Fulbright Adviser, to set up an advising appointment.