Financial Assistance

Financial Assistance for Graduate Students

For graduate students in the Chemistry department and the Center for Photochemical Sciences at Bowling Green State University, funding typically comes through a combination of institutional assistantships and specific research-related grants.

1. Graduate Assistantships (The Primary Source) The Department of Chemistry and the Center for Photochemical Sciences prioritize full funding for doctoral students.

• Teaching Assistantships (TAs): Most first-year Ph.D. students are offered TAs. This covers a full tuition waiver plus a competitive stipend (approximately $29,000/year). Official responsibilities include 20 hours per week of grading, lab instruction, or tutoring.

• Research Assistantships (RAs): Advanced students often transition to RAs funded by their faculty advisor's research grants. These provide the same tuition and stipend benefits but allow the student to focus entirely on their laboratory research without teaching obligations.

2. Departmental and Center Scholarships Beyond the standard stipend, students may be eligible for specialized support:

• McMaster and Taller Fellowships: These fellowships offer at least one academic year of support for research and may also afford professional development funds for travel to conferences.

• The Center for Photochemical Sciences: As an interdisciplinary hub, students can often access specialized funding specifically for light-matter interaction research.

3. Professional Development & Travel Grants To assist with the costs of attending conferences or conducting off-site research, students can apply for:

• Katzner Graduate Student Fund: Provides supplemental funding for research expenses and professional development activities.

• GSS (Graduate Student Senate) Travel Grants: Offers reimbursement for travel costs when presenting scientific work at regional or national conferences.

• Charles E. Shanklin Award: A competitive research paper and colloquium competition that provides monetary awards for top-tier graduate research in the sciences.

4. External Fellowships Students are highly encouraged to work with their advisors to apply for national grants, such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research, or National Institutes of Health (NIH) F31 Fellowships.

Important Note on Admissions & Support: At this time, we are only admitting students into the Ph.D. program, which includes the fulfillment of requirements for an M.S. in Chemistry while receiving a guaranteed stipend. Admissions to the Master's program directly may be possible, but would not include the promise of a stipend or tuition support; these would have to be procured as a responsibility of the applicant/admitted student.