University-Wide Awards, Grants, and Professionalization Opportunities

Graduate Student Senate Original Work Grants (OWG)

The Original Work Grant (OWG), offered as a collaboration between GSS and the Graduate College, supports research and creative work. It is intended to fund direct, project-related expenses such as travel, lodging, materials and equipment related to research. Any graduate student enrolled for at least 1 credit hour and pursuing a graduate degree at Ohio University can apply for this grant, which is awarded competitively.

There are two award cycles per year, with deadlines early in the fall and spring terms, respectively. Students are eligible for only one OWG per year. Recipients are selected by a committee of the GSS. For details, please consult the GSS award page on the Graduate College website at https://www.ohio.edu/graduate/current-students/original-work-grant-and-travel-awards.

Graduate Student Senate Travel Award (TA)

The Travel Award (TA), offered as a collaboration between GSS and the Graduate College, supports travel to present original work, including research and creative works. The Travel Award is intended to enhance graduate education through participation in seminars, workshops and conferences, fostering professional development to further students’ careers. The award attempts to cover a majority of the costs associated with such travel.

There are three submission cycles per year, one each for winter, spring, and fall travel (with some overlap in the possible travel dates in each cycle). Due dates precede the proposed travel and are generally in October, March, and May. Recipients are selected by lottery. For details, please consult the GSS award page on the Graduate College website at https://www.ohio.edu/graduate/current-students/original-work-grant-and-travel-awards.

Graduate College Named Fellowships

Each spring, the Graduate College awards five fellowships for work on a capstone work of research, scholarship, or creative activity. Each carries a $4,000 fellowship ($2,000 for each of two semesters), supplemental to whatever funding the student receives through their program. . They are “named” for—but not funded by—illustrious alumni, except for the one named for the Graduate College itself (which is not an alumnus but does provide funding). None is tied to a particular discipline, although the Awards Committee of the Graduate Council attempts to recognize excellence from a range of fields in its selection process. 

Each department or school may nominate only one candidate for a Named Fellowship, chosen from among those recommended to the graduate chair or department chair by a faculty member. Nominations from departments are due early in the spring semester, generally at the beginning of February. Full details can be found on the Graduate College website: https://www.ohio.edu/graduate/current-students/graduate-college-named-fellowships

Use Pivot

All advanced graduate students should be encouraged to create an account in and familiarize themselves with Pivot, one of the most comprehensive databases for funding opportunities from all sources. Students can use the search function to find sources of funding to support their research, including dissertation fellowships and project grants. Students and their advisors should begin with the online Pivot training (https://www.ohio.edu/research/orsp/procedures/a01)..

Some additional opportunities are indexed in OHIO’s electronic research management portal, LEO (https://leo.research.ohio.edu/secure/leo/core/home.leo). In most cases, however, LEO links to Pivot for details on funding opportunities. 

Office of Nationally Competitive Awards (ONCA)

Although ONCA primarily serves undergraduates, it also manages application for some graduate awards, including fellowships for future doctoral study open to current master’s students. The list of graduate awards is found at https://www.ohio.edu/honors/nationally-competitive-awards/graduate. 

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

The annual Student Expo, held in early- to mid-April, fills the Convocation Center with every imaginable variety and level of student research, scholarship, and creative activity. Projects have included documentary film making, robotic lawn mowers, innovative theater costumes and presentations on the latest findings from medicine, astrophysics, education, and environmental science. 

Registration opens early in the spring semester and closes at the end of February. The students may elect to display their work only or enter it into judged competition (which requires a 10-minute presentation to the judges). Small cash prizes are given to winners in each judged session. 

Details can be found at https://www.ohio.edu/studentexpo/. 

Three Minute Thesis® (3MT)

Please note that “thesis” in this context means either master’s thesis or dissertation. The Graduate College hosts this event as part of an international project, begun at the University of Queensland and now including over 900 institutions worldwide, to encourage graduate researchers to 1) consolidate their ideas and discoveries and 2) communicate them precisely and engagingly to a non-specialist audience. It takes the form of an oral competition compressing complicated ideas into a maximum of three minutes and one PowerPoint slide.

Eligible students include those enrolled at OHIO during the semester the competition takes place who meet one of the following conditions: 

• are a research doctoral candidate (Ph.D. or Ed.D.) who has been admitted to candidacy (i.e., passed comprehensive exams) but not defended the dissertation; or
• are a master’s student currently enrolled at OHIO who has completed significant work toward the culminating project.

Registration opens in the fall and closes very early in the spring semester (mid- to late-January). The competition involves a semi-finals elimination round and then the final competition, both in February. Cash prizes are awarded to the winners, varying depending on the available funding. Details can be found at Three Minute Thesis.

Graduate Research Series

Alden Library, in partnership with the Graduate Student Senate, hosts an annual series of presentations about the research process. Ohio University graduate students are invited to submit presentation proposals about their own research process or to form a panel discussion around current graduate research and scholarly issues. 

Applications are solicited in fall and spring of each year. Proposals are reviewed and presenter(s) chosen by a review panel consisting of representatives from the Ohio University Libraries, the graduate student body, and Faculty Senate. For details, please see https://www.ohio.edu/library/about/news-events/events-series.

The Awards & Fellowships page on the Graduate College site will include information for the current year nomination cycle for the Distinguished Thesis and Distinguished Dissertation awards.

Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Thesis Award

This award recognizes and rewards distinguished scholarship and research at the master’s level. There are four disciplinary categories for the award, with competitions in two of them every other year: 

• Even-year nominations: 1) Social Sciences; 2) Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering
• Odd-year nominations: 1) Humanities; 2) Biological/Life Science

OHIO may nominate one candidate for the award in each disciplinary category offered that year. Eligible students must have completed their M.A. or M.S. degree by July 1 of the year in which they are nominated but not more than two years earlier. Recipients receive a cash award (currently $750) and travel expenses to the MAGS annual meeting. 

Deadlines for nominations to the Graduate College are generally in early- to mid-October. OHIO nominees are selected by the Awards Committee of the Graduate Council. 

For questions, contact the Graduate College Director of Communications and Professional Development. 

Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award

These awards are made to individuals who have completed dissertations “representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline.” There are four disciplinary categories for the award, with competitions in two of them every other year: 

• Even-year nominations: 1) Social Sciences*; 2) Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering
• Odd-year nominations: 1) Humanities; 2) Biological/Life Science

*CGS specifies that History is classed within the humanities, not the social sciences for the purposes of the award. Education is in the social sciences.

OHIO may nominate one candidate for the award in each disciplinary category offered that year. Eligible students must have completed their doctoral degree by June 30 of the year in which they are nominated but not more than two years earlier. Recipients receive a cash award (currently $2000) and “reasonable” travel expenses to the annual CGS meeting. 

Nominations to the Graduate College are generally due in May or early June (the Graduate College must submit nominations to CGS by the end of June). This means that dissertations for degrees conferred in spring are eligible for nearly immediate nomination if the competition for the appropriate disciplinary category is occurring in that year. OHIO nominees are selected by the Awards Committee of the Graduate Council.

For questions, contact the Graduate College Director of Communications and Professional Development. 

Presidential Graduate Research Medal

One Presidential Medal for Outstanding Research or Creative Excellence Demonstrated by a Doctoral Student and one by a Master’s Student are given annually in spring semester; the deadline is in mid-February The work recognized may be a project, publication, or body of work. Students must be recommended by a faculty member to their graduate chair or department/school chair, and each department/school may forward one nomination for each degree level to the Graduate College. Awards are currently $1000 and a commemorative medal.