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Financial Assistance

Explore the University’s many financial assistance opportunities as early as possible. Fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships are awarded based on academic merit and the availability of funds. Please submit your application to EECS prior to the academic year for which the fellowship or assistantship is desired.

Fellowships

The EECS Graduate Admissions Committee nominates many of our top applicants for University, School of Engineering, and Department fellowships based on academic merit and other selection criteria as specified by the selection committees.

Madison A. and Lila Self Graduate Fellowships

The Self Graduate Fellowship provides development opportunities for exceptional Ph.D. students. The prestigious four-year award consists of an annual payment, full tuition and fees, and a development program.

Current and Past Self Fellows from EECS

Self Fellow Heather Amthauer explains her research in bioinformatics. As a doctoral student, Amthauer develops software that will learn where to look for possible coregulated genes within a genome.

KU Graduate School Fellowships

The Information and Telecommunication Technology Center (ITTC) Graduate Fellowship recruits highly qualified individuals into KU’s doctoral research programs. The two-year award includes an annual stipend. The recipient will also be eligible for a graduate research assistantship.

External Fellowships

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Assistantships

Our Ph.D. students receive first consideration for available assistantships, which are awarded based on academic performance and specific skill sets. Approximately 75 percent of EECS doctoral candidates are supported by graduate research assistantships or graduate teaching assistantships. The Department provides EECS faculty with the credentials of incoming graduate students. Students interested in assistantships should describe their teaching or research interests and qualifications in their academic objectives statement.

Please do NOT send email messages to individual faculty members asking about positions. List your preferences in your statement and wait for faculty to contact you.

Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs)

With nationally recognized research programs, EECS provides students with unique opportunities to participate in collaborative, multidisciplinary research. GRAs create knowledge by performing original research under the direction of a faculty member. Student researchers expand their skills, apply their knowledge, and gain a competitive edge. Research is usually a component of the advisor’s research that is directly supported by external funding. GRAs will receive tuition assistance along with a stipend.

Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Perform original research and generate new knowledge
  • Find and summarize pertinent research articles
  • Perform experiments and analyze the results
  • Attend conferences to present results
  • Collaborate with other researchers

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs)

Graduate teaching assistants will receive tuition assistance along with a stipend. GTAs must be proficient in English (SPEAK Test) and skilled in fundamentals of EECS. Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Lead laboratory and/or discussion sections
  • Assist in computer labs
  • Grade homework, quizzes, and tests
  • Teach undergraduate courses
  • Hold office hours
  • Provide other assistance

** All international students must pass the SPEAK test with a 50 or better to hold a GTA position. KU’s Applied English Center offers the test several times each semester. International students only need to take this test if they are interested in becoming GTAs. Domestic students do not need to take the SPEAK test.

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