Students admitted to the Boston University Chemistry graduate program are supported by Teaching Fellowships, Research Assistantships, special fellowships or a combination of all three. This support includes both a living stipend and a tuition waiver.
The majority of first year students receive a Teaching Fellowship in the amount of $17,500 for the academic year (the eight month period that encompasses the Fall and Spring semesters). During the Spring semester of the 1st year, each student selects a Research Advisor. The exact form of support that a student will receive during the Summer will depend on the Research Advisor selected. The full yearly stipend (for the academic year and Summer) that a student can receive is $26,250. That amount usually increases each year. The majority of our students receive that amount.
The responsibilities of Teaching Fellows include supervision of undergraduate laboratory sections, class discussions and grading of reports and examinations. Generally, after the second year, graduate students work as Research Assistants. Support for these positions comes from grants awarded by government agencies or corporations for specific research projects carried out by individual faculty members.
Awards
There are several special awards and internal programs which can provide graduate student support in addition to the sources indicated above. A number of highly qualified incoming graduate students are awarded Dean's Fellowships for the first year from the College of Arts and Sciences. Similiary, there is the possibility of receiving a prestigious Presidential University Graduate Fellowship (PUGFs) for the first academic year from the University. Students who receive these awards have no teaching responsibilities in their first year of graduate study. Candidates for these awards are selected on the basis of outstanding records of academic and research related achievements.
The Center for Computational Science awards special non-teaching fellowships to outstanding domestic students for up to five years of support. Two other training grant programs as well, the NIH Biophysical Training Grant and an NSF IGERT (Initiative for Graduate Education and Research Training) Grant support US citizens (or permanent residents) through the course of their graduate careers. Students supported by these awards again have no teaching responsibilities.
Outstanding women graduate students may also be nominated for Clare Boothe Luce Fellowships under a grant from the Luce Foundation to Boston University.
Travel Grants
The Department also provides funds for a student-organized seminar series and offers travel grants, via a special endowment, to graduate students for the purpose of attending and presenting papers at national and international meetings. We encourage such activities and consider presentations at professional meetings to be an essential part of a graduate student's education and professional development.