Fellowships / Financial Aid
PhD Fellowships
The BU Bioinformatics Graduate Program receives funding from the NIH Institutional Training Grant in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (T32GM100842). This grant provides fellowships to prepare PhD students for careers in the molecular life sciences who will support the advances now underway in modern medicine. In addition to the NIH T32 Fellowships, PhD awards include Bioinformatics Program Fellowships, and Research Assistantships, as well as Teaching Fellowships and Graduate Teaching Assistantships. All fellowships include full tuition, health insurance, travel funding, and an annual stipend starting at $38,833. Funding for PhD students in the Bioinformatics Graduate Program is administered by the Admissions Committee and there is no separate form to apply for financial aid.
Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship
Funds are available through the BU Bioinformatics Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship to provide newly enrolled and continuing PhD students with additional funding during their academic studies. This merit-based fellowship is part of our commitment to increasing the representation of underrepresented faculty in the field of computational biology and bioinformatics, and is available to PhD students who are members of historically underrepresented groups in higher education. As long as satisfactory academic progress is made, in accordance with our policy for merit-based aid, the awards can be renewed for a total of two years for students in our doctoral program.
International Research Fellowships
All PhD students enrolled in the Bioinformatics Program are eligible for International Research Fellowships to support their thesis project. Each award is for 3 months of travel to work with a collaborating faculty member at one of our partner institutions.
Financial Aid for Master’s Students
Merit Scholarships
Tuition assistance is available to master’s students in the form of BU Bioinformatics Program Merit Scholarships, which provide partial tuition to full-time MS students. These scholarships are awarded at the time of admission and do not require a separate application. These awards are made to both international students and U.S. citizens who have demonstrated excellent academic ability, and enthusiasm and knowledge in the field of Bioinformatics.
Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship
Funds are available through the BU Bioinformatics Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship to provide newly enrolled MS students with additional funding during their academic studies. This merit-based fellowship is part of our commitment to increasing the number of underrepresented industry mentors in the field of computational biology and bioinformatics, and is available to MS students who are members of historically underrepresented groups in higher education. As long as satisfactory academic progress is made, in accordance with our policy for merit-based aid, the award can be renewed for a total of three semesters for students in our masters program.
Additional Resources
Diversity Travel Fellowships
BU Bioinformatics has funds available through the BU Bioinformatics Diversity Travel Fellowship for prospective PhD students to visit Boston, tour the campus and meet our students and faculty, before applying for admission to our Program.
We are committed to increasing the representation of minorities in science. We believe that all of our students benefit from being part of a community where they can learn about each other’s backgrounds, cultures, religious beliefs, physical and mental abilities, political views, and career aspirations. As ours was one of the first Bioinformatics graduate programs, we feel a particular responsibility to support highly qualified individuals who are underrepresented in science.
This award includes transportation, hotel and other related costs, as well as a waiver for the PhD Program application fee. If you are planning to apply to PhD programs in computational biology, bioinformatics or systems biology, take advantage of this unique opportunity to visit historic Boston, tour the campus, speak with students and faculty about their research, and discover the program on a new level.