Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship Program

• January 19, 2023

Any Rackham PhD program at UM-Dearborn may nominate two (2) doctoral candidates for this award.  To be eligible, students must be advanced to candidacy by the UM-Dearborn's Registration Office no later than January 20, 2024 (for Winter 2024 or earlier).

The fellowship will be preferentially awarded to nominees:

1. Who are on track to complete their degrees in five (5) years, excluding time spent on any Rackham approved leave of absence;
2. Who expect to complete their degree during the terms of the fellowship.

Students may not apply directly to this fellowship. They must be nominated by their program for this fellowship. Students should contact their program director regarding their selection and nomination process. Each UM-Dearborn Rackham doctoral program may submit a list of two (2) nominees.

A complete nomination packet for the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship consists of the following.

1. A Statement of Student Achievement and Potential, written by the nominating program, indicating why these particular students have been nominated and the criteria used for the nomination (selection committees find this very helpful). If the student is taking longer than five (5) years, comments must be included as to the specific reasons. Please include the program’s requirements concerning students’ publications, if any. (1,500 words, not counting references)
2. Students’ personal statement describing their dissertation and any additional information they wish to bring to the attention of the selection committee. The statement should address the importance of the student’s work in the beginning two or three sentences. The statement should include the theoretical framework of the dissertation, its specific aims, methodologies (how the student is conducting the research), originality, and the significance and contribution of the project to the field. Fellowship committees place strong emphasis on this statement. The statement should be written with an interdisciplinary faculty review panel in mind; i.e., reviewers will not necessarily be familiar with the technical vocabulary of a specific field. (1,500 words)
3. Copy of the dissertation title and dissertation abstract. (150 words)
4. Two letters of recommendation for each nominee, one of which must come from the faculty member who is supervising the dissertation, commenting on the student’s overall performance, potential, and expected time to degree. NOTE: Letters of recommendation are reviewed very carefully and carry great weight with the selection committee. Several paragraphs are more helpful to the nominee than are one or two sentences.
5. Current curriculum vitae (c.v.).

Nomination packets will be jointly reviewed by a committee of CECS faculty as well as Rackham to award the two fellowships. Fellowships will be granted to doctoral candidates who are working toward completion of an outstanding dissertation based on the following criteria:

1. Quality of the nominee’s personal statement, including the research plan, progress on the project, and scholarly significance of the dissertation research.
2. Results of early research or scholarship in graduate studies, as represented; e.g., through article publication, conference presentation, or patents.
3. Perspectives of the program (as gained from the Statement of Student Achievement and Potential) and supporting faculty/scholars (as gained from the letters of recommendation).
4. Excellence in graduate teaching and/or pedagogy/mentoring/professional leadership and service.

We strongly encourage programs to nominate a diverse group of students; the selection committees strive to award fellowships to a diverse set of high deserving recipients.