San Diego Match Fellowships - Requests and Nominations

Owned by Tamara Schaps
Last updated: Mar 19, 2024 by Florenz Torralba
8 min read


Pre-Award (Before grant application is submitted)

Requesting Matching Fellowship Support

When applying for large extramural research grants that support multiple UC San Diego graduate students (GSRs or trainees), Principal Investigators (PIs) may request San Diego Match Fellowships from the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) to enhance the proposal and promote inclusive excellence. PI/PDs or Fund Managers should complete this online request form at least one month in advance of the submission deadline to allow adequate time for review.

Typically, GEPA will offer a proportional match: for every 4 graduate students annually supported by the grant, 1 fellowship match slot is allocated. As of July 2021, "half-slots" or "half-fellowships" or ".5 slots" are no longer offered. A fellowship includes a stipend, plus resident tuition/fees. The commitment amount is always contingent upon the proposal being fully funded at the level originally specified by the PI in the proposal. If the sponsor reduces the award, UC San Diego reserves the right to adjust the fellowship commitment. Please note, if applying for a multi-campus/institution grant, only the positions that support UC San Diego graduate students will be counted towards the minimum number needed for matching support.

572pxIf approved, information about GEPA's commitment will be inserted into the Institutional Support Letter (for training grants) or program proposal and/or a separate internal fellowship commitment letter will be sent to the PI/PD requestor with instructions about how to proceed with fellowship nominations, should the grant be fully funded. If funded, this internal letter will need to be submitted along with the online nomination form once a student is identified for the fellowship. The relevant School Dean's Office(s) will also be copied on this email so they are aware of GEPA's commitment. If you have questions about the match request process, please contact Tamara Schaps at tschaps@ucsd.edu. 

Matching fellowship support from the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs is contingent upon the continued availability of funds and may shift at any time.



Upon Non-Selection

Upon receiving notification that the proposal was not selected for funding, please notify GEPA by emailing Tamara Schaps at tschaps@ucsd.edu and sharing the results as well as future plans for resubmission (if any). If and when you resubmit, you will need to submit a new request for matching fellowship support via the online request form above. Matching fellowship support from GEPA is contingent upon the continued availability of funds and may shift at any time.



Post-Award

Upon receiving a Notice of Award

Upon receiving a notice of award, please notify GEPA by emailing Tamara Schaps at tschaps@ucsd.edu and sharing the Kuali Award Number and anticipated program/project start date. The sooner we are made aware of a successful proposal, the sooner we can assist you with the next steps of nominating a fellow. 

Currently enrolled or incoming graduate students at UC San Diego can be nominated in anticipation of the program/project start date (for example the NOA arrives in April, but the project does not start until July 1st; in this case, fellow nominations can be submitted starting in April).


Nominating a Student for the SDF Match



The nomination should be made at least one month in advance of the program/project start date to allow adequate time for review and approval. 

Before submitting a student nomination, the nominating department should:

  1. Review the Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of this Collab page.
  2. Connect with the student's Graduate Coordinator in their Academic Home Department (listed here, SSO required) and inform them that their student will be nominated for an SDF Match award.
    1. The student's Graduate Coordinator should ensure that the student will not be temporarily supported through employment (salary and/or fee remission) during the proposed SD Fellowship Match dates.
    2. If financial support must be set up for the student while the SDF Match nomination is reviewed, a fellowship stipend and/or fee payment should be set up in the FSRT. A funding change to SDF Match stipend and/or fee payments can be processed once a nomination is approved.
  3. Verify with the student's Graduate Coordinator that the proposed SDF Match award set up details are agreeable with the Academic Home Department. Award Details:
    1. Stipend Dates
    2. Stipend Amounts
    3. Tuition/Fee Payment Quarters
    4. Tuition/Fee Payment Amounts
  4. Collect the original Fellowship Commitment Letter issued by GEPA at the time of proposal submission, which outlines the total dollar value of the commitment and submit via the online nomination form.
  5. Collect the faculty nomination letter.
  6. Collect the student's completed Cover Sheet and Accompanying Statement. 

Once all steps have been completed, the nomination documents can be submitted by completing the San Diego Fellowship Match Student Nomination Google Form:

GEPA staff will approve the fellow nomination as quickly as possible and will reach out if more information is needed. Once the SDF Match nomination has been reviewed, the nominating department will be contacted via Services & Support Ticket.

If you have questions about the nomination process or eligibility criteria, email Tamara Schaps at tschaps@ucsd.edu. If you have a question about a current fellow that has already been selected or questions about remaining fellowship slots for future years, contact Flo Torralba by emailing gradfellowships@ucsd.edu to open a ticket in the Services & Support portal. 



Frequently Asked Questions