San Diego Match Fellowships - Requests and Nominations

The San Diego Match Fellowship program has been developed as a means of increasing campus diversity. The program is motivated by the campus’ commitment to be fully inclusive and supportive of all students, and by the belief that a diverse graduate student body enhances the quality of all students' educational experience. With the approval of the Dean of the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, fellowships are provided as matching commitments to strengthen select extramural grant proposals that request support for significant numbers of graduate students.

The San Diego Match Fellowship is a recruitment tool that provides fellowship support to students who merit admission into graduate programs at UC San Diego and whose presence would enhance diversity to the benefit of the entire campus community. In accordance with applicable Federal and State law and University policy, the University of California does not discriminate, or grant preferences, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories. More information about Proposition 209 can be found here, and more information about the University of California Anti-Discrimination Policy can be found here.

Upon receiving a notice of award, please notify GEPA by emailing gradfinance@ucsd.edu, and share the Kuali Award Number, anticipated program/project start date, and commitment letter received from GEPA. 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).

PI's should adhere to the diversity requirements as outlined by their funding agency and be prepared to submit statistics and narratives to their funding agency at the required intervals. In collaboration with GEPA, the graduate program should have a recruitment plan that outlines how a diverse applicant pool will be achieved.

A principal investigator or research group that has been provided a San Diego Match Fellowship as a matching commitment should work with an appropriate graduate program/department to identify eligible fellows.

• As the fellowship is a recruitment tool, only first year or second year students are eligible

  • Incoming students: have been nominated for admission to graduate study and plan to enroll and register for classes at UC San Diego during the term of the fellowship

  • Second-year students: be in good academic standing and meet established departmental criteria for satisfactory academic progress toward the degree

• Must be assigned a faculty mentor

• Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

The San Diego Match Fellowship is open to all eligible students. The San Diego Match Fellowship program does not consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories as part of the application and selection process.

Nominees must complete the "Additional Education Experiences" section of the admissions application, or complete the cover sheet and accompanying statement linked below in Step #6.  Fellowships will be awarded based on applicants' eligibility (having social, educational or economic backgrounds that would add to the diversity of UC San Diego's graduate programs) and merit (based on academic preparation and potential). Nominating programs must provide a convincing explanation of how the nominee’s presence would enhance diversity within the program or campus. The following are examples of how a student could enhance campus or program diversity: 

• Student has unique skills, talents, or experiences that would be of benefit to others and would enhance the program or campus. 

• Student has an interest in an innovative approach to or application of the discipline that would enhance diversity.

• Student has a strong interest in undertaking research that would address issues of ethnic, social, or economic diversity.

• Student has overcome significant educational, social, or economic disadvantage or adversity.

During the Academic Year, 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, a current fellow who has already been selected, or questions about remaining fellowship slots for future years, email gradfellowships@ucsd.edu to open a ticket in the Services & Support portal. 

Question: Can a student be nominated for more than one year of SDF Match support?  

Answer: The SDF Match award is intended as a one year award. Nominations for a second year of support may be submitted with an updated student nomination statement, but these are not guaranteed to be approved. A student cannot be supported for more than two years of SDF Match support.

Question: Can a student be supported by SDF Match if they are beyond the second year of their program or if they are in the final year of their program?

Answer: No. The award is intended to enrich a student's early-academic experience in their first or second year and serve as a launch pad into future Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions or other funded research opportunities.

Question: Can the Chancellor's Training Cap Gap funds be used to support a San Diego Match Fellowship student?

Answer: No. The Chancellor's Training Cap Gap Program funds are only to be used for predoctoral trainees paid on an NIH T15 or T32. 

Question: What is the maximum stipend level that can be awarded to a student through the SDF Match?

Answer: The SDF Match is intended to support a student for one support year. Therefore, the maximum stipend that can be awarded per month is total stipend level divided by a 9 month disbursement schedule. 

Question: Can the student's SDF Match award details be updated after the nomination has been submitted?

Answer: To update any of the following award details, please submit a ticket by emailing gradfellowships@ucsd.edu. The request to update may come from either the student's nominating department or Graduate Coordinator, but both parties should be included in the ticket.

a. Stipend Dates

b. Stipend Amounts

c. Tuition/Fee Payment Quarters

d. Tuition/Fee Payment Amounts

Question: I just found out about this matching opportunity but already was awarded the grant, can matching fellowships be awarded retroactively?

Answer: No. All our matching commitments are made during the proposal phase, before the grant is submitted, as a way to strengthen the application and to increase the likelihood it is selected for funding. We do not make retroactive matching commitments to already submitted/awarded grant applications. 

Question: I hired a graduate student as a GSR but now I want to retroactively use a SD Match Fellowship slot for the student. Is this allowable?

Answer: No. If a student was hired as a GSR, it is not appropriate to retroactively remove employment support (salary and/or fee remission) and replace it with fellowship support (stipend and/or fee payment). Doing so would be a hiring violation and there could be possible tax implications for the student.

Question: We meant to award a match fellowship slot earlier this year but forgot to do so, instead we paid the student a stipend from our block grant. Is it possible to retroactively switch the fund source? 

Answer: Possibly, we will work through these types of questions on a case-by-case basis with the department. First, complete the nomination form linked above and note the situation in the Comments/Questions field. Next, email gradfellowships@ucsd.edu to open a ticket in the Services & Support portal explaining the situation in detail and attaching documentation (copies of the ledger) showing how the student was supported and what fund source was utilized. 

Question: Can our department use an unfilled fellowship slot from a past or future SDF Match support year to award a student in the current support year? 

Answer: Slots cannot by used from prior years without exceptional approval from the VC area of the student your nominating. 

Question: Does the support from an awarded SDF Match fellowship slot have to be contained to one support year? 

Answer: No. As long as the maximum annual cost per fellow as mentioned on the award letter is not exceeded, the SDF Match slot that is awarded to a student does not have to be contained to one support year.

Question: I have unused funds from an SDF Match fellowship previously awarded to a student. Can I use these funds to increase the award of another student?

Answer: No. Unused funds from a previously awarded slot cannot be used to increase the award of another student.

Question: The student I was supporting through one of the SDF Match fellowship slots left mid-year. Can I use the remaining funds/partial slot to fund a different graduate student for the remainder of the year?

Answer: No. However, the original awardee may resume their SDF Match award upon their return. Departments must submit a new nomination and note the original awarded date for review.