Special Projects Funding Requests
Table of Contents
Purpose
The Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) has a limited budget to fund special projects directly related to graduate education. Funds are generally offered as partial or matching support, in partnership with school dean's offices, academic departments/programs, or extramural agencies/organizations. Projects must be aligned with the UC San Diego Strategic Plan and/or Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence, and directly involve current or prospective UC San Diego graduate students, while benefiting education, career development, the graduate student experience, and/or strengthening and diversifying the pipeline for graduate education and the professoriate.
*The availability of funds may change at any time and is not guaranteed.
Examples of projects that will be considered for funding:
- Campus events for graduate students that promote diversity and inclusion
- Graduate student artistic performances or gallery exhibitions
- Graduate student organized conferences or symposia
- Workshops and other formal programs for graduate students to develop key professional skills in research, teaching, communication, career development, etc.
- External speakers whose presentations will focus on career development, graduate student success, mentorship or other topics related to graduate education
- Recruitment and preparatory programs to strengthen and diversify the graduate student population
- Travel for graduate students to receive a high-profile award in their discipline or to serve as an invited UC San Diego event leader/representative (Please note we do not fund travel for students to present research/papers at conferences or complete individual trainings/coursework. Apply for a Travel Grant via the GPSA instead.)
Ineligible projects include but are not limited to:
- Graduate students seeking support for individual research projects or educational expenses should instead explore this fellowships website.
- Graduate students seeking travel grants to support presentation of research/papers/posters at professional conferences/symposia or individual trainings/coursework should apply via the GPSA.
Process
The requesting faculty, staff, and/or student/student group should first work with their school, department, and/or graduate program to obtain budgeting input, matching and/or cost sharing support for the project. While some small requests might be fully funded by GEPA, in most cases, GEPA will provide partial funding alongside other sources of support. It is anticipated that most special projects will be jointly funded by the home academic department/program and the School Dean's Office (or, as appropriate, multiple such units).
A variety of information will be collected, so we recommend gathering the following before starting:
- Administrative/Budget Staff Contact (who will do the funds transfer?)
- OFC Financial Chart String (to where will we transfer the funds? Please note that campus no longer uses indexes, rather a full chart string for OFC is required.)
- Draft budget document, including narrative
- List of project co-sponsors and total amount secured thus far
- Support letters from campus co-sponsors (optional, but will strengthen the application)
- Project description and description of anticipated impact on graduate students
GEPA accepts special project funding requests on a rolling basis and requests will be reviewed within ten business days of submission. Requestors will be notified of the status of their requests once decisions are made.
Application
To request funding, please complete this Google Form and submit all required attachments and narratives.
Questions can be directed to graduatedean@ucsd.edu.