The Encouraging Fellowships for Graduate Students (EFG) Scholarship Program
Overview
Numerous federal agencies, professional societies, and other external organizations offer programs where graduate students can compete for grants and fellowships to support their research and creative scholarship activities. In a new University of Mississippi (UM) program, the UM Encouraging Fellowships for Graduate Students (EFG) Scholarship Program, UM graduate students or senior undergraduates who compete for qualifying external graduate fellowships or grants may be eligible to receive an EFG Scholarship as an incentive just for applying. With input from the Graduate Student Council (GSC), the EFG Scholarship Program has been implemented by Graduate School and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) as a replacement to the former GSC Grants Program.
Eligibility Requirements and Instructions
- Applicants must be UM graduate or senior undergraduate students registered full-time during the Fall and/or Spring term and throughout the application process.
- A dual-degree student is eligible as long as the student is enrolled in at least one eligible graduate degree program at the time of application.
- Online students, non-degree, and certificate-only students are not eligible at this time.
- Applicants must confirm that the external fellowship opportunity they are targeting is on a pre-approved list published by ORSP and the Graduate School
- If the opportunity is not on the pre-approved list, the applicant should contact efgawards@olemiss.edu before developing an application to request the opportunity be evaluated and, if appropriate, added to the pre-approved list.
- At least six weeks before the application is due to the external sponsor, would-be applicants must submit a non-binding internal Notice of Intent (NOI).
- Within two weeks of the NOI submission, ORSP Research Development, in consultation with the Graduate School and the Office of Financial Aid, will review, confirm the eligibility of the applicant and the program, confirm whether the student has room in their financial aid package for the incentive award, confirm the availability of incentive funds, and then green light the student to proceed, providing any additional conditions or information that the applicant should know about before applying. Please note the $500 EFG scholarship will be included as part of your financial aid package. Students who received financial aid may want to check with the financial aid office to determine if this scholarship will affect other aid.
- Once the student receives the green light from ORSP Research Development, they should proceed with developing the grant or fellowship application.
- Once the application narrative is drafted, the applicant must obtain formal feedback, before submitting the external application, from two people:
- First reader. A member of the University of Mississippi faculty, who may be the applicant’s advisor, or any other faculty member.
- Second reader. Any other member of the UM community who is able and willing to provide constructive feedback on the proposal. Examples of UM units or roles who might be in a position to offer insights include, but are not limited to: the Graduate Writing Center, the Intensive English Program, the Office of National Scholarship Advisement, ORSP Research Development, internal or external members of the applicant’s dissertation or thesis committee, more advanced students in the applicant’s program, or postdocs in the applicant’s department.
- The applicant should then submit the application to the funding organization (sponsor) and keep proof of submission and receipt/acceptance/completeness by the sponsor. Proof of submission documents are generally expected to confirm the applicant’s name, a date/timestamp of when the application was received, and the name of the sponsor and program. Typically, a proof of submission/acceptance/completeness may be a confirmation email from the sponsor, or an online confirmation notification that can be captured as a screenshot.
- Note that for some eligible funding opportunities, the applicant will need to be the University of Mississippi—not the student. For such opportunities, the applicant will need to comply with the ORSP Administrative Routing Policy, including the requirement to submit a SPAN Form, route a timely transmittal, and conform to the ORSP Proposal Development, Review, and Submission Timeline Process Chart. See these and other applicable UM ORSP policies and procedures at https://research.olemiss.edu/proposal-development/policies.
- Within two weeks following submission to the sponsor, the applicant must submit a proof-of-submission and internal request for the EFG Scholarship via the UM InfoReady Review Portal.
- After submitting the request, an email notification will be sent to the first and second readers for verification, and then sent to the Graduate School for final confirmation with fellowship advisors. An email will be sent to the applicant with questions and/or instructions if any clarifications are needed.
- An email from ORSP or Graduate School will be sent to the applicant to confirm that all required steps are complete.
- Once the applicant learns from the sponsor whether the application was successful, they must report this in the InfoReady Review portal.
- Students who have received an EFG Scholarship previously must be current on all EFG Scholarship reports to be eligible to apply for another one
- Applicants must be UM graduate or senior undergraduate students registered full-time during the Fall and/or Spring term and throughout the application process.
- A dual-degree student is eligible as long as the student is enrolled in at least one eligible graduate degree program at the time of application.
- Online students, non-degree, and certificate-only students are not eligible at this time.
- Applicants must confirm that the external fellowship opportunity they are targeting is on a pre-approved list published by ORSP and the Graduate School
- If the opportunity is not on the pre-approved list, the applicant should contact efgawards@olemiss.edu before developing an application to request the opportunity be evaluated and, if appropriate, added to the pre-approved list.
- At least six weeks before the application is due to the external sponsor, would-be applicants must submit a non-binding internal Notice of Intent (NOI).
- Within two weeks of the NOI submission, ORSP Research Development, in consultation with the Graduate School and the Office of Financial Aid, will review, confirm the eligibility of the applicant and the program, confirm whether the student has room in their financial aid package for the incentive award, confirm the availability of incentive funds, and then green light the student to proceed, providing any additional conditions or information that the applicant should know about before applying. Please note the $500 EFG scholarship will be included as part of your financial aid package. Students who received financial aid may want to check with the financial aid office to determine if this scholarship will affect other aid.
- Once the student receives the green light from ORSP Research Development, they should proceed with developing the grant or fellowship application.
- Once the application narrative is drafted, the applicant must obtain formal feedback, before submitting the external application, from two people:
- First reader. A member of the University of Mississippi faculty, who may be the applicant’s advisor, or any other faculty member.
- Second reader. Any other member of the UM community who is able and willing to provide constructive feedback on the proposal. Examples of UM units or roles who might be in a position to offer insights include, but are not limited to: the Graduate Writing Center, the Intensive English Program, the Office of National Scholarship Advisement, ORSP Research Development, internal or external members of the applicant’s dissertation or thesis committee, more advanced students in the applicant’s program, or postdocs in the applicant’s department.
- The applicant should then submit the application to the funding organization (sponsor) and keep proof of submission and receipt/acceptance/completeness by the sponsor. Proof of submission documents are generally expected to confirm the applicant’s name, a date/timestamp of when the application was received, and the name of the sponsor and program. Typically, a proof of submission/acceptance/completeness may be a confirmation email from the sponsor, or an online confirmation notification that can be captured as a screenshot.
- Note that for some eligible funding opportunities, the applicant will need to be the University of Mississippi—not the student. For such opportunities, the applicant will need to comply with the ORSP Administrative Routing Policy, including the requirement to submit a SPAN Form, route a timely transmittal, and conform to the ORSP Proposal Development, Review, and Submission Timeline Process Chart. See these and other applicable UM ORSP policies and procedures at https://research.olemiss.edu/proposal-development/policies.
- Within two weeks following submission to the sponsor, the applicant must submit a proof-of-submission and internal request for the EFG Scholarship via the UM InfoReady Review Portal.
- After submitting the request, an email notification will be sent to the first and second readers for verification, and then sent to the Graduate School for final confirmation with fellowship advisors. An email will be sent to the applicant with questions and/or instructions if any clarifications are needed.
- An email from ORSP or Graduate School will be sent to the applicant to confirm that all required steps are complete.
- Once the applicant learns from the sponsor whether the application was successful, they must report this in the InfoReady Review portal.
- Students who have received an EFG Scholarship previously must be current on all EFG Scholarship reports to be eligible to apply for another one
Additional Conditions Apply
- The fellowship applied for must be for a minimum of $10,000.
- The purpose of the fellowship must be educational and involve research or creative scholarship.
- The EFG Scholarship amount is $500.
- Each graduate student can receive a maximum of $500 from the EFG Scholarship program in a particular fiscal year (July-June).
- Each senior undergraduate student can receive a maximum of $500 from the EFG Scholarship program in a particular fiscal year (July-June).
- Overall funding for the program is limited; therefore, once the limits of funding are reached in a particular year, no more awards will be given.
- The fellowship applied for must be for a minimum of $10,000.
- The purpose of the fellowship must be educational and involve research or creative scholarship.
- The EFG Scholarship amount is $500.
- Each graduate student can receive a maximum of $500 from the EFG Scholarship program in a particular fiscal year (July-June).
- Each senior undergraduate student can receive a maximum of $500 from the EFG Scholarship program in a particular fiscal year (July-June).
- Overall funding for the program is limited; therefore, once the limits of funding are reached in a particular year, no more awards will be given.
Payment of Incentive
- EFG Scholarships will be processed as financial aid scholarship payments to the student’s Bursar account, generally within 4 weeks of confirmation of the proof of external submission.
- Students must be eligible to receive this additional financial aid during the Fall or Spring term of the academic year in which the application was made. It is the responsibility of the student—not ORSP or the Graduate School—to predetermine their eligibility to receive the additional financial aid that this scholarship would represent. If in doubt, students are encouraged to contact the UM Office of Financial Aid and schedule an in-person meeting to review their current aid package.
- Students who have reached cost-of-attendance limits due to loans will receive a reduction in the loan owed in the future (the scholarship will be applied to reduce the size of the loan) to ensure the student’s awarded aid does not exceed the cost of attendance in the semester in which the scholarship is applied
- Students who have reached cost-of-attendance limits due to other fellowship and scholarship awards are generally ineligible to receive additional scholarships past the cost-of-attendance.
- EFG Scholarships will be processed as financial aid scholarship payments to the student’s Bursar account, generally within 4 weeks of confirmation of the proof of external submission.
- Students must be eligible to receive this additional financial aid during the Fall or Spring term of the academic year in which the application was made. It is the responsibility of the student—not ORSP or the Graduate School—to predetermine their eligibility to receive the additional financial aid that this scholarship would represent. If in doubt, students are encouraged to contact the UM Office of Financial Aid and schedule an in-person meeting to review their current aid package.
- Students who have reached cost-of-attendance limits due to loans will receive a reduction in the loan owed in the future (the scholarship will be applied to reduce the size of the loan) to ensure the student’s awarded aid does not exceed the cost of attendance in the semester in which the scholarship is applied
- Students who have reached cost-of-attendance limits due to other fellowship and scholarship awards are generally ineligible to receive additional scholarships past the cost-of-attendance.