A key part of career development in science is learning how to apply for and obtain grants and fellowships. DBBS provides assistance with managing fellowships and grant applications for students, including support during the application process, assistance navigating University grant protocols, and help with the management of merit and other awards. As a result, DBBS students are very successful in obtaining nationally competitive fellowships. Additionally, award recipients who obtain competitive external fellowships or scholarships may be eligible for an internal merit award.
Merit awards
Any DBBS student who obtains competitive external fellowship or scholarship awards providing a minimum annual stipend ($28,224 effective January 2025; subject to change annually) is eligible to receive an annual $5,000 merit award (paid by the student’s advisor) for the duration of the fellowship, provided they remain in good academic standing. At the end of the fellowship, the stipend amount will revert to the current DBBS stipend.
DBBS Internal Student Fellowship
All DBBS students are encouraged to compete for external funding as part of their educational experience. The DBBS Student Fellowship (SF) offers support to trainees who have limited access to external, competitive fellowships that qualify for a standard merit award. DBBS students may apply for this award after completing their thesis proposal. This fellowship is highly competitive (we expect 1-2 awards annually) and will be awarded based on merit of the applicant, the quality of their research proposal, lack of access to external funding, and the tie to the DBBS mission of interdisciplinary research. A full description of application requirements can be found here. Deadline: August 1, with awards in October. Questions should be addressed to Heather Ahrens (ahrensh@wustl.edu).
2025 Fellowship Awardees:
Devashish Sen
Molecular Cell Biology Program
Lab of Dr. David DeNardo
Lite Yang
Neurosciences Program
Lab of Dr. Robert Gereau
Lab of Dr. Vijay Samineni
For questions related to grants management, please contact Dana Kharibian (kharibiand@wustl.edu).