Student Financial Support
All graduate students in the Department who are in good academic standing and making normative time towards the PhD are financially supported for the duration of the student’s studies through a combination of resources.
Student financial support includes appointments as graduate student researchers, teaching assistantships, training grant traineeships, and/or other fellowships. BioE guarantees a minimum level of support at 50% GSR step 4 (AY24/25).
Training Grant Consideration
Bioengineering houses two training grant programs which augment the Biological Engineering PhD program and provide first year traineeship funding and offer professional development support throughout the PhD. The NIH funded T32 Mechanobiology training program and the NSF funded NRT in Data Driven Biology (DDB). To be considered for these grants, please submit a statement of interest as part of your PhD application. Complete the Training Grant Application/Statement of Interest Form and upload it with your PhD application under "Other Documents."
Please note, you must be a US citizen or permanent resident to be eligible for the fellowships. Feel free to contact the Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Floyd (efloyd@ucsb.edu), for any questions.
Graduate Advisor
bioegradadvisor@bioengineering.ucsb.edu
Funding Types
- Extramural Funding
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Many Biological Engineering students may also be eligible and are strongly encouraged to apply for extramural pre-doctoral fellowships.
Fellowship Deadline Fulbright Fellowship October NSF Graduate Research Fellowship October NIH F31 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Varies National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship TBA AHA Predoctoral Fellowship TBA Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity December Ford Foundation Fellowship Program December UCSB Graduate Student Resource Center
Visit UCSB Graduate Divisions graduate student resource center website for further extramural funding opportunities.
- Graduate Student Research
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Eligibility
Must be an active registered student in good standing.
Apply / Selection Process
Arranged and selected by a faculty member / principal investigator (PI).
Support Coverage / Length
Any GSR employed for at least 35% will get Full Fee Remission. Additionally, the GSR will earn a monthly salary based on their appointment - see the AP website for current GSR salary.
- Teaching Assistantships
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TAs apprentice under the active tutelage and supervision of a faculty member. Biological Engineering students are expected to TA at least twice during their graduate studies, particularly if they are interested in pursuing an academic career.
Eligibility
Must be an active registered student in good standing. New applicants are automatically considered and continuing students must apply quarterly. Priority will be given to current Biological Engineering PhD students.
Apply / Selection Process
Biological Engineering students should contact the Graduate Advisor to be considered for TAships. Once offers are sent out, students must sign the hiring paperwork before their Fee remission will be processed.
Support Coverage
Any TAship of at least 25% time will get partial Fee Remission. Additionally, the TA will earn a monthly salary based on their appointment - see the AP website for current TA salary scales.
TA Appointments
Graduate students who are interested in applying for a TAship should work with their faculty member and the Biological Engineering Graduate Advisor.
- Campus Fellowships and Grants
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Qualified students also are nominated for centrally administered Graduate Division fellowships such as the Chancellor's Fellowships, Regents Fellowship, Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship, Graduate Opportunity Fellowships.
New Student Central Fellowships
Nominations will be made by Faculty to the Graduate committee from incoming applicant records. The committee will choose Departmental nominees and put them forward to Graduate Division.
Continuing Central Fellowships
Several Central Fellowships are also available to continuing students in various stages of their degree progress. The call will go out to Faculty and Students and nomination packets will be submitted to the Committee for review. They will consider all candidates and choose the Departmental nominees and put them forward to Graduate Division.
- Grants
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Departmental funds
Departmental money is used along with admissions offers to recruit outstanding new Graduate students to our department. No additional application is necessary. Nominations will be made by Faculty from incoming applicant records.
Training Grants
Students are encouraged to review and apply for the Training Grants that support their research and curricular interests.
