Numerous opportunities for recognition and special awards are available for graduate students at the University of Oregon. In addition to winning many campus-wide awards, our graduate students have also competed successfully for awards such as the OUS-SYLFF Graduate Fellowship and the Fulbright Fellowship for Graduate Study and Research Abroad. We encourage our students to apply for relevant awards. For advice about applications or your eligibility, please consult with the Director of Graduate Studies.
Graduate Employment
Students admitted to the doctoral program are normally given a graduate employee position, which carries with it a full tuition waiver, health insurance, and a monetary stipend. Graduate employee positions are awarded on a year-long basis, and it is expected that a doctoral student will receive at least five years of support, assuming that the student continues to make satisfactory progress toward the doctoral degree. Graduate employees are represented in collective bargaining with the university by the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation.
Graduate employee positions are considered to be an integral part of our doctoral program and not merely a means of financial support. Faculty members devote a considerable amount of time and effort to training teaching assistants and evaluating their performance. In addition to weekly meetings with teaching assistants, the Department of Philosophy offers a year-long seminar on teaching that treats issues such as syllabus preparation, discussion strategies, advising, examinations, and the philosophy of education. Graduate employee positions are thus an important part of our students’ preparation for the job market and their later professional experience as teachers.
There is the possibility for master’s and doctoral students to secure graduate employment support by teaching in other departments and programs, such as religious studies, women’s and gender studies, humanities, English, and ethnic studies. Information on these and other current graduate employee positions may be found on UO Graduate School’s website.
Information on Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships may be found on the FLAS funding page of the CAPS website, or contact Lori O’Hollaren at 541-346-1521 or loholl@uoregon.edu.
Travel Awards
The department offers graduate students travel awards for professional conferences and job interviews at the American Philosophical Association (APA) Conference.
Each doctoral student is eligible for two reimbursements for expenses up to $600 each for conference travel, and one reimbursement of up to $600 for travel to the APA for an interview. Each master's student is eligible for one reimbursement for expenses up to $600 for conference travel.
Eligible students will be reimbursed for their travel as applications are submitted until May 15.
There will be no third-trip funding except for extraordinary circumstances.
Students who are not invited to interview at the APA, but still decide to go to the APA, will be reimbursed for their travel, but it will use up their job interview award. If they cancel their tickets and don’t go to the APA, they must inform the Chair of the Placement Committee so that the funds are available for others.
How to Apply
Travel awards are administered by the placement committee. To apply for a travel award, please submit the following to the chair of the placement committee as soon as you receive notice of acceptance or invitation to interview:
- Travel Award Application
- Confirmation of conference acceptance or invitation to interview at the APA
The placement committee will confirm your eligibility and availability of funds via email.
Reimbursement
Reimbursements will be paid upon submission of receipts up to $600. Please submit receipts to the department’s business manager as soon as you return from your travel.
Note the following receipt requirements:
- Conference schedule or email confirming interview scheduling. The conference schedule listing dates and places, hotel amounts, registration fees, and meals is required. If you don’t have one, check the web.
- Travel Itinerary. Travel reimbursement information must contain the date, time, and place of departure, as well as the date, time, and place of return (a copy of the airline itinerary will suffice). The airline itinerary must be purchased by the person requesting reimbursement and show payment received. Airfares must be from Eugene, not Portland. If you use ground transportation to go to Portland, you must include a copy of a comparison fair to show that your flight from Portland with ground transport cost less than a flight from Eugene. Separate quotes are required for any ticket that includes personal travel. When combining personal travel with travel to be reimbursed, payment will be based on the least expensive and reasonable means of transportation to the business location.
- Meal per diem and lodging. Meals are paid at a flat per diem rate, you do not need receipts for meals. Lodging receipts must be in the traveler’s name, and show payment received. Meal and lodging per diem is limited to the business portion of the trip. Generally, the dates of the conference or meeting and one travel day before and after are allowable for reimbursement. Any additional days paid by the UO must be documented with a business purpose. Note that you cannot be reimbursed for meals listed on the conference schedule or included on registration forms.
Please direct all questions about documentation for reimbursement or which expenses can be reimbursed to the department’s business manager.
Paideia Prize
Since 2004, the Department of Philosophy has awarded the Paideia Prize at spring graduation to the department’s graduate employee who most exemplifies the ideals of undergraduate teaching. The winner receives $300. No application is required; all graduate students teaching in the department are automatically considered for the prize. Students are eligible to win the Paideia Prize only once during their graduate studies.
Past winners:
- 2021 – Orlando Hawkins
- 2020 – Xiao Ouyang
- 2018 – Martina Ferrari
- 2017 – Shannon Hayes
- 2016 – Amy Billingsley and Dana Rognlie
- 2015 – Russell Duvernoy, Phil Mayo, and Kimberley Parzuchowski
- 2014 – Megan Burke
- 2013 – Teri Mayfield
- 2012 – Jonathan Langseth and Justin Pack
- 2011 – David Craig and Rhea Muchalla
- 2010 – Mindy Lawson and Aaron Rodriguez
- 2009 – Caroline Lundquist
- 2008 – Kara Barnette and Elizabeth Caldwell
- 2007 – Sarah Constance LaChance Adams, Mathew Alan Foust, and John Jacob Kaag
- 2006 – Celia Tagamolila Bardwell-Jones and Robin Lynn Zebrowski
- 2005 – Melissa Marie Shew
- 2004 – Adam Charles Arola
Philosophy Matters Prize
The Department of Philosophy awards the Philosophy Matters Prize annually for the best UO undergraduate and graduate student essays that showcase the continued relevance of philosophy to concrete issues facing us in the world. Up to two undergraduate prizes and one graduate prize are awarded each year. Each winner receives $300. Winners of the award will be contacted by faculty towards the end of spring term. Winning essays are posted on the Department of Philosophy website.
CSWS Research Grants for Graduate Students
Available to UO graduate students, the Center for the Study of Women and Society (CSWS) research grants support research and/or creative work from a range of disciplines on topics related to women and gender (up to $2,500).
CSWS Laurel Research Award
Available to UO graduate students in the beginning stages of their degree work. The student must be nominated by their mentoring faculty member for this award which supports research on women and gender. The recipient will be awarded $2,250 and receive tuition remission for one term in cases where appropriate. An additional $250 can be awarded to a faculty member for expenses directly related to mentoring or collaborative research with the student.
To qualify applicants must be either a currently registered UO international graduate student or a currently registered UO graduate student from an ethnic minority community as defined by the UO Campus Diversity Plan, e.g., African-American, Latino(a)/Chicano(a), Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander who is a US citizen or permanent resident. Contact the Center for the Study of Women and Society for more details.
Jane Grant Dissertation Fellowship
This prestigious award, honoring the wife of CSWS’s benefactor, William Harris, will be given to an outstanding scholar at the doctoral level. This award is designed to support dissertations from a range of disciplines and topics related to women and gender. Only UO graduate students who have been advanced to candidacy, or will be by the date of the award, are eligible to be considered for this award of $10,000 and tuition remission.
CAS Scholarships and Fellowships
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) offers a number of annual awards for which philosophy graduate students are eligible, including the following:
Mary Chambers Brockelbank Endowed Assistance Fund ($1,000 – $2,000)
- Financial need
Norman Brown Graduate Fellowship ($4,000 – $5,000)
- Graduate students
College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Scholarship ($1,000 – $2,000)
- Graduate students
- Academic merit
Everett D. Monte Scholarship ($1,000 – $3,000)
- Sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students
- Financial need
Risa Palm Graduate Fellowship ($1,000)
- Graduate students
- Promise for achievement in academic field
Charles A. Reed Graduate Fellowship ($1,500 – $2,500)
- Graduate students
- Doctorate candidates: Please describe your doctoral research plans in your personal statement.
- One recommendation should be from department head.
Graduate School Awards
UO Graduate School administers numerous annual awards for which philosophy graduate students are eligible, including the following:
Betty Foster McCue Scholarship: $5,000 each to up to 2 doctoral candidates whose dissertation topics are related to issues of human development and performance.
Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award: Up to two $500 awards for outstanding teaching performances by graduate employees (GEs) in their first year of classroom experience.
Donald and Darel Stein Graduate Student Teaching Award: This award of $1,000 is available for up to two recipients who have demonstrated outstanding teaching performance as graduate employees while at the same time excelling in their own academic program.
Gary E. Smith Summer Professional Development Award: $3,000 award for up to three outstanding master’s or doctoral students pursuing academic, professional development, or training enrichment opportunities during the summer.
Margaret McBride Lehrman Fellowship: A $9,000 award and tuition waiver for a non-GE recipient to a graduate student with financial need who is pursuing studies that emphasize communication, particularly through writing.
Margaret Wiese Graduate Research Award: Two $500 awards to support graduate student research, i.e., travel, materials, archival or field research, related to preserving the culture, language and/or artifacts of northwestern Native Americans.
Southeast Asian Studies Award: One $1,000 award designed to encourage graduate research about Southeast Asia.
University Club Foundation, Inc. Fellowship Award Program: To recognize and encourage scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and potential societal contributions, $5,000 award is made to each of four graduate students (one each from UO, OHSU, OSU, and PSU).
University of Oregon Doctoral Research Fellowships: Each department nominates one student who will be in the final year of doctoral work. The award is an $18,000 stipend plus tuition waiver for up to 3 dissertation students.
UO Public Impact Graduate Fellowship: This award provides two recipients with a stipend of $6,000 and the opportunity to participate in a research advocacy workshop for graduate students and new faculty.
Scholarships for International Students
At UO, you will find several sources of financial aid for international students, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Each year, the UO awards over $1 million in financial aid and scholarships to international students.
International Student and Scholar Services
Oregon Humanities Center Graduate Fellowships
The purpose of the Oregon Humanities Center’s (OHC) Graduate Research Fellowships is to stimulate humanistic research and support graduate education by providing UO doctoral students who expect to complete their doctorate by the end of the current academic year with the necessary time, space, and other resources to finish their dissertations.
Research projects must be humanistic, but applicants may be enrolled in any department, college, or school. The term humanities is broadly interpreted to include literature, philosophy, history, the study of languages, linguistics, religion, ethics, jurisprudence, history, theory and criticism of the arts, and the interpretive aspects of the social and natural sciences and the professions.
OUS-SYLFF Graduate Fellowships for International Research
This award is funded through the Oregon University System by the Nippon Foundation of Tokyo to nurture leaders who will transcend geopolitical, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries in the world community for the peace and well-being of humankind. Stipends are awarded for one year of full-time graduate work involving research and scholarly endeavors in programs and projects with an international dimension.
The stipend for OUS-SYLFF recipients is up to $12,000 for the academic year to assist with educational and research expenses. Approximately 5 fellowships are awarded each year throughout the OUS and several partial fellowship stipends may be given each year to help subsidize research-related expenses and travel.
Wayne Morse Dissertation Fellowships
Each year the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, with the support of the Graduate School, supports 2 graduate students while they conduct research and write dissertations related to the Wayne Morse Center theme. Each Wayne Morse Dissertation Fellow receives a stipend of $3,000 for one academic term, in addition to a tuition waiver.