Funding Opportunities

Policies & Rates

Quick links: Costs & Financial Aid, Tuition and Stipend Rates (VIMS, Office of Sponsored Programs), VIMS/SMS Student Policies

Tuition - All students receive an invoice for tuition at the beginning of each term. When a student is receiving financial aid for tuition, the charge is removed when the tuition is paid or waived by Office for Academic Affairs or paid by an external organization.  Tuition rates are set and approved by the William & Mary Board of Visitors annually.

Stipend - Stipends are paid to students as a living wage. The source of these stipends can vary and may originate from the Office for Academic Affairs or from an advisor’s research grant or other funds they have available.  Stipend rates are determined by the Office for Academic Affairs and the Academic Council, subject to approval by the VIMS Dean & Director and Chief Financial Officer.

Note: Students must be registered as "full time" (9 credits per semester) in order to receive a stipend.   

For developing proposal budgets, Tuition and Stipend Rates are provided by Office of Sponsored Programs. If you are developing a proposal budget for a fellowship application, contact the Office of Sponored Programs early and refer to VIMS PPD 0607 (pdf) for additional information related to your proposal budget.

Workship - Graduate workship allows SMS students to expand the breadth and depth of training while supporting the operational needs of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. A student is eligible for workship if they are in good academic standing, making satisfactory progress as defined by university degree requirements and regulations of the School of Marine Science, and fulfilling assistantship duties as assigned. A particular workship assignment may be recurring, but assignments are generally short-term in duration. Refer to VIMS PPD 0603 (pdf) for important details.

Note: Only students with assistantships are eligible for workship.

The policies that pertain to assistantships and workships are detailed in VIMS/SMS Student Policies in the Student Handbook.

External Fellowships & Scholarships

• American Australian Association Graduate Education Scholarships (USA to Australia)
• American Association of Underwater Sciences (AAUS; must be a member)
• American Association of University Women
• American Meteorological Society Scholarships and Fellowships 
• Anchor QEA Scholarship
• Brazil CAPES Foundation (in Portuguese)  
• China Scholarship Council Graduate Fellowship Program (in Chinese)
• Chateaubriand Fellowship (for PhD students from American universities to conduct research in France)
• Department of Defense SMART Scholarship
• Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program (NOAA)
• Explorers Club Grants
• Ford Foundation
• Fulbright Foreign Student Program
• Graduate Women in Science Fellowship Program
• Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship
• Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Program
• John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program (NOAA)
• Josephine de Karman Fellowship
• Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship for Courses & Research at a Field Station
• Kathy Pace Technology Scholarship
• Korea-US Science Cooperation Center Scholarship (details)
• Marine Technology Society (MTS) Scholarships
• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships
• National Estuarine Research Reserve - Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship (NOAA)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Sea Grant
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
  
• NOAA Fisheries (NMFS)/Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Program 
• oSTEM Scholarships (LGBTQ+ STEM community)
• Out To Innovate Scholarships for LGBTQ+ STEM Students
• Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans (supports immigrants or the children of immigrants)
• P.E.O. International (for women; an external opportunity with an internal nomination process; contact Linda Schaffner for further information)
• Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future (for women from countries with developing and emerging economies)
• Smithsonian Institution - Fellowships & Internships
• The Garden Club of America Award in Coastal Wetlands Studies
• The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
• The Next Swell Scholarships

Other websites serve as portals to funding opportunities:

Marine Science Scholarships (Scholarships.com)

Pathways to Science lists funding opportunities that may be of particular interest to students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Scholarships and Resources for Minority Graduate Students

University of Michigan - School for Environment and Sustainability  provides links to searchable websites, and sections on funding opportunities for minority and international students

The Research Office at Johns Hopkins Univ. has compiled a spreadsheet that includes hundreds of graduate research fellowships and grants from a variety of funding sources and agencies, including many that are relavant for students in STEM fields. It can be downloaded as a sortable Excel spreadsheet here.

Travel Funding - Professional Societies

Many professional societies provide travel support to students and early career professionals to help defer the costs of attending a conference. (see the Opportunities through Professional Organizations section under Professional Development). Examples of current or past opportunities: Advancing the Science of Limnology & Oceanography (ASLO), American Fisheries Society (AFS), American Geophysical Union (AGU), Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (CERF), Southern Association of Marine Labs (SAML) (SAML also provides support for research).