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SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship (DCF)

2013-14

Dean Rosen's office has announced this year's competition for Dissertation Completion Fellowships (DCF). In order to write nomination letters for all eligible applicants, I must receive your completed application by 4 p.m. on Friday, February 1, 2013. The following information on the fellowship comes from the Dean's office.

—Paul Saint-Amour (Jan. 7, 2013)

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As the name implies, the Dissertation Completion Fellowship is intended for students who will complete the dissertation during the fellowship year. Each DCF will consist of a standard academic-year stipend, general fee, tuition, and health insurance. To reinforce the emphasis on “completion” and following the example of the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships, any recipient of an SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship will be ineligible for future fellowship aid from SAS. A student who is not expected to finish during the fellowship year may be considered for the combined Penfield, Teece, and SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship competition, which is described below; students may not apply for both awards. Additionally, students who are nearly finished with their dissertations do not make the strongest candidates for this award; the Dean's office prefers students who will spend the bulk of their fellowship year working on their dissertations.

DCF awards will be made on the basis of academic excellence, as evaluated by members of the SAS Committee on Graduate Education. Evaluators will use as one indicator of excellence the ability of candidates to progress through their Ph.D. programs in timely fashion, with due regard for unusual programs of study that might require a longer period of preparation or research. In calculating the student’s time at Penn, we will adjust for transfer credits and leaves of absence.

Recipients of an SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship may not be employed while receiving a stipend without first receiving permission from the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. Winners who receive awards from other sources must report them to the Associate Dean so that benefits can be coordinated. Recipients of Dissertation Completion Fellowships are expected to be in residence at Penn during the fellowship year, unless the graduate group chair believes that work elsewhere will expedite successful completion of the dissertation.

 A completed application must include:

(1) An up-to-date unofficial Penn transcript or the equivalent information and the status of the preliminary examination, foreign language requirement, etc.

(2) Two current letters of recommendation. (Please ask your recommenders to send these as email attachments directly to the Grad Chair.)

(3) A list of publications and conference papers. (Enclose reprints if they are not bulky.)

 (4) The tentative title of the dissertation, the name of the dissertation supervisor, and a concise "Dissertation Proposal" of no more than five pages, written for a scholar outside the major field of study.

(5) A statement from the nominee discussing his or her specific plans for the fellowship period.

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Again, please provide the Grad Chair with one hard copy of all these items (with the exception of the rec letters, which should come by email) by 4 p.m. on Friday, February 1.