Additional information about funding
- Departmental GRAs
- Assistantships may be awarded by either Department of Plant Pathology in Ithaca or Geneva. These awards are made on the basis of the student’s qualifications and interests. Students receiving these funds are expected to make a commitment to research programs in these respective departments. A student usually has considerable freedom to choose a research program within the department offering the GRA, although some constraints may apply at the discretion of the department Chairs.
- Faculty program GRAs
- In the second or third year, when a student is primarily engaged in thesis research, the faculty member in whose lab the student is conducting research typically provides the funding in the form of a GRA. This type of funding is usually from research grants awarded to the faculty member by a government agency (e.g., USDA, NSF, NIH) or from private sources (e.g., foundations, growers’ associations, industry). Availability of this type of funding is sometimes difficult to predict in advance.
- Teaching assistantships
- A limited number of teaching assistantships may be available through the Undergraduate Biology Program to assist in introductory courses. Students must apply for these positions well in advance. Biology TAs typically teach two laboratory sections per week, requiring an average of 18-27 hours of work per week, depending on which course is taught. Stipends for TAs vary depending on the courses taught but range from $19,360 to $25,800 per year. Teaching in the biology program also satisfies the teaching requirement for a degree in Plant Pathology.
- Fellowships
- The Graduate School of Cornell University offers several fellowships specifically for recruiting outstanding graduate students. For example, the Graduate School awards Cornell Fellowships to new students with outstanding academic records, and the State University of New York (SUNY) Fellowship for underrepresented minorities. In addition, incoming Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology students have been successful in recent years in competing for Presidential Life Science Fellowships; this is a highly prestigious fellowship awarded to only 15 students throughout the university.
- External fellowships
- All students are strongly encouraged to apply for external fellowships. The Graduate School maintains a comprehensive fellowship database available to Cornell students. In particular, we request that all students who are US citizens or permanent residents apply for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in their first and second years of graduate school. Many deadlines for applications are in the autumn, so early inquiries and applications are necessary.
Additional information on funding from the Graduate School
Additional information on funding and taxes can be found through the Cornell Graduate School at this link above.
