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PhD Student Funding
As a Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) PhD student, you will receive a standard PME PhD funding package that provides full financial support for the duration of your studies, as long as you remain in good academic standing. This support includes:
- full tuition payment
- A stipend to cover living expenses.
- Individual premium for the University Student Health Insurance Plan
- Quarterly Graduate Student Services Fee
- A discretionary support stipend upon matriculation (one-time payment)
Every year, the University performs an annual benchmark to ensure that our internal fellowship offer stays competitive with those offered by peer institutions, and makes adjustments as necessary. All enrolled PhD students will receive the adjustment regardless of the year of program entry.
Financial Aid
Educational costs include more than required tuition and fees. Tuition and fee information is available on the Bursar’s office website. For the full cost of attendance, please visit the Office of Graduate Financial Aid website.
Students can learn more about financial aid and funding education from the Office of Graduate Financial Aid.
The Pritzker Molecular Engineering Graduate Fellowship
Eligibility: Applicants to PME doctoral programs
Duration: 2 or 3 years (unless otherwise noted in student's offer letter)
About
These fellowships are highly prestigious and are designed to showcase PME’s commitment to attracting the very best graduate students. These fellowships are available to students across PME’s research themes in immunoengineering, materials systems for sustainability and health, and quantum science and engineering.
All applicants to PME doctoral programs are automatically considered for fellowship funding. No separate application is necessary.
Students must be nominated for the fellowship by PME faculty.
To complement the academic requirements and recruitment needs of different disciplines, several configurations of the Pritzker Molecular Engineering Graduate Fellowship have been approved. The most common configuration is listed below, however, on occasion, students may be offered a fellowship configuration that differs from the example provided and this would be noted in the student's offer letter.
The standard three-year Pritzker Molecular Engineering Graduate Fellowship provides an additional $12,000 or $24,000 over the three-year period, in addition to the standard funding package described above.
External fellowships
We encourage our students to apply for external funding through programs such as the:
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP)
- Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE-NNSA)
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG)
If you receive a major external award, you also become eligible for the PME external award fellowship. This award carries a value of $8,000 and is disbursed annually for the duration of the external award period. If an external fellowship falls below what you would earn from the standard PME fellowship, you will receive a quarterly supplement, funded by your research group, for the duration of the external award to make up the difference.
Currently enrolled students can receive fellowship advising through UChicagoGRAD.
*Students are responsible for fulfilling their personal tax obligations. If your award includes income that is ot subject to federal or state income tax withholding at the time you receive it (for example, nonqualified scholarships, stipends, and fellowship payments), students may be required to make quarterly estimated income tax payments to the IRS and State of Illinois.
**Students may only hold one PME Graduate Fellowship or equivalent during any given year.