University of Southern California

Application Guidelines

Goal: The primary goal of the Graduate Top-Off Fellowship program is to facilitate the recruitment of outstanding doctoral students to USC. Funds from the WiSE program provide $5,000 stipends to each of four incoming Ph.D. students in USC Dornsife and the Viterbi School of Engineering and may be renewed for a second year pending good progress in the student's program.

Eligibility: Four non-transferable fellowships may be offered to entering Ph.D. students in WiSE-eligible Department in the USC Dornsife and four non-transferable fellowships may be offered to entering Ph.D. students in the Viterbi School of Engineering. In order to be eligible for a WiSE Fellowship, nominees must be offered some other substantial form of support: a fellowship (with a stipend at least equal to that of a 50% graduate assistant), a 50% teaching assistantship or a 50% research assistantship. The WiSE Fellowship will then be used to "top-off" the regular support offer.

Nomination Process: Each WiSE-eligible department is allowed to nominate one candidate. The nomination materials must be submitted electronically by the deadline to the WiSE Program office at wiseprog@usc.edu. Any faculty member (research or tenure track) with Ph.D. supervision privileges is eligible to submit nominations through their department. Research faculty without these privileges may also apply together with a tenure-track member in an advisory role. The following information must be submitted for each nominee:

  1. A copy of the student's application for admission which should include GRE scores, GPA for undergraduate and graduate studies (if applicable), research statement from the candidate's general application, and at least two letters of support from previous mentors.
  2. A brief statement from the department chair that describes how the support of these students will serve to increase the representation of women in science and engineering.

The WiSE Committee in USC Dornsife College and in the Viterbi School of Engineering will rank the applicants and offers will be extended to the top four candidates in each unit. Funds from the WiSE Program will provide two years of a WiSE Fellowship stipend for each student selected. Departments are encouraged to provide one additional year of the Fellowship for a total of three years as a Top-Off Fellow. Before awarding the second year continuation of the Fellowship, the satisfactory progress of the student will be verified. In the event that a student is not making satisfactory progress, the Fellowship will not be renewed.

USC Women in Science and Engineering
1042 Downey Way, DRB 140*
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1111
(213) 740-0996
(213) 821-5252

*The WiSE Suite is located in DRB 232.
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