PhD Student Funding
As a University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) PhD student, you will receive a standard UChicago PME PhD funding package that provides full financial support for the duration of your studies, if 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)
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 UChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering Graduate Fellowship
Eligibility: Applicants to UChicago PME doctoral programs
Duration: 1 year (unless otherwise noted in student's offer letter)
About
These fellowships are highly prestigious and are designed to showcase UChicago PME’s commitment to attracting the very best graduate students. These fellowships are available to students across UChicago PME’s research institutes in immunoengineering, materials for sustainability, and quantum science and engineering.
How to Apply
All applicants to UChicago PME doctoral programs are automatically considered for fellowship funding. No separate application is necessary.
Students must be nominated for the fellowship by UChicago PME faculty.
Fellowship Terms
To complement the academic requirements and recruitment needs of different disciplines, several configurations of the University of Chicago 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.
Standard Fellowship
The standard University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering Graduate Fellowship provides up to an additional $5,000 in a student’s first year of the PhD program, 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)
- The National GEM Consortium (GEM Fellowship)
- 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 UChicago PME external award fellowship. This award carries a value of $6,000 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 UChicago 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 not 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 UChicago PME Graduate Fellowship or equivalent during any given year.