The Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation and the Graduate School are pleased to announce the call for nominations for the Julie and Rocky Dixon Graduate Innovation Award. This fellowship is designed to support up to four doctoral students who are interested in pursuing innovative experiences that will prepare them for careers outside of academia in areas including but not limited to industry, business, and the non-profit and government sectors. The activities that comprise the experience should help enhance the career possibilities of students and be integral to their professional goals and plans for their doctoral research. Furthermore, the experience gained during the fellowship would ideally extend beyond the value to the individual student by enriching the student’s academic department, lab, research center or other UO unit by fostering broader connections and engagement of the unit and with our community of agencies, museums, non-profits, companies, national laboratories, etc.
Eligible career development experiences and opportunities should be integrated into the nine-month period of fellowship support and can vary in intensity over the course of the fellowship period. Experiences may include summer 2015 although funding will commence in fall 2015. Eligible activities could include:
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Internships or cooperative experiences with a company, agency or organization (e.g., non-governmental organization, think-tank, etc.) or public policy initiative or a research organization. For example, the proposal might involve spending six months as an intern organizing a high profile symposium for a governmental policy initiative, and then spending an additional three months focused on his/her dissertation while also drafting a report and/or grant applications for use by the agency in getting the initiative off the ground.
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An opportunity to conduct mentored activities in a museum (e.g., curating an exhibition) or archive setting, and then spending time developing the dissemination materials for use by the archive, for a topic matter related to his/her the dissertation research.
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Applying your academic skill set to develop a business, such as a consulting business or other entrepreneurial venture. For example, the proposal might entail spending three months being mentored by an entrepreneur in the chosen field, another four months working to develop a business plan, and another two months launching the business, all concurrently with one’s own dissertation research.
The selection committee looks forward to reviewing all kinds of creative ideas that meet the spirit of this new award. Students are responsible for seeking out and arranging these opportunities and developing an individual plan of activities (that should include their doctoral research and may include other departmental obligations) for the fellowship award period. The host entity must agree to provide evaluation and assessment of the student’s experience and performance.
If you have questions about the eligibility of your activity, contact Brandy Teel, Graduate School Student Engagement and Opportunities Manager, atbota@uoregon.edu or (541) 346-2489.
Award Information
Up to four awards will be made.
In 2015-16, each fellowship carries an award of $14,000. Each fellow will also be appointed as a research GTF (graduate research fellow) by the academic department at .40 FTE or greater for the academic year and will receive, as part of the Dixon Award, his/her GTF tuition waiver, all but $61 of the mandatory fees, and all but 5% of the health insurance premium for fall, winter, and spring terms to support that appointment. The $14,000 may, in full or in part, be used toward specific activities tied to the innovative career development experience or may be put, in full or in part, used toward GTF salary. The department (or research center/institute or school/college) is expected to obtain and provide funding to ensure that the total salary is equal to what that student would receive at the GTF level III, as the award recipient will have been advanced to candidacy by the time the award period commences. This departmental support, and how the $14,000 will be applied, needs to be outlined in the nomination letter as described under “Nomination” below.
As you know, all research GTFs are required to be enrolled full-time (9-16 credits) toward the degree. During the academic year, award recipients will be required to be enrolled in research or internship credits (three or more) commensurate with the time spent on award-supported experience.
In Winter 2016, each award recipient will be expected to participate in the Graduate Student Research Forum. In June 2016, each awardee will be required to submit a one-page report to the Graduate School detailing the innovative career development experience and addressing how this experience helped meet his/her career goals and academic progress, and how this experience was used to enrich either the department or the university.
Eligibility, Nomination Process and Deadline
UO doctoral students in all programs who will be advanced to candidacy by the end of spring term 2015 are eligible to apply. The selection committee’s decision will be made prior to the end of spring term 2015. The award will be rescinded in the case of an awardee that has not advanced to candidacy by the end of spring 2015.
Application and nomination materials must be submitted by Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Nomination
To be completed and submitted by the academic department:
This award requires two letters of recommendation—one from the student’s advisor and one from the external mentor at the entity providing the experience.
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ACADEMIC ADVISOR LETTER: This letter should characterize the student’s academic achievements, address the proposed innovative career development experience, and how associated activities will contribute to the student’s academic progress or career development. The letter should confirm that the student is expected to be advanced to candidacy no later than spring 2015. The letter should also describe how the advisor will support the applicant’s vision and goals for the career development experience. The letter should also describe the department’s financial support that will be provided to the student and include the signature of the department head or institute/center director as confirmation of the financial support for the award period.
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EXTERNAL MENTOR LETTER: This letter should describe how the mentor will support the applicant’s vision and goals for the career development experience and what kind of support and mentorship will be offered to the student during and after the experience.
Letters of recommendation can be uploaded athttps://gradschool.uoregon.edu/dixon-recommendation
Application
To be completed and submitted by the student:
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The applicant information webform. Documents described in steps 2-4 should be combined into a PDF file and uploaded via the applicant information form.
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An Individualized Development Plan (IDP). More information and templates can be found at https://gradschool.uoregon.edu/faculty/idp
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A summary of the innovative experience and address how it complements his/her academic research and goals; and how it will contribute to his/her career development. Be specific about the arrangement worked out with the sponsoring organization and when this experience will occur, (the kinds of expected activities involved during and after the experience, and how this opportunity enhances the career possibilities for the applicant. The applicant must describe any related activities in which he/she will be engaging, before and/or after the experience that complement the innovative opportunity. The strongest applications are those that also address how this experience could benefit and enrich the department or the university through the sharing of expertise and learning gained through the beyond-the-academy experience. (Do not exceed 1,500 words on no more than three pages.)
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A CV or resume.