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The EEB graduate program participates in two training grants, an IGERT and the GK-12 program.
Students who do not receive Graduate School or other Fellowships may still be admitted to the program if a faculty advisor can provide
Research Assistantship support. In this case, the student is supported through some combination of Research and Teaching Assistantships
and is encouraged to apply for additional fellowship support once in the program. Although in this case the number of years of guaranteed
support varies depending on the individual financial package that is arranged with the advisor, as mentioned above, in the past, we have
had sufficient resources to support every EEB doctoral student in good standing for the duration of their graduate study (i.e., five years).
Teaching Assistantships are awarded as 1/4 time or 1/2 time appointments. A 1/2-time Teaching Assistant teaches 20 hours per week and, in
2008-2009, will receive $18,378 - $17,503 for the 9-month academic
year. A 1/4-time Teaching Assistant teaches 10 hours per week and receive $9,189 - $8,751 for the 9-month academic year. In addition, the University of Minnesota waives tuition and provides
health insurance benefits; students with a 1/4-time Teaching Assistantship have 1/2 of their tuition (up to 7 credits) and 47.5% of their health
insurance covered, and pay resident rates for the balance. Students with a 1/2-time appointment receive a full tuition waiver (for up to 14 credits)
and 95% health-insurance coverage.
Research Assistantships are awarded according to the needs and resources of individual faculty. These appointments are normally funded through
research grants, provided to students working in areas related to the professor's interest, and arranged in consultation with the faculty. Nine-month
Research Assistantships receive the same pay, tuition and health insurance benefits as Teaching Assistants.
The current support levels quoted here increase regularly from year to year. In addition to the basic support provided by these academic-year
fellowships, most EEB graduate students receive summer salaries funded by a departmental block grant from the Graduate School, endowments like the
Birney Memorial, or additional research assistantships from faculty grants.
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Graduate student Kendra McLauchlan completed her Ph.D. with Professor Sarah Hobbie and studied the changes in former agricultural soils in the Prairie Pothole region of western Minnesota,
40 years after conversion to grassland. (Courtesy of Kendra McLauchlan) |
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