Funding

Three types of financial support are available from the CEE Department or the University of Delaware: research assistantships, teaching assistantships and fellowships.

Research Assistantships — Master’s and Ph.D. candidates are both eligible for research assistantships (excluding non-thesis master’s students). Research assistantships are offered by the department chair on the recommendation of individual faculty who have research funds available. Research assistantships are typically 12-month appointments and involve 20 hours per week of research. For research assistantship consideration, it is advisable that you try to secure an advisor before applying, if you cannot attend UD without funding. Some of the current openings are advertised here .

Teaching Assistantships — Master’s and Ph.D. candidates are both eligible for teaching assistantships. Teaching assistantships are offered based on merit in combination with the particular course needs of the department and may be offered for one or more semesters per year. Typically, graduate students who serve as Teaching Assistants split their time between teaching and research responsibilities during the semester in which they act as TA (fall or spring).

Fellowships — Fellowships are competitive, merit-based awards. They are most often used to attract outstanding new applicants to the program, but some are available to second- and third-year students as well. There is no particular work required of students with fellowships, but good academic progress is expected.

Consideration for assistantships and fellowships is part of the admission process. You should indicate on your application form which types of funding you are interested in. No separate forms are required. Fellowships and teaching assistantships are offered by the department chair on the recommendation of the Graduate Committee. The committee usually meets in November and March to prioritize offers to be made in spring and fall, respectively. In order to be considered for these positions, your application should be received by October 1 for spring or February 1 for fall.

View current research opportunities.

Students who hold appointments in the CEE Department are not permitted to accept other employment, within or outside of the University, during the period of appointment, except as stipulated in the Graduate Contract Additional Employment Policy. This is necessary to ensure that a student does not undertake so much work that academic progress suffers. For master’s degree candidates, no more than two years of financial support will be provided from fellowships and teaching assistantships. For Ph.D. candidates, a maximum of three years of support of these two types will be provided beyond the master’s level. No long-term support is guaranteed for any student; awards are typically committed on a semester or yearly basis with further support based on the student’s satisfactory performance and the availability of research funding.

Students who are not offered fellowships or assistantships by the department or the University may, of course, seek funding elsewhere. Possible sources include fellowships sponsored by agencies such as the National Science Foundation, student loans, and part-time employment. Students who do not hold appointments in the department but who accept employment elsewhere are requested to keep their advisor informed of these circumstances.

More information on financial aid for graduate students is available from the UD Graduate Catalog and the section for prospective grad students on the UD Graduate College website.