Announcing 2024 Georgia Tech Pathbreakers Fellowship Program (formerly UCEM)

We are pleased to announce the launch of 2024 Georgia Tech Pathbreakers Fellowship Program (formerly GT-UCEM Fellowship). Click on the link below to view more information. Thank you!

  1. Internal Submission Deadline: Monday, August 26, 2024
  2. Cycle: 2024
  3. Description:

2024 Georgia Tech Pathbreakers Fellowship Program

The Pathbreakers Fellowship Program is an essential effort to help fulfill the Institute’s strategic plan goal of expanding access. Georgia Tech seeks to use this program and others to deliver on this goal by building an exceptional and diverse community of learning, discovery, and creation in an inclusive and collaborative environment focused on innovation and access. The Pathbreakers Fellows Program provides exceptional STEM Ph.D. students with an opportunity to expand their mentoring network, enhance professional skills, and receive additional financial support during their Ph.D. program.

The program is sponsored by the Georgia Tech President’s office. It was previously sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as a part of the University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) program.

Eligibility Requirements

  1. Georgia Tech Ph.D. student in the College of Engineering, College of Computing, or College of Sciences
  2. Passed Ph.D. Qualifying/Prelim exam in Summer 2022 semester or more recently (exam must be passed prior to submittal of this application)
  3. Good academic standing
  4. U.S. Citizenship
  5. Students must be supported by funding source(s) administered by Georgia Tech that will provide stable support though the completion of the Ph.D. studies (i.e. GRA, GTA, fellowships, or a combination).

Program Description

  1. Stipend supplement of $10,000 per year for three years that is added to the GRA, GTA or other fellowship funding the student is currently receiving. Note: Applicants should check the rules of other fellowships they may be receiving to verify that the fellowship allows them to receive additional stipend funding. Total award value is $30,000.
  2. Participation in academic and career enrichment and mentoring activities conducted by the Georgia Tech Pathbreakers Fellows Program. There will be about one activity per month during the academic year.
  3. Note that stipend supplements for the second and third year are contingent upon satisfactory progress toward Ph.D., participation in Georgia Tech Pathbreakers Fellows Program activities, and availability of funds for program continuation.

Student and Faculty Advisor Application Instructions

Student Instructions

  1. Complete and submit the application form online via InfoReady.
  2. In your own words, provide responses to both of the prompts below (put both responses in the same pdf document):
    1. Prompt 1 (maximum 750 words not inclusive of any citations, which can be included afterward) Describe a research problem of interest to you in your Ph.D. studies. Explain how you plan to approach the problem. Describe how your prior experiences support your ability to conduct this work. In your response, use language appropriate to someone without specific expertise in your project (e.g. a faculty member in a STEM discipline different from your own).
    2. Prompt 2 (maximum 750 words) Studies have shown that broadly diverse environments can be more conducive to learning and that diverse teams enhance the potential for innovation and excellence. Please discuss how the experiences, successes, inspirations, and challenges from your own life journey have enabled you to gain skills and develop character qualities that shaped the way you have or plan to serve teams, organizations, or communities.

Faculty Advisor Instructions

  1. Ph.D. faculty advisor must submit a reference letter for the applicant. The applicant will not be able to view the reference letter once it is submitted. The reference letter must include the following:
    1. Pathbreakers Fellows cover sheet that verifies: Date (or Term) the applicant completed their qualifying exam.
    2. Description of the graduate funding plan and the expected stability of graduate funding for the student during his/her Ph.D. program. The Pathbreaker Fellowship provides a stipend supplement that is to be added to the existing full base graduate funding secured to support the student. The advisor and academic unit should plan to continue full base funding (i.e. GRA, GTA, fellowships, or a combination) for the student throughout Ph.D. studies. For the funding source(s) provided, state which institution is administering the funds to the student (e.g. Georgia Tech, Emory University, other).
    3. An assessment of the applicant’s background, skills, personal and professional characteristics as they relate to the Ph.D. program.

Questions should be directed to: GTUCEM@gatech.edu.

 

Click to view application