Highlights from Announcements 7/6/20
Three Doctoral Students Receive Ford Fellowships
Three doctoral students have been selected to receive 2020 Ford Foundation Fellowships: Macy Castaneda and Drea Darby received predoctoral competition fellowships, and Victoria Ortega received a dissertation competition fellowship. Honorable mentions were awarded to 15 additional Cornell graduate students.
The 2020 predoctoral fellowships will provide funding of $27,000 per year for three years to a total of 71 students, and the dissertation fellowship will provide $28,000 in funding for one year to 37 students writing and defending their dissertations. All recipients are invited to attend a Conference of Ford Fellows and given access to Ford Fellow Regional Liaisons, who volunteer to provide mentoring and support to current Fellows.
How to Keep Your Options Open
By Derek Attig, assistant dean for career and professional development at the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“I’m going on the faculty job market this fall. But it’s so competitive. What if I don’t get a job?”
“I thought I always wanted to be a professor, but lately I’m not sure. I’ll probably send out some faculty applications this year, but I’m open to other things, too. But how can I do both?”
“Whatever happens, I want to be done with grad school next May. How do I keep my options open, jobwise?”
These are questions I hear every year from Ph.D. students, but I’ve been hearing them more than ever this year. Facing a wildly uncertain, mid-COVID-19 faculty job market this fall, these students are planning for multiple possible futures. It’s something I wish every grad student interested in pursuing faculty jobs would do. And all the more so this year.
Read the Inside Higher Ed essay
Conference Grants for Research Degree Students
While university travel is restricted, the Graduate School is modifying our Conference Travel Grant program to help cover the cost of student participation in online conferences. To be eligible, student must be accepted as a presenter. The grant will cover up to $200 towards the cost of conference registration. Students are eligible for one conference grant per year.
Student Spotlight: John McMullen
John McMullen is a doctoral candidate in entomology from Phoenix, Arizona. After earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona, he chose to pursue further study at Cornell for the ability to work with experts in chemical ecology and microbiome science as well as the graduate student community.
Read the full student spotlight
Interested in what other graduate students are doing both on and off campus?
Check out our student spotlights, Q&As with current students about their research, hobbies, and experiences at Cornell.