Student Fellowships & Opportunities
This page was designed to assist Graduate Students in finding and applying for research education and training opportunities. These opportunities vary in location (from local to international) throughout the year.
Morris Animal Foundation Veterinary Student Scholar
Morris Animal Foundation is now accepting proposals for its Veterinary Student Scholar program. This is a highly competitive program, providing veterinary students the opportunity to become involved in mentored research that advances the health and/or welfare of dogs, cats, equids or wildlife. The VSS program awards stipends of up to $5,500 to veterinary students who are selected by their institution to participate in clinical or basic animal health research.
The program is open to currently enrolled veterinary students in good standing at any accredited veterinary medicine program (this does not need to be AVMA accreditation). Students enrolled in a combined DVM/PhD degree program are not eligible for this RFP.
This is a limited submission opportunity. Interested applicants need to alert our office of their intent to apply and send a copy of their completed application materials to Christine Munsterman at svmstarprogram@ucdavis.edu no later than Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Do not submit your application online at this time.
USDA Veterinary Student Scholars Program
This program is made possible by funding provided by the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), Boehringer Ingelheim and USDA ARS. They entered into a 5-year agreement (2021-2026) to provide training opportunities to 12 veterinary students per year to conduct summer research in one of nine USDA ARS animal health research facilities.
The goals of this program are to:
- Provide students with opportunities to conduct research in livestock infectious diseases
- Raise awareness of federal research careers for veterinarians
- Increase partnerships with veterinary schools
- Approximate start dates of the research experience are between May 15 - June 1, 2024. Programs will last 10 to 12 weeks.
- Applications for the USDA Scholars Program are due November 15, 2023. Please reach out to svmstarprogram@ucdavis.edu if you are interested in applying.
- For more information, please visit the Boehringer Ingelheim USDA Scholars Program website.
AVMA/AVMF Second Opportunity Summer Research Scholarship Program
Now accepting applications! Applications are due to the SVM Office of Research & Graduate Education no later than January 10th, 2024.
The AVMA/AVMF Second Opportunity Summer Research Scholarship is intended to provide support for students who have previously conducted a summer research project and are seeking to gain a second summer of research experience. Ideally, student applicants would be continuing their prior research project but that is not an absolute requirement. Students are expected to submit an abstract of their results for presentation at the BI/AAVMC Veterinary Scholars Symposium in August 2024.
This is a limited submission opportunity, with nominations are limited to 1 (one) per school. There will be five scholarships awarded in 2024. Students will receive a $6,500 scholarship and an additional $1,000 to supplement travel expenses to the BI/AAVMC Veterinary Scholars Symposium.
To be eligible for this opportunity, students must have previously conducted a summer research project. They should be currently enrolled, and in good academic standing in the DVM program at UC Davis. Students must commit to attending all training opportunities, including the presentation of a scientific poster at the Boehringer Ingelheim/AAVMC Veterinary Scholar Symposium in August 2024.
Students applying for the Second Opportunity AVMA/AVMF Scholarship will need to submit an AVMA-AVMF Summer Research Grant Application to the STAR Program to complete the application process. Students and mentors should reach out to the SVM Office of Research & Graduate Education for the current year’s application. Preference will be given to students continuing their previous research project. Applications for the AVMF/AVMA Second Opportunity scholarship will be reviewed and scored by a selection committee, but only one application will be forwarded electronically by the SVM Office of Research to the AVMF/AVMA for national competition. DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION DIRECTLY TO AVMA.
Office of Graduate Studies, External Fellowships and Grants Listing for Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Scholars by deadline
For a comprehensive listing of external fellowships, funding search engines, resources, and information on application processing please visit the Office of Graduate Studies website.
GradLink
GradLink is an electronic newsletter for the graduate education community at UC Davis and published by Graduate Studies. For current and recent editions of GradLink, go to https://grad.ucdavis.edu/about-us/news-events/communications/gradlink. In addition, GradLink events are listed on the Graduate Studies calendar.
Extramural Fellowship and Grant Opportunities for Postdoctoral Scholars (from the Office of Graduate Studies)
For a comprehensive listing of external fellowships, funding search engines, resources, and information on application processing, please see http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/current-students/financial-support/external-fellowships/z-listing
Grad Pathways Workshops & Courses
Graduate Studies offers unparalleled opportunities and support for professional and career development. Their nationally-recognized GradPathways program has served as a model for other graduate student and postdoctoral professional development programs across the nation. This comprehensive program is designed to help graduate students and postdoctoral scholars succeed both at UC Davis and in their chosen career paths.
NSF Supplemental Grant for Graduate Student Non-Academic Internships
NSF has identified improving graduate student preparedness for the STEM workforce as one of its priorities. As part of this effort, a supplemental funding opportunity is available in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to support non-academic research internships for graduate students in any sector of the U.S. economy. NSF currently invests in a number of graduate student preparedness activities and has historically encouraged principal investigators (PIs) to include such activities in research proposals to NSF. The Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) linked below describes new commitments and funding opportunities at NSF to ensure graduate students are prepared for the 21st-century STEM workforce.
More information and DCL: click here
Animal Models of Infectious Disease (AMID) T32 - Trainee Positions Available
We are pleased to announce the availability of NIH predoctoral fellowships for the Animal Models of Infectious Diseases (AMID) training program, directed by Dr. Stephen McSorley. The AMID T32 program has been funded since 2004 and was most recently renewed in 2020. We seek outstanding students who use an animal model to study human infectious disease. Details about the program, eligibility, and information on how to apply can be found here.
Exploring state-of-the-art research that fosters improvement of human and animal health
Interested in exploring state-of-the-art research that fosters improvement of human and animal health?
Curious about career opportunities for veterinarians in research?
Looking for an opportunity to visit other Colleges of Veterinary Medicine?
If so, then consider applying to one of numerous summer research programs offered by veterinary schools across the country.
Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars
These programs provide veterinary medical students with opportunities to perform mentored research in a number of exciting scientific disciplines, attend and participate in a national symposium and at the same time be paid a competitive stipend. Program time-lines, locations and research foci vary such that you can surely find a program that fits your goals.
Your Profession needs researchers and last year alone, over 400 veterinary students participated in summer research programs that was capped off by attending the National Boehringer Ingelheim/AAVMC Symposium! If you are among this growing cadre of students who want to explore the excitement and personal rewards of research, this is a great resource for you and your peers provided by the colleges of veterinary medicine.
NIH Sponsored Opportunities
NIH T35 Summer Research Training for Veterinary Students at Michigan State University
Summer Internships at NIH
NIH Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research
NIH Summer Internships in Pathology
NIH T32 and T35 Training Grants for Veterinary Students
Participating Institutions
Other Opportunities
Cornell University Leadership Program for Veterinary Students
Havemeyer Foundation Equine Fellowship
American Society of Laboratory Animal Medicine Preceptorships
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
Research training opportunities for veterinary students at CDC
The Epidemiology Elective Program for Senior Medical and Veterinary Students
Post-DVM Research Opportunities at CDC:
Epidemic Intelligence Service
All Training Opportunities at CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/fellowships
NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP)
A superb opportunity for nurturing veterinary students towards an academic and research career! The program is the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program, a one-year research-training program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD). Applications are accepted annually from Oct 1 through Jan 15. The MRSP is designed for veterinary, medical, and dental students who already have had some clinical training experiences. To be eligible to participate, students must be US citizens or permanent residents, attend an appropriately accredited school, and receive permission from their school to participate in the MRSP. The academic and practical benefits of the program are excellent, and the operating philosophy is completely consonant with the One World, One Health, One Medicine concept. We need more veterinary students to apply to this special program, which we believe can be of great benefit to academic veterinary medicine. For more information: (http://www.cc.nih.gov/training/mrsp/)
NIH Includes Veterinarians as Eligible for Loan Repayment
In a new development, veterinarians are now listed under the “general eligibility requirements” for student loan repayment programs administered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the NIH website, click here. The site states that, to qualify for loan repayment, “you must have a health professional doctoral degree (M.D., Psy.D., Pharm. D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M, D.C., N.D., D.V.M., or equivalent doctoral degree) from an accredited institution…”
The specific inclusion of DVMs resulted from meetings with NIH representatives, arranged by the AAVMC’s governmental affairs firm of Cavarocchi, Ruscio, Dennis (CRD) Associates, LLC.
AAVMC will continue to work with CRD Associates to expand the inclusion of veterinarians to clinical NIH loan repayment programs.
FDA Veterinary Clerkship Program
Experience the power of protecting human and animal health. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Veterinary Clerkship Program is the only one of its kind in the United States. The program is designed to give fourth year veterinary students a real-world opportunity to see how policies guiding the approval of new animal drugs are developed and implemented by FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Application to the FDA Veterinary Clerkship Program is open worldwide to veterinary students currently enrolled in both AVMA and non-AVMA – accredited veterinary schools. All students must be U.S. Citizens or permanent residents and in good academic standing. For more information, click here.
Matching Funds for External Fellowships
External fellowships represent important opportunities to increase graduate student support and provide valuable professional development. The Graduate Studies office has announced a new policy on matching commitments for external graduate fellowships available on the Graduate Studies Fellowships Page.
This new policy significantly expands the number of external fellowships for which Graduate Studies will provide matching commitments. Our goal is to stimulate students to apply for fellowships and to encourage programs to work with their students to develop competitive applications. At the same time, we hope to simplify the process by which Graduate Studies provides matching funds.
There are two main lists of fellowships, one for which Graduate Studies will provide a match and the other for which Graduate Studies will partner with the program to provide a match. These lists are expected to be dynamic and will be revised as students apply for and are successful in receiving fellowships from new extramural sources.