Semester Dissertation Fellowships - Wylie and Lee Thornton
The Graduate School's Semester Dissertation Fellowship program includes the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship and the Lee Thornton Endowed Fellowship. Dissertation fellowships provide full-time support to University of Maryland doctoral candidates who are in the latter stages of writing their dissertations. Awarded students for AY 26-27 can choose to use the fellowship in either Fall 2026 or Spring 2027. Fellowship benefits include a $15,000 Stipend, a Candidacy Tuition award (899 only), a credit for mandatory fees associated with 899 registration, and reimbursement for the purchase of an individual student health insurance plan for the semester.
Eligibility: Eligible candidates are current UMD doctoral students who will have advanced to candidacy by June 1, 2026, and expect to graduate by August 2027.
Nomination Process: Doctoral programs are eligible to nominate candidates for the Semester Dissertation Fellowship. Please see the Nomination Allocation Schedule in the Guidelines. Programs must submit nominations by noon, Wednesday, February 11, 2026.
Students: Please consult with your department about the internal selection process and deadlines.
AY 26-27 Guidelines
Nomination Cover Sheet
DGS Questionnaire - PDF / Word
Eligible candidates are University of Maryland doctoral students enrolled full time in a doctoral degree program. Candidates must have excellent qualifications and in the latter stages of writing their dissertations.
Eligible candidates must be advanced to candidacy by June 1, 2027, AND expect to graduate by August 2028.
Students holding the Semester Dissertation Fellowship agree not to accept an assistantship, other full-time fellowship, or employment of $2,000 or more during the period of the Fellowship. Supplemental fellowships may be accepted.
Students may receive the Semester Dissertation Fellowship only once. Fellowships may not be deferred.
Semester Dissertation Fellows will receive a $15,000 stipend, a Candidacy Tuition Award (dissertation 899 credits only), a credit for the student’s mandatory fees associated with 899 enrollment, and reimbursement of up to $1,500 for the cost of an individual health insurance plan while on fellowship
Health Insurance
Dissertation Fellows must be off payroll to receive the fellowship stipend, which also means the state health insurance benefits will not be available to Fellows. Wylie Fellows are eligible to enroll in the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). For more Information about securing health insurance while on the Dissertation Fellowship, please use https://gradschool.umd.edu/health-insurance/Wylie-Fellows as a resource. To request reimbursement for the cost of an individual student health insurance (up to $1500), complete the Health Insurance Reimbursement Request Form. Health insurance for dependents is not reimbursed.
Nomination Packages
Programs must gather the needed materials and submit by the nomination deadline.
Nominee Cover Sheet
A Student written Proposal (abstract & one-page statement).
** Students are required to write for a non-specialist audience.
a) Abstract: Students prepare an abstract (500 word maximum). The abstract should include a) the title; b) a description of the study; c) the significance of the study; and d) sources of information or data, if applicable.
b) One-page statement: Students prepare a statement of: a) work completed; b) work remaining; c) timeline; and d) expected completion date.The student’s curriculum vitae (two page maximum)
A letter from the student’s advisor describing the quality and accomplishments of the student, the significance of the student’s dissertation project, and an account of how this fellowship would have an impact on the student’s ability to progress toward their degree by August 2027.
The DGS Questionnaire: We ask the Director of Graduate Studies to complete the DGS Questionnaire in order to better inform the committee about disciplinary and programmatic differences. (If the student’s advisor is also the Director of Graduate Studies, the Program/Department Chair should complete the questionnaire).
Programs must gather the above materials, then submit the five (5) files to the Graduate School Awards Portal by the deadline. (Do not combine the files.) Submit nomination materials by going to the Awards Portal at terpengage.umd.edu/gsawards/s/.
The Graduate School appoints a multi-disciplinary faculty panel to review all of Semester Dissertation Fellowship proposals. Because the panel may not include faculty from their field of study, students should write for a general audience. Committee members will be instructed to evaluate the proposals based on:
- the student’s achievements and promise;
- the excellence of the research proposal and the student’s ability to write for a non-specialist audience;
- work done on the project to date (if any);
- the potential importance of the dissertation to the student’s field of research; and
- the likelihood of the student’s ability to complete the dissertation during the fellowship year and graduate by August 2027.
It is expected that the cohort of awardees will represent university values.
At the end of the semester, the student will submit a brief but specific report.
Please direct all questions to Program Director Robyn Kotzker for the Office of Funding Opportunities (rkotzker@umd.edu, 301.405.0281)
Fellowship Recipients
2025-26 Jou-Tsen Ou, Chemistry
2024-25 Lindsay Mallick, Maternal and Child Health
2023-24 William Grant Wical, Anthropology
2022-23 Robin Sundaramoorthy, Journalism
2021-22 Izidora Skracic, Family Science
2020-21 Tangere Hoagland, Women’s Studies
2019-20 Tracy Jenkins, Anthropology
2018-19 Leila Duman, Chemistry
2017-18 Rianna Murray, Toxicology
2016-17 Jie Zhang, Geographical Sciences
2015-16 Miao Guo, Nutrition and Food Science
2014-15 Michael Roller, Anthropology