Sections: Options | Conditions | Resources
Graduate Funding Policy
Effective Winter 2024, the Department of Astronomy follows the Employment and Compensation Policy for students.
Financial support cannot be guaranteed, since the funding is partially based on research grants. However, support has been continuously available to all students making satisfactory progress toward their degrees during the normal academic calendar for as long as we can remember. Summer support is even more limited, but has been available as needed in the recent past. Historically, the department has not had any problems finding support for graduate students who choose to stay with the Department during the summer. Regardless, graduate students in the early years of the program are encouraged to take summer positions at other institutions, in order to round out their education and make outside research contacts.
Funding Options
Assistantships
Generally, students are supported for their careers at UW through a mixture of research assistantships (RAs), teaching assistantships (TAs), and fellowships. We are all but certain to have assistantships for all entering and continuing graduate students. These positions all provide a stipend and a tuition waver. Expectations for a 50% appointment are 20 hours of service per week.
RAs are funded through the research grants held by members of the faculty. Students holding such positions participate in specified research projects; the total time commitment depends on your FTE appointment, but is usually less than 30 hours a week.
TAs are employed by the University to assist faculty in their teaching activities. TAs teach undergraduate labs for four hours per week. They also grade homework and exams, design learning exercises, and meet with students during office hours; the expected total time commitment is 20 hours a week. More information on TA duties is given in the TA Guide.
Departmental Awards
In addition, the Theodor Jacobsen Fund, named after a department Chair and member of the department from 1928 to 1971, was set up to support the research activities of UW graduate students. Applicants can request small grants from the Jacobsen Fund in order to subsidize professional travel, training, or publication costs. The departmental front office will accept completed applications until the first Friday of every quarter. Applications are available in pdf format.
Fellowships
Although all our students usually have access to TAs and RAs administered directly by our Department, there are also a variety of very attractive optional fellowship programs that may be of interest to students enrolled in the Department. Some of our graduate students have held or currently hold a variety of fellowships, including the Astronaut Fellowship, the Dorothy Danforth Compton Fellowship, the NASA Graduate Student Researchers Fellowship, Space Grant Fellowship, the Harriett G Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship, and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (see graduate achievements).
Students are encouraged to apply for any fellowships that they are eligible for. We pursue such support with vigor for all entering students. National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowships are open to first-year graduate students as well as graduating seniors. The deadline for application is in early November. For current students who continue to applying during their program, many fellowships have standard deadlines in either November or January/March.
Funding Conditions
- maintaining satisfactory academic progress in our department and the Graduate School, as outlined on individual program pages.
- students who are not native speakers of English satisfying the spoken English language proficiency requirement outlined in Graduate School Policy 5.2.
- acceptable outcomes regarding criminal background (if applicable) and sexual misconduct. State law requires that the University of Washington proceed with the Disclosure of Sexual Misconduct Declaration process. (We will contact you directly when this step is needed.) The declaration will require you to disclose any substantiated findings of sexual misconduct, to authorize current and past employers to disclose to the UW any sexual misconduct currently being investigated and/or committed by you, and to release current and past employers from any liability. If the results of the disclosure are unacceptable, you will not be offered a position at the UW. This law is not tied to admission or being a student, it is only a requirement of employment.
- a student's responsibility to maintain authorization to work.
- all employees of the University of Washington must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit an attestation to verify their vaccination status.
Funding Resources
Graduate Funding Information Services
UW Graduate School List of Fellowships
UW Hires
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