Weill Cornell Graduate School Fellowship Award Policies

Internal Deadlines

While WCGS guarantees funding for all students, we strongly encourage our students to apply for external funding. To apply to a fellowship you must adhere to our guidelines regarding internal deadlines. All application materials must be vetted by the Office of Sponsored Research prior to submission via our digital platform, Weill Research Gateway. Non-scientific materials must be uploaded 7 business days prior to the funding agency’s deadline and the complete application must be uploaded 2 business days prior to the funding agency’s deadline.

Cash Prize

As an incentive, WCGS issues an annual cash award, officially called the Fellowship Award, to each student who receives a fellowship, scholarship, or grant from an external funding agency’s competitive award program.

• Eligibility: Only individual competitive fellowships, scholarships, or research grants from external agencies are eligible for a Fellowship Award.  Institutional training grant (T32) appointments or Diversity Supplements trainees are ineligible. Such fellowships, scholarships, or grants need to provide funds in at least one of the following categories: stipend, tuition, or student fees. If fellowships, scholarships, or grants only provide lab supplies and/or travel, they are ineligible.
• Amount: Eligible students receive 10% of the annual total funding, up to $3,000 per year.  A recipient continues receiving the Fellowship Award as long as the fellowship, grant, or scholarship is active.
• Distribution: WCGS issues the Fellowship Award twice a year.  Students who activate eligible fellowships, grants or scholarships, or start a new year of an existing award between November and May, receive their Fellowship Award checks in June.  Students who activate new fellowships, grants, or scholarships, or start a new year of such between June and October, receive their Fellowship Award checks in November. The cash bonus comes in the form of check as a “prize.”  It is not considered compensation; it doesn’t appear on the W-2 form or 1099-misc and is not reported to the IRS.

The Graduate School reserves the right to determine the eligibility of a fellowship, scholarship, or grant for the Fellowship Award.

Please contact Dikaury Hernandez-Guner (dih3001) for any inquiries or questions.