Doctoral students admitted to the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences receive comprehensive financial support, including a generous stipend, coverage of fees, non-resident tuition, and health insurance, provided they maintain satisfactory progress. The Dunlop School and UC Irvine actively promote various funding opportunities, including pre-doctoral fellowships, research-specific training grants, educational fellowships, and teaching opportunities. Additionally, the school offers travel support for students to present their thesis research at conferences.
Students in master’s degree programs are responsible for fees, tuition, and all other expenses. Master’s students interested in an academic student employee appointment should contact their Graduate Coordinator for additional information.
Graduate students may be employed as Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs) or Academic Student Employees (Teaching Assistants, Associate Instructors, Readers or Tutors). Students earn a salary and, depending on the type or employment, may have all or part of their fees paid as a benefit.
Employment Opportunities for Graduate Students
Teaching Assistant
An academically qualified and registered graduate student in full-time residence chosen for excellent scholarship and for promise as a teacher, who is assigned to assist in the delivery of instruction under the active supervision of a faculty member. A majority of graduate students who perform instructional functions are assigned to the Teaching Assistant title.
Graduate Student Researcher Appointments (GSR)
Experience as a graduate student researcher is considered central to the preparation for a future career whether in an academic or research environment. Depending on the field, students may begin work in research under the direction of a faculty advisor at various times following admission. Predissertation and dissertation research are all guided by the same principles concerning ethical issues and classified or proprietary research.
The maximum academic student employee appointment limitation is 50% time (220 hours of assigned workload) during any academic year quarter. For more information regarding ASE and GSR appointments and eligibility, students should refer to UCI Graduate Division’s website: https://grad.uci.edu/funding/employment/.
Fellowship & Grants
Students are encouraged to apply to University fellowships and extramural fellowships. The Graduate Division provides a list of current school fellowships here: https://grad.uci.edu/new-fellowships/. Students should consult with their Graduate Coordinator for internal fellowship deadlines.
Domestic applicants who wish to apply for fellowships will need to file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Assistance). More information is available through the UCI Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
Extramural Funding
Outside support is available through a huge number of services.
Fulbright Fellowships
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity
Graduate & Postdoc Funding Search Engine – (UCLA GRAPES)
Student Billing
Much of our student billing is automated. Here are a few billing resources and links for you to login to UCI’s student financial systems.
Direct Deposit
ZOT Account Basics
Tax Information
Awardees can learn about their tax liabilities here.
Non-U.S. citizens who receive fellowship stipend payments from the University are required to complete and submit certain tax-related documents each calendar year in which fellowship stipend income is received. This is done through the campus Glacier Tax Compliance System and must be completed before the University may issue such payments.
For more information and detailed guidance, students should visit: https://www.accounting.uci.edu/tax/non-resident/index.php