Award Opportunities
The Graduate College office sponsors awards, fellowships, scholarships and assistantships for deserving students.
Many public and private organizations also provide fellowships and scholarships for graduate students. Please visit the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards for assistance in finding and applying to competitive awards.
Recent Graduate Student Award Winners
Md Tuhin Chowdhury, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
Suchandrima Dutta, Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, College of Medicine
Charlie Giraud, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
Szymon Nogalski, School of Planning, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
Alicen Potts, School of Criminal Justice, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology
Pankaj Rajdeo, Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine
Amirhosein Sarchami, Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science
Aura Vargas, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Allied Health Sciences
2026 Award for Innovation
Nicole Pek, Molecular and Developmental Biology, College of Medicine (first-place winner of the Graduate College’s 2024 Three Minute Thesis Competition)
2026 Award for Impact
Zachery (Ziqi) Ma, Business Administration and Accounting, Carl H. Lindner College of Business (Graduate College Dean’s Dissertation Completion Fellow, 2025–26 academic year)
2026 Award for Interdisciplinarity
Karen Noda Morishita, doctoral student, Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science
From left to right: Ipsita Gopal Kundu, Apala Biswas, Esra Oz Cetindere, and Dorsa Rezayat
2026 Winners
First Place: Esra Oz Cetindere, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology
Second Place: Dorsa Rezayat, College of Engineering & Applied Science
Third Place: Apala Biswas, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology
People’s Choice: Ipsita Gopal Kundu, James J. Winkle College of Pharmacy
Finalists
Sara Alharbi
Ramy Amin
Apala Biswas
Esra Oz Cetindere
Elham Hasani
Ipsita Gopal Kundu
Annie McGhee
Amna Mira
Carlin Moore
Tharushi Rajaguru
Pankaj Rajdeo
Dorsa Rezayat
Angel Perez Villa
Fiona Wasson
Molly Winer