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The Graduate Affairs Committee (GAC) is responsible for awarding departmental financial support, including Traineeships, Research/Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships. GAC also makes nominations for all University-wide fellowships. Each February, all students, regardless of their source of support, must submit a progress report (forms available at http://www.genetics.uga.edu/graduate_forms.html) in order to remain a student in good standing.
NIH Training Grant

All doctoral students eligible for NIH training grant support will be considered each year for continued or new support on this grant for the following year. Criteria appropriate to the stage of student training will be used in selection of trainees. These criteria will include class performance, research accomplishments – particularly as documented by publications and research presentations at meetings, teaching accomplishments, and overall participation in the graduate program of the department (e.g., attendance at seminars, participation in recruitment, and leadership).
Outside Fellowships

All graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply for stipend support from governmental and private fellowships. See the Graduate School web site for descriptions of outside funding opportunities. Predoctoral fellowships offered by the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Ford Foundation are particularly noteworthy. The Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant program of NSF has grants to support research. The Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research program has smaller amounts of research money available, with deadlines every October 15 and March 15.
Alton and Bishop Fellowships

All third-year doctoral students will be considered for support by the Kirby and Jan Alton Graduate Fellowship for the following year. Selection criteria will be based primarily on research accomplishments as documented by published papers, manuscripts submitted, research presentations, and research grants applied for and awarded. All senior doctoral students will be considered for support by the Linton and June Bishop Graduate Fellowship for the following year. Selection criteria will be based primarily on research accomplishments as documented by published papers, manuscripts submitted, research presentations, and research grants applied for and awarded.
Dissertation Completion Awards

Doctoral students in their final year of study are eligible for a Dissertation Completion Assistantship from the Graduate School, which provides financial support for the final 10 months of doctoral work (students must graduate at the end of the award period).  Recipients will be required to register for 12 hours in each of fall and spring semesters and 9 hours during the summer. Nominees from the Genetics Department are selected by the Graduate Affairs Committee and are due in the Graduate School in early March of each year. To be considered for nomination, a student's major professor must inform the Graduate Affairs committee early in February. After nomination to the Graduate School, nominees are evaluated by a panel of faculty from outside the student's home department. Applicants are judged on their achievements since beginning the doctoral degree, including publications, conference presentations, awards, honors, and other achievements. Nominees will also be judged on the strength of their research, their academic performance in course work at UGA, their ability to apply and communicate research findings, and contributions to the University community.