Departments may nominate one candidate for the Vaughn Fellowships. Students who are past recipients of one of these special fellowships are not eligible for nomination for the same or any other of these fellowships. The Graduate Council has stated that preference will be given to candidates who have already started their thesis research.

Please be aware that tuition support is provided to the recipients of the fellowships only if the student’s total stipend support (from all sources) in a semester meets the minimum required for tuition waivers in the student’s academic area. Otherwise, the student receiving the fellowship will be responsible for tuition. All fellowships will be paid out in equal semi-monthly amounts over the nine-month academic year.

Nominations are sent by the department to the Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies for review by the Graduate Council. The nomination package must contain the following items, in order:

· A summary sheet. This summary sheet should list the name of the candidate, the candidate’s department, the number of years that the candidate will have been at Rice at the time the fellowship is granted, a list of previous graduate degrees and the name of the institutions at which these degrees were earned. In addition, this sheet should contain a brief (one-paragraph) summary of the candidate’s research topic.

· An unofficial transcript (available online through the Esther system)

· The candidate’s CV

· A one-page summary written by the candidate, describing his or her research and/or achievements

· A letter of recommendation from the advisor or another faculty member

· A letter of nomination from the department chair

Award recipients are announced by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies prior to Commencement in May.