About the GAANN Ph.D. Fellowship
The Department of Computer Science (CS) at Texas State University has received a major award from the U.S. Department of Education’s GAANN program to support Ph.D. students in Computer Science.
Each Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellow will receive three years of federal fellowship support and up to two years of departmental support. The fellowship includes a supervised teaching training component that will provide GAANN Fellows with experience which they may choose to leverage in pursuit of an academic career. Consideration for a GAANN Fellowship is open to any US citizen or permanent resident, with outstanding academic performance, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. degree in CS at Texas State University. Women and minorities are particularly encouraged to apply. Recruitment of students from traditionally underrepresented groups is intended to boost the participation by students from these groups in the CS Ph.D. program and encourage their selection of academic careers.
Eligibility for the GAANN program
In order to be eligible for the GAANN program, a student must meet the following criteria:
· Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
· Demonstrate financial need (FAFSA)
· Be both academically strong and research-oriented
· Have strong GPA and GRE scores (90th percentile)
· Be accepted into the department Ph.D. program providing the grant
· Meet individual departmental criteria for GAANN funding
Facts about GAANN Fellowships in at the CS Department at TXST
· GAANN Fellowships are need-based. The financial need of each GAANN Fellow is determined each year by the Texas State University Financial Aid Office based on the information provided in the Fellow’s FAFSA submission for the year.
· Each GAANN recipient receives a stipend to cover the Fellow’s financial need. The assessed need is different for each recipient, but a typical stipend is $34,000* per calendar year. The Fellow’s tuition is paid by TXST’s CS GAANN program. *Maximum amount of stipend and subject to change according to the U.S. Department of Education.
· Each GAANN Fellowship recipient is guaranteed three years of financial support at the Fellow’s annually assessed level of need, subject to standard conditions (such as satisfactory progress towards the Ph.D. degree). The fellowship funds are derived from a combination of US
Department of Education funds and Texas State University funds. Two additional years of support in the form of teaching assistantships may be provided by the CS department subject to satisfactory progress towards the Ph.D. degree.
· Each GAANN Fellowship recipient is provided with at least one year of training in teaching at the university level.
· GAANN Fellowships are awarded without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, or disabling condition. US citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply for a GAANN Fellowship.
· Each GAANN Fellowship application will be judged in part on the applicant’s demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity in the field of Computer Science (as evidenced by the applicant’s response to the corresponding question in the application).
· Each GAANN Fellowship application will also be judged in part on the applicant’s demonstrated commitment to pursue a career in either research or teaching after completion of the Ph.D. program (as evidenced by the applicant’s response to the corresponding question in the application).
How do I apply for a GAANN fellowship?
Your admission application to the CS Department is the start of a GAANN application. In addition to the admission application, please submit the following additional materials. These additional materials should in a single PDF, with the exception of the FAFSA results (which we will get directly from Office of Student Financial Assistance) and emailed to the GAANN Project Director (vmetsis@txstate.edu). The GAANN Fellowship Committee will consider your admission application and these additional materials when making an award. Pay close attention to these instructions, as incomplete applications will not be considered. GAANN fellowships are awarded competitively, on the basis of both academic merit and financial need.
- Submit application for admission to the CS Department (https://www.gradcollege.txstate.edu/programs/cs-phd.html)
- Submit the following additional GAANN application materials (with the exception of the FAFSA results) to the GAANN Project Director (vmetsis@txstate.edu):
· A personal statement (1-2 pages) describing your background (e.g., first generation college student, educationally disadvantaged, financially challenged), a brief description of your dissertation research and relevant accomplishments to date, immediate plans after graduation and eventual career goals, and reason for applying for a GAANN fellowship. Indicate gender and if you belong to a group traditionally underrepresented in computer science (i.e., American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Latino/Hispanic ethnicity).
· A statement (max 1 page) describing your teaching experiences (if any). Students receiving GAANN fellowships will be required to complete at least one academic year of supervised training in instruction at the undergraduate or graduate level at the schedule of at least one-half-time teaching assistant. If you have already completed the supervised teaching experience prior to receiving a GAANN fellowship, we must specify how this regulatory requirement was met in your GAANN annual performance report.
· All applicants must also complete a FAFSA, as the amount awarded by GAANN must not exceed the student's demonstrated level of financial need. Questions on completing the FAFSA should be directed to the Office of Student Financial Aid. The FAFSA is available October 1st for the following academic year. Our federal school code is 003615. A new FAFSA must be filed prior to every academic year. The FAFSA must be filed early enough so that results are available by the application deadline date.
For inquiries or further information about our GAANN program you may contact:
Dr. Vangelis Metsis GAANN Project Director Department of Computer Science Texas State University E-mail: vmetsis@txstate.edu Webpage: https://userweb.cs.txstate.edu/~v_m137/
Deadline: Dec. 31, 2022, midnight