There are many funding opportunities available for graduate students. This page will be updated periodically as new opportunities are found. You can view additional opportunities on the OSU Graduate School webpage.
SPIN Database
The SPIN Database contains more than 40,000 distinct opportunities from more than 10,000 global sponsors. You can create customized searches and generate funding alerts based on your research interests. A brief training video is available on BuckeyeLearn for assistance in using the database.
Step 1: Create your SPIN profile (using OSU Wireless or campus network).
Step 2: Watch for an email with login instructions from spinsupport@infoedglobal.com. (Access may take up to one business day; the user-validation process requires an overnight administrative process.)
Step 3: Login to SPIN and create and save searches that generate customized funding alerts.
Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship
The Alumni grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship (AGGRS) provide up to $5,000 for dissertation research support to doctoral candidates. Other eligible candidates include those pursuing a comparable graduate degree requiring a thesis. All doctoral candidates who have passed the Candidacy Exam and whose dissertation project has been approved by their advisor are eligible to apply. MFA students are also eligible to apply for funds to support their MFA project. Previous AGGRS awardees are not eligible for a second award. The competition is held in the fall semester of each year, with deadlines typically in late September. Faculty members of the University Research Committee, representing all ten academic areas, will review applications and make final recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School.
Alumni Scholars Program
The Alumni Scholars Program offers financial support to exemplary students through their local alumni clubs. Scholarship opportunities are available for high school students and current Ohio State students. A complete listing of the alumni clubs who participate in the Alumni Scholars Program, including all application links, will be posted annually by November 1. Applications are submitted through Scholarship Universe. View all opportunities on their website.
Columbus-Athens Schweitzer Fellows Program
The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF) was founded in 1940 to support Dr. Albert Schweitzer's hospital in Africa. The U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Program was launched in 1991 with the mission to support and train emerging health-focused graduate and professional students in creating and carrying out service projects to address unmet community needs. At the end of their yearlong project, Fellows join the Schweitzer Fellows for Life alumni network, now more than 2,000 strong. The Columbus-Athens Schweitzer Fellows Program is one of 13 ASF Programs located across the U.S. Since 2011, the Columbus-Athens Program has supported students who are dedicated to addressing the social determinants of health in underserved local communities, and whose example influences and inspires others. Applications are typically due in February of each year.
Council of Graduate Students Funding
The OSU Council of Graduate Students (CGS) has always strived to support graduate students in pursuing their professional goals. To this end, CGS supports two primary funding sources for graduate students: the Edward J. Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service (up to $1,000) as well as the Career Development Grant (up to $350). Application deadlines are rolling thoughout the academic year; you can find out more details on their website.
Decision Sciences Collaborative Small Grants
Small grants of up to $3000 are available to support Decision Sciences research at Ohio State (or $5,000 for collaborative teams). The goal of these competitive grants is to foster new Decision Sciences research activity and collaboration. Priority will be given to:
- projects that bring together Decision Sciences researchers from different departments or researchers who have not previously collaborated.
- seed projects that are likely to generate pilot data or theory for external grant proposals.
- projects that allow for the meaningful involvement of graduate and undergraduate students.
- projects by researchers who have not been previously funded under this program.
Any Ohio State faculty member(s), post-doctoral fellow, or graduate student is eligible to apply. There are two deadlines annually, around October 15 and March 15.
Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum
Every spring quarter, the Council of Graduate Students hosts the Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum for graduate study at The Ohio State University. Students enrolled in any area of graduate study at The Ohio State University are invited are invited to submit their work. Submissions are due in January. In February, eight papers from each of the 10 graduate school areas are chosen for the competition. Those selected give a public presentation on their research. Three winners are selected from each of the 10 Graduate School areas, and the winners are announced in April at the Research Forum. There are cash awards for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the oral and poster competitions.
Graduate Associate Teaching Award
The Graduate Associate Teaching Award (GATA) is the University's highest recognition of the exceptional teaching provided by graduate students at Ohio State. A $1500 award is given to the ten GATA recipients along with a plaque, which is presented to the awardees during a visit to one of their classes.
Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The Fellowship matches highly qualified graduate students with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branch of government located in the Washington, D.C. area, for a one-year paid fellowship. To apply through Ohio Sea Grant, please contact Ohio Sea Grant Assistant Director of Administration and Research Dr. Kristen Fussell at fussell.10@osu.edu for more information about the application process. The deadline is typically mid-February each year.
North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Grants
The North Central Region SARE (NCR-SARE) Graduate Student Grant Program supports projects by graduate students that address sustainable agriculture issues and are part of the student’s degree program. NCR-SARE instituted the Graduate Student Grant Program in 2002 for officially registered graduate students (Masters and Ph.D.) enrolled at accredited colleges or universities. Projects must benefit agriculture in the North Central Region. NCR-SARE’s Graduate Student Grant Program is a competitive grant program to fund graduate student projects that address sustainable agriculture issues. A candidate may only receive one NCR-SARE Graduate Student award during her or his graduate student career. The Request for Proposals is typically released in April and applications due in May of each year.
Office of International Affairs Funding
The Ohio State Office of International Affairs (OIA) provides scholarships and grants for graduate students. Visit their website to learn more about internal and external funding opportunities.
CFAES Internal Grants Program, Graduate Competition
This is an invitation to submit research proposals to the CFAES Office for Research & Graduate Education Internal Grants Program (IGP), Graduate Competition. Read more on the Research and Graduate Education website.
Graduate Student IGP Awards are intended to accomplish the following objectives:
- Provide graduate students with an opportunity to gain experience with research methods in food, agriculture, environmental sciences, human ecology and related social sciences.
- Introduce graduate students to the grant-writing and peer-review processes.
- Stimulate faculty-graduate student collaborations and mentoring of graduate students by CFAES faculty.
To be eligible for this program, students must:
- Be enrolled throughout the duration of the project as a graduate student in one of the following colleges at Ohio State: CFAES, Education and Human Ecology or Veterinary Medicine.
- Have a primary faculty advisor with a CFAES appointment.
- Be in good academic standing, have at least nine months left in their program and not plan to graduate prior to December following their award.
- Students are eligible to receive only one grant every three years.
Deadlines are updated during the fall semester and proposals are due in December of each year.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Health Policy Research Scholars
Health Policy Research Scholars is a leadership opportunity for those who want to apply their research to enable Americans to live longer, healthier lives.
HPRS includes scholars from disciplines as diverse as economics, political science, psychology, architecture, transportation, sociology, social welfare, and environmental health. We’re always looking for students from any research-focused discipline that can advance a Culture of Health.
Over the course of the program, scholars will:
- Participate in policy and leadership development trainings and coursework via webinars and other virtual learning technology.
- Receive an annual stipend for up to four years.
- Receive training in health policy translation, dissemination, communication, and population health.
- Continue learning and working from their home institutions.
- Establish and strengthen professional ties to public health and policy leaders.
- Be eligible for a competitive dissertation grant.
Sigma XI Grants-in-Aid of Research
The Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR) program has provided undergraduate and graduate students with valuable educational experiences since 1922. By encouraging close working relationships between students and mentors, the program promotes scientific excellence and achievement through hands-on learning. The program awards range from $500-$5,000 for Sigma Xi members and $1,000 for non-members. Students may use the funding to pay for travel expenses to and from a research site, or for purchase of non-standard laboratory equipment necessary to complete a specific research project.
Sustainability Institute at Ohio State
The Sustainability Institute at Ohio State offers a range of funding opportunities to support interdisciplinary research, student projects, and campus initiatives that advance sustainability and resilience. Opportunities include the Ohio State Sustainability Fund, open to faculty, staff, and students for projects that improve campus operations, as well as targeted grants for faculty proposal development and scholarly activity. Students can apply for dedicated funding to support sustainability-focused research or initiatives.
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Students with talent in the sciences, especially those relating to food, natural resources and human sciences, will make the research discoveries of tomorrow. Today, they need training to realize their potential. Funding education can be a challenge, especially for students from communities that are under-represented in the scientific workforce. NIFA has two types of funding options to ensure more talented students can achieve their research career goals in agriculture.
Ohio State is in the process of revising gift fund terms, including scholarship criteria, to ensure compliance with Ohio Senate Bill 1, passed March 25, 2025 by Governor Mike DeWine. While this work occurs, language referencing protected class status may still appear in some external funding descriptions, however, the university is not applying protected class criteria in awarding scholarships or in spending program funds, in compliance with federal and state anti-discrimination law. As gift funds are updated using the statutory methods set forth in Ohio law, the language visible here will reflect these changes.