Financial support in the form of stipend and waiver of tuition may be provided to Ph.D. and M.S. students. There are commonly three forms of financial support: teaching assistantships; research assistantships; and fellowships.
Teaching Assistantships (TA). Teaching assistantships allow students to develop teaching skills while pursuing their graduate degrees. Student performance and progress are assessed each year. If a student's performance as a teaching assistant is satisfactory and he or she is making satisfactory progress towards completion of the degree, the TA may be renewable for up to 2 years for M.S. students and up to 5 years for Ph.D. students. A stipend ($16,000 for 9 months) and waiver of tuition will be awarded to graduate teaching assistants. Summer support may be available through summer teaching or research assistantships.
Research Assistantships (RA). Research assistantships depend on the grant funding to individual faculty members and are awarded at the faculty member's discretion. Specific tasks associated with the RA and the duration of the appointment depend upon the conditions of the award. Student performance and progress are assessed each year. Amount of support will be commensurate with teaching assistantships.
Governor’s Biotechnology Initiative Fellowships (GBI). Students interested in pursuing the M.S. in biological sciences in the area of biotechnology are eligible for fellowships funded by the Governor’s Biotechnology Initiative. The fellowships include stipends for student researchers, tuition waivers, and funds for research supplies and travel. The fellowship term is two years.
Board of Regents Superior Graduate Student Fellowships in Conservation Biology (BOR). The Department of Biological Sciences annually awards one or two Superior Graduate Student Fellowships funded by the Louisiana State Board of Regents. To be eligible, students must (a) be U.S. citizens, (b) be admitted to the Ph.D. program, (c) have a 3.5 GPA (undergraduate and graduate, if available), and (d) have a combined verbal and quantitative scores of 1250 on the GRE. The Fellowship term is a four year period and includes a full tuition waiver, a nationally competitive stipend ($23,000), and an allocation for research and travel. TWO NEW FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE FALL 2007