Graduation is just the beginning of the learning experience, especially in research. Fellowships are meant to offer additional “real world” training. Fellowships are offered in a variety of fields, and are especially common in the sciences. Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships are most common. Predoctoral fellowships are open to students pursuing a doctoral degree. Postdoctoral fellowships are open to those that have completed a doctoral degree.
There may be other requirements depending on the fellowship opportunity, such as graduating from the institution offering the fellowship. These are typically paid positions lasting from one to three years, sometimes as many as five years. Fellowships are a good way to gain experience, get your foot in the door at a particular school in or in your research area of interest.
The resources below provide information about and opportunities for fellowships across the country.
American Public Health Association Fellowship
The Harvard Guide to Postdoctoral Fellowships
University of Chicago Fellowship Resources and Databases
Notre Dame Graduate Fellowships Database
UCLA Graduate & Postdoctoral Extramural Support (GRAPES) Database