If You Are a Ph.D. Student

The standard financial aid package provides for five full years of funding. First-year students generally receive a fellowship for two quarters and a teaching assistantship for one quarter. In subsequent years, support comes in the form of teaching assistantships and (in some cases) research assistantships and fellowships. Fellowships and assistantships provide a stipend/salary and cover tuition and most fees in addition. More information on stipends and other benefits is available here: https://supportinggraduatestudents.ucr.edu/compensation-benefits.

If You Are an M.A. Student

Fellowship funding is not available to M.A. students.  M.A. students may be eligible for need-based aid. Teaching assistantships are occasionally awarded to M.A. students.

The David Pion-Berlin Research Award Fund

The David Pion-Berlin Research Award Fund supports graduate research in comparative politics with relevance to Latin America. The Department periodically solicits proposals from Political Science Ph.D. Students who have passed their comprehensive exams. Awards of up to $1,500 may be used for research expenses such as travel to field sites or archives, data or materials purchases, research assistance, copying and mailing, and other reasonable research costs. Proposals (1-2 pages) should describe the project, how funds will advance the research, and a brief budget and expenditure timeline. An ad hoc faculty committee selects awardees, with particular emphasis on supporting dissertation research. Recipients must submit a one-page summary of how funds were used within 30 days of the completion date on their timeline; failure to do so may render the student ineligible for discretionary department funding (e.g., conference travel). More information about how to apply will be sent in a call for applications via the graduate student email listerv.

Named in honor of David Pion-Berlin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at UCR, the fund celebrates his long-standing leadership, mentorship, and scholarship in Latin American politics. His work has defined the study of civil-military relations, human rights, political violence, security, and defense in comparative politics. Dr. Pion-Berlin, who retired in July 2024 after 33 years of service at UCR, has published over 80 articles and chapters and is the author or editor of 10 books. His many honors include the 2019 Alfred Stepan Lifetime Achievement Award in Defense, Public Security and Democracy from the Latin American Studies Association and the 2019 Giuseppe Caforio ERGOMAS Award for Best Book in 2017-18. He has also been recognized at UCR for his outstanding mentorship: Dr. Pion-Berlin won the Graduate Dissertation Advising/Mentoring Award in 2015-2016 and has served as dissertation chair to over 25 doctoral students during his career.

The Gabbert Fund

The Gabbert Fund is used to support graduate student research. A few times a year a faculty committee solicits student research proposals and chooses which ones to approve. Research grants can be used to support a wide range of activities with a maximum amount of $2,000.

The Gabbert fund is named in honor of Judge John Gabbert. Judge Gabbert's contributions to UCR began before the institution existed. He founded the Citizens University Committee in the early 1950s to coordinate the city's efforts to convince members of the state commission to select Riverside as the site for the new campus. Many believe it was John Gabbert along with Phillip Boyd and John Babbage who brought a UCR campus to Riverside. The Honorable John Gabbert has served many organizations throughout the years including: Riverside County Bar Association, California Bar Association, Riverside Unified School Board, Riverside Junior Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club, Riverside Community Foundation, 20-30 Club, Riverside Unified School District Board of Trustees, and the UC Riverside Foundation Board of Trustees.

Get Help Finding Funding

UCR’s Graduate Division can help you apply for funding. Most fellowships and teaching assistantships include fee remissions and health insurance, as do some graduate student researcher jobs.

Explore fellowships, scholarships, and grants 

Find additional external funding

The UCR Office of Research and Economic Development can also give you expert help in identifying and locating fellowships for dissertation research.

We encourage you to also seek external support from sources such as the National Science Foundation.

Get a Travel Grant

If you want to attend a conference, you may be able to get a departmental and/or Graduate Student Association Conference travel grant. Learn more.

We offer competitive grants for obtaining additional methodological training at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and The Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) summer schools.