by Mick Watson, Dean of GSAS

By the time they graduate, doctoral students in the sciences often publish several journal articles, but a variety of factors may prevent doctoral students in humanities and social sciences from following suit. Whereas science students often work as teams in labs, humanities students often find themselves solo in a library or archive conducting their research. Their advisors may nudge them to publish, but mainly they persevere on their own to get their work out there.

As fellowship season is upon us, I have had the eye-opening experience of serving on selection committees and reading student application files for various competitions. I have noted a common theme: the humanities and social sciences doctoral students who are most successful in winning grants, prizes, and awards seem to have all published at least one article or original piece of work before receiving their dissertation. They have also presented at several conferences; nevertheless, published works truly seem to set apart the good from the best. In some cases, successful students have served as a contributing editor or have listed several forthcoming publications. The most impressive CVs all seem to feature a budding publication section. Publications not only help improve your chances at landing fellowships, but also brighten your professional prospects--academic, post-doc, and otherwise. More generally publications help to establish you as an expert in your field.

I'd encourage our social sciences and humanities students to try to submit articles for publication well before graduation. Now's the time to hone your skills as a writer and author; and the sooner you practice, the better you'll become at both managing the acceptances and the rejections inherent in publishing. Please talk to your advisors and colleagues to learn more about how they have achieved success in this area. Read book and journal citations to see where other scholars in your field have published. In addition, GSAS is sponsoring the workshop, "Publishing in Academic Journals," which will cover the process of publishing in peer-reviewed journals (look to the left for details). In an ever more competitive market, the urgency to publish begins during, not after, graduate school.

GSAS Master's Research Fund
Provides master's students up to $300 to help cover research expenses primarily for a thesis or major paper. Apply at any time as long as funds are still available. Read more.

The Tauber Institute: Graduate Research Awards
The Tauber Institute offers grants for pre-dissertation and dissertation research in any academic discipline of Jewish Studies. Grants up to $5,000 will be awarded to cover travel expenses (such as visits to archives), purchase of research materials such as microfilm (but excluding books), and costs of data collection and processing. All students enrolled in a doctoral program at Brandeis University are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to students who have successfully completed their course work by the end of the 2012-2013 academic year. The application deadline is December 7. Read more.

Mellon Dissertation Year Fellowships (DYFs)
These fellowships provide a $33,000 stipend and a $2,000 research grant to support ABD students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences during the final year of dissertation research and writing. Applicants must be entering their 5th or 6th year as of fall 2013 and certify that they will graduate by August 2014. Mellon DYFs will be required to attend a year-long, noncredit dissertation seminar. Up to 8 DYFs will be awarded. The application will be posted here on November 16 and will be due on January 31, 2013.

University Prize Intructorships (UPIs)
This $6,000 prize supports doctoral students as they design and teach an undergraduate course in their field of research. Up to 5 prizes will be awarded. Applications will be posted here on December 3 and due on February 13, 2013.

Mellon/Sachar Dissertation Research Grants
These grants support doctoral students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences as they incur expenses associated with dissertation research. Grants are typically in the $3,000 range. Applications will be posted here on January 6, 2013 and due March 7, 2013.

American Association of University Women (AAUW) Fellowships
AAUW offers a variety of fellowships to both international and American female students including the Dissertation Fellowships (for female U.S. citizen doctoral candidates) and International Fellowships (for international students studying in the U.S.). Please refer to each program for application details, eligibility requirements and deadlines. Most application deadlines are in mid November. Read more.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (NSF)
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are for students in the fields of mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, and behavioral and social sciences, including the history and philosophy of science. The awards are open only to applicants who are citizens, nationals of the United States, or permanent residents. Applicants may have completed no more than 12 months of full-time graduate study or its equivalent by August 1, 2012. The NSF also allows students in a research-based terminal Master's programs to apply. Each award consists of three years of support ($30,000 annual stipend) usable over five years. Application deadlines vary by discipline, but fall between November 13 and 19. Read more.

Earlier this past summer, incoming students were asked to post questions to Facebook for the student and faculty panelists to answer during orientation. From the list of Facebook posters, four lucky students were selected at random to win a $50 gift card to Amazon. The winners are:

Stacey Ng, Psychology
Chen Liu, Biotechnology
Angela Passarelli, Ancient Greek and Roman Studies
David Harris, NEJS