A comprehensive list of funding opportunities for graduate and postgraduate students can be found here, but a list of some of the more commonly petitioned agencies and department-specific awards are below:
Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowships
These fellowships are awarded to students of exceptional promise and ability either when they first enroll in the PhD program or when they have advanced to the dissertation stage. They carry a stipend plus remission of tuition. No service is required.
The application process begins in January of each year. Information is provided by the graduate secretary of the Department of Biological Sciences.
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
The National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The NSF welcomes applications from all qualified students and strongly encourages under-represented populations, including women, under-represented racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, to apply for this fellowship.
Deadline: November
American Heart Association Great Rivers Affiliate Predoctoral Fellowships
The American Heart Association Great Rivers Affiliate (which covers Pennsylvania) offers a pre-doctoral fellowship to help students initiate careers in cardiovascular and stroke research by providing research assistance and training. Proposals are encouraged from all basic, epidemiological and/or clinical disciplines that bear on cardiovascular and stroke problems. It is particularly important for the new fellow to receive wise counsel and direction from a senior investigator interested in the conduct and progress of the research project during the research-training period. Each fellow must have a sponsor.
Deadline: January
Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Predoctoral Traineeship
The Predoctoral Traineeship Award supports the training of promising graduate students studying breast cancer under the guidance of a designated mentor to prepare them for successful careers in breast cancer research.
Deadline: see website for program announcements
National Institutes of Health Individual Predoctoral Kirschstein Fellowships
The purpose of this individual predoctoral research training fellowship is to provide support for promising doctoral candidates who will be performing dissertation research and training in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers.
Deadline: see website
McKinley Research Fund
The G. Murray McKinley Research Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation provides grants to support research in ecology conducted at the PLE.
Deadline: February
Arthur and Barbara Pape Endowment
The Arthur and Barbara Pape Endowment provides support for research conducted at PLE.
Deadline: February
Leasure K. Darbaker Prize in Botany
The Leasure K. Darbaker Prize in Botany is an annual award available for support of botany-related studies conducted at PLE at the graduate or post doctoral levels.
Deadline: February