It is the responsibility of the student to obtain funding although the faculty will assist students in securing available funding. The following funding sources are available:
1. Graduate School Assistance
There are a variety of fellowships or graduate assistantships available for (M.S.)Ph.D. students though the graduate school; these are not available for specialized masters students. Students may however be eligible through the Health-Science Center Office of Student Financial Aid for funds under the following program:
Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP)
UTHSCH State Scholarship
Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Loan Program
Federal Perkins Loan Program
Texas Public Education Grant
These loan and scholarship funds may be available based on demonstrated financial need and/or academic excellence. Application forms and complete information may be obtained from:
Office of Student Financial Aid
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
P.O. Box 20036
Houston, TX 77225
(713)500-3860
2. Department of Imaging Physics - Robert J. Shalek, Graduate Fellowships in Medical Physics
Robert J. Shalek Premasters Fellowships (3) First year M.S. in Medical Physics students are eligible. Students are selected based on merit.
Robert J. Shalek Predoctoral Fellowship in Radiation Physics (1): (M.S.)Ph.D. Students having completed his/her first two semesters of study with a grade point average of at least 3.2 or better. The student should be supervised by a member of the Medical Physics faculty. Students are selected based on merit and are employed as a Graduate Research Assistant at 50% time, at funding levels consistent with GSBS stipends. The term of this fellowship is 1 year, and it is viewed as bridge funding for promising research projects. Applications are available in the Department of Imaging Physics Educational Office (B3.4329).
3. Research Funds
The majority of our students are supported by grant or contract funds provided by their supervisor during the research phase of their project. There funds are usually not available until after the first year at which time the student has identified a supervising committee. Graduate Research Assistant at 50% time, at funding levels consistent with GSBS stipends.
4. Outside Fellowships
GSBS Merit Fellowships - Each year two or three Merit Fellowships are awarded to the top applicants (as identified by the Admissions Committee of the Graduate Faculty) to recognize their outstanding achievement and scholarly potential. The Merit Fellowship consists of up to $3,000 per year (renewable for up to four years) in addition to the student's Graduate Assistantship.
American Association of Physicists in Medicine Fellowship for Graduate Study in Medical Physics - Awarded for first two years of graduate study leading to a doctoral degree. A stipend of $18,000 per year is assigned to the recipient.
Presidential Fellowships for Advanced Students - The Presidents of the University of Texas-Houston and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have provided funding for two kinds of awards for GSBS students:
Presidents' Merit Scholarship - Awards of $3,000 are made to outstanding applicants as a supplement to the standard GSBS Assistantship of $26,000. The scholarship will be continued for four years, provided the recipient's academic performance is satisfactory. Nominations for the award are made by the GSBS Admissions Committee and are based on the applicant's academic research achievements and scholarly potential. The Dean of the Graduate School awards the scholarship in the offer of admission to the applicant.
Presidents' Research Scholarship - One year scholarships in the amount of $5,000 are awarded to outstanding students who have successfully stood for candidacy and who have achieved distinction in research. Nominations for the scholarship can be made by any member of the Faculty. The presidents' Scholarship Committee will review the nominations and make recommendations to the dean, who will make the award.
Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship - Fellowships are open to promising graduate students or research workers in the area of cancer research, including the basic supporting sciences. Selection of Fellows by the Hite Fellowship Committee is on the basis of academic excellence of the candidate and the applicability of the proposed program to problems of cancer research. Fellowships shall be only for the education and research training of the recipient. To be eligible, the student must be granted admission to The University of Texas Health Science Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston. Graduate work is to be done under the supervision of a faculty member of a component of UT at Houston, affiliated with GSBS degree granting program. The area of study is to be a field related to cancer. The application should be prepared in consultation with the faculty advisor, but must be prepared by the Fellowship Applicant and not the faculty sponsor. Fellowships are renewable annually, at the discretion of the Committee, until completion of the doctorate degree but not beyond three years. Fellowships are renewable annually, at the discretion of the Committee, until completion of the doctorate degree but not beyond three years. This award includes a stipend of $25,200 per year, tuition and fees, and a single travel allowance up to $850 for the student to present his/her research at a national meeting.
American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship - Student must be in good standing in the (M.S.)Ph.D. degree program. Research must be done under the supervision of a faculty member from the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; area of study must be directly related to the field of cancer. Students must be U.S. citizens. Fellowships are renewable annually, upon the recommendation of the Student Affairs Committee until completion of the doctorate degree but not beyond three years. Fellowships will be in the amount of approximately $5,000 per year.
Association for Women in Science (AWIS) - Gulf Coast - Houston - To be eligible, the student must be currently enrolled in a masters or doctoral level program in any of the life, physical, or social sciences. The institution must be within the geographical area of the Gulf-Coast Chapter of AWIS. Lastly, the student must be a U.S. citizen. Scholarships of up to $500.00 will be awarded. The scholarship may be used for any aspect of educate including tuition, books, equipment, housing, etc.
Sowell-Huggins Scholarships - Eight years ago the Sowell and Higgins Families established an endowment in the GSBS in appreciation for the particularly effective treatment received by their sons, Andy Sowell and Wade Huggins, at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The endowment is used to award $3,000 scholarships to GSBS students who are involved in cancer research.
Sowell-Huggins Professorship and Graduate Fellowship - The Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Endowed Professorship and Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research were presented for the first time in 2001. This joint award goes to a professor/graduate student team working in any area of cancer research who display distinguished experience, exemplary work, and excellence in research. The selected professor and graduate student receive funding of a year's stipend, and are named the Sowell-Huggins Professor and the Sowell-Huggins Fellow.
Sam Taub and Beatrice Burton Endowed Fellowship - In 2004, this $2,000 award was established by Mary Wright and her sister, Joanna Ross, in honor of their grandfather and great aunt to support students with research in the area of sight-related vision problems and the genetics and potential therapies behind these life-altering health concerns.
Schissler Foundation M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Fellowship - This full Fellowship with benefits is awarded to a GSBS Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. student whose research is being conducted at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Student must have recently (within the last academic year) advanced to Ph.D. candidacy or be advanced to candidacy within one semester. Students must be conducting research that is directed towards a cure for some type of cancer. Recipients of this fellowship are asked to acknowledge this award on publications resulting from work done, all or in part, during the year of the award.
5. Graduate Student Awards
Aaron Blanchard Award - This award recognizes a Medical Physics graduate (M.S. or Ph.D.) for completion of an outstanding thesis or dissertation, which is judged to make a significant contribution to cancer therapy or diagnosis. This award will consist of a certificate and a cash award. It will be given at the time of Spring Commencement of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
R.W. Butcher Achievement Award - An award to honor of Dr. R.W. Butcher, Dean Emeritus of GSBS, has been established to recognize one graduate student each year for excellence in research and for contributions to the Graduate School and to society as a whole. The award will consist of a $3,000 prize to be given during the fall semester and recognition at the GSBS commencement ceremony in May. The GSBS Student Affairs Committee will review the applications and make recommendations to Dr. Butcher who will select the awardee.
ACMP Student Achievement Award - Each year one medical physics graduate student is awarded a $1,000 scholarship at the annual American College of Medical Physics (ACMP) meeting. Program Directors of accredited medical physics programs may nominate students from their programs to receive this award. Nominations are reviewed by the ACMP Awards & Honors Committee with final Committee with final recommendations submitted to the ACMP Board of Chancellors for approval.
AAPM - Young Investigators Competition - Young Investigators are current graduate students, post doctoral fellows or residents in a medical physics program or someone who has completed such a program in the past 18 months. Presentations are judged using the following criteria: 1) Innovative scientific work, 2) Scientific content of presentation, 3) Organization of material, 4) Effectiveness of presentation, and 5) Use of audio-visual aids, and 6) Use of time. The first place award is called the "John R. Cameron Award and includes a $300 monetary prize and a plaque. The 2nd and 3rd place winners receive $200 and $100 monetary prizes and plaques.
SWAAPM - Young Investigators Competition - Young Investigators are current graduate students, post doctoral fellows or residents in a Medical Physics Program or someone who has completed such a program in the past 18 months. These cash awards recognize the best presentations at the Young Investigators Symposium at the fall and spring meetings of the Southwest Regional Chapter of AAPM.
Moyer Travel Award - It is the intention of the donor that the student selected to receive the award should submit a presentation to the Young Investigator's Symposium at the AAPM meeting and have it accepted. The subject matter of the presentation should concern the treatment (dosimetry, planning, delivery system, response models, etc.) of patients with a particle heavier than an electron (neutron, proton, helium ion, carbon ion, pion, anti-proton, etc.). If more than one student has a presentation accepted for the Young Investigator's Symposium, then the student that wins the symposium competition should receive the award. If none of the students wins the award, faculty of the Medical Physics Program should vote to determine the awardee. If no student has a presentation accepted for the AAPM Young Investigator's Symposium, then no award will be made that year and the money will be reinvested in the principal of the endowment.