Funding Information for Prospective Students

Funding opportunities for students are very competitive. They are available to students applying to the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health (see graduate school funding page) or the department of Environmental Science and Engineering (see the ESE page on funding). Generally, there is no separate application for these opportunities. The Graduate School recommends that applications are submitted by December 15th. However, prospective students in Environmental Science and Engineering who submit their applications for Fall-semester admission up to January 15th will be eligible for all internal funding opportunities.  

Individual departments may also have some funding for students in the form of Research or Teaching Assistantships. These require inputs of up to 20 hours per week and compete for time with your studies. Many students are ‘self-funded’ (either from their own sources or through securing scholarships or fellowships from agencies such as the EPA STAR program or the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program).

A small number, largely PhD students, are funded through research from projects. Such opportunities are few in number, leave limited opportunity for a student to determine their own research direction, and require work and production of deliverables to specific timelines.


Visit Information for Current Students for more funding information pertaining to current Water Institute students.