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Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship

Introduction

The Graduate Dean is pleased to announce a fellowship for students nearing completion of their dissertations. The Dean will make up to 25 of these one-quarter awards for AY 2009-2010. This award has been developed as a complement to the Frances Benton Fellowship, which is effective spring quarter, and is being offered to free students who are nearing the filing stage of their dissertation from non-research related employment.

Award Amount & Terms
Eligibility Criteria
Stipulations
School Nomination Package
Nomination Process: (Last Updated: May 8, 2009)
  1. Departments are to complete the nomination form for each nominee.
    1. The nomination form is a fillable/savable Word documents and can be found on the Graduate Division Web site: Graduate Dean's Dissertation Fellowship Nomination Form
  2. Save nomination forms in Word as "GDDF - SID#.doc" (e.g. "GDDF - 12345678.doc")
  3. Print the nomination form and gather original signatures
  4. Scan all documents to a single PDF file for each nominee once forms are final with signatures, in this order:
    1. Signed nomination form
    2. Letter from the student nominee describing their dissertation project, progress to date, detailed plan with timeline for completion and explanation of how the fellowship will help them complete their work within the specified time frame
    3. Letter of nomination from doctoral committee chair, including Doc 2A information when appropriate
    4. Student's current curriculum citae (CV)
  5. Save the new PDF file as "GDDF - SID#.pdf" (e.g. "GDDF - 12345678.pdf")
  6. Prepare to send as follows when all documentation is complete::
    1. Email to Nguyen.Long@uci.edu:
      1. Each original Word.doc nomination form
      2. Each PDF packet (packet to include items listed above)
      3. Associate Dean's letter and ranking
Deadline

2009-10 Fellows

Rebecca J. Aicher - School of Biological Sciences
Leah J. Goldstein - School of Biological Sciences
Kandarp H. Shah - School of Biological Sciences
Kiron Ravindran - Paul Merage School of Business
Jonathan Philip Siegrist - Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Matthew Myles Shindel - Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Vanessa Meikle Schulman - School of Humanities
Rachael L. Hoff - School of Humanities
Julie T. Cohen - School of Humanities
Alexandra Sartor - School of Humanities
Debra Lynn Freas - School of Humanities
Gerald C. Cantu - School of Humanities
Paul Gregory Dahlgren - School of Humanities
Ersin Uzun - Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences
Yang Wang - Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences
Aniketa Anil Shinde - School of Physical Sciences
Christopher W. Harmon - School of Physical Sciences
Peggy Mycek Zoccola - School of Social Ecology
Shalini Misra - School of Social Ecology
Erin Elizabeth Kent - School of Social Ecology
Paul Thomas Fillmore - School of Social Sciences
Zahra G. Ahmed - School of Social Sciences
Steven Allen Boutcher - School of Social Sciences
Nanao Akanuma - School of Social Sciences
Ling Lin - School of Social Sciences

2008-09 Fellows

  • Eden Epstein
    Eden Epstein

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Psychology and Social Behavior, in progress
    • M.A., Social Ecology, 2006
    • B.A., Psychology, University of Oregon, 1995

    Research: Cardiovascular psychophysiology; self-regulatory and attentional processes; physiological response to stress
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Fuu-Ming Kai
    Fuu-Ming Kai

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Earth System Science, UC Irvine, in progress
    • M.S., Earth System Science, UC Irvine, 2005
    • M.S., Geology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 2000
    • B.S., Geology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 1998

    Research: Using Stable Isotopes and Models to Constrain Atmospheric Methane Budget
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Solmaz Sajjadi Kia
    Solmaz Sajjadi Kia

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC Irvine, in progress
    • M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering (Flight Dynamics and Control), Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 2004
    • B.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 2001

    Research: Controller design for systems with bounded actuators with application to flight control.
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Yen Peng Kong
    Yen Peng Kong

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering,UC Irvine, in progress
    • M. E., Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2000
    • B. E., Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1997

    Research: Interaction between nanoengineered surfaces and stem cells.
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Steven Lockton
    Steven Lockton

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Biological Sciences; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine, in progress
    • B.Sc. (Hons) Genetics, University of Wales, Cardiff, 2000

    Research: Evolutionary Genetics of Plant Transposable Elements
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Mia L. McIver
    Mia L. McIver

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., English (with Certificate in Critical Theory Emphasis), UC Irvine, in progress (expected in 2009
    • M.A., English, Boston University, 1999
    • A.B., English, Duke University, 1997

    Research: Theories of sovereignty in political philosophy and twentieth-century British, Irish, and German literature.
    Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate and Murray Krieger Fellow in Literary Theory, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Amanda Szucsik
    Amanda Szucsik

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Biological Sciences (emphasis in Comparative Physiology), UC Irvine (Fall, 2008)
    • B.S., Animal Sciences, Rutgers University, 2001

    Research: Comparative vertebrate physiology (specifically exercise capacity and skeletal muscle function of lizards)
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Xi Meng
    Xi Meng

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Chemistry, UC Irvine, in progress
    • B.S., Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China, 2000

    Research: Analytical Chemistry, NMR Spectroscopy
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Jennifer Piazza
    Jennifer Piazza

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Psychology and Social Behavior, UC Irvine, in progress
    • M.A., Social Ecology, UC Irvine, 2004
    • B.A., Psychology and Planned Studies (Writing), Ithaca College, 1998

    Research: Emotion, Aging and Health
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Becky Scola
    Becky Scola

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Department of Political Science, UC Irvine, in progress
    • M.A., Social Science, UC Irvine, 2004
    • B.A., Women’s Studies, Arizona State University, 2001

    Research: American institutions, women and politics, race/ethnic politics
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Jelena Trajkovic
    Jelena Trajkovic

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Information and Computer Science (Emphasis in Design Automation and Optimization), UC Irvine, in progress
    • M.S. Information and Computer Science (Specialization in Computer System Design), UC Irvine, 2003
    • Diploma (Dipl. Ing.) in Electrical Engineering (Specialization in Computer Engineering and Computer Science), School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia

    Research: Automatic Processor Core Design
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio

  • Petre Cipriana
    Cipriana Petre

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., Theatre and Drama, UC Irvine, UC Irvine-UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program, summer 2008
    • M.A., Literary Theory & Comparative Literature, University of Bucharest, Romania, 1995
    • B.A., Letters (Literature and Linguistics), University of Bucharest, Romania, 1994

    Research: Performance Theory, History of Political Thought, Political Theatricality, Theatre Historiography, Post-1989 Central & Eastern European Theatre, Memory-formation, Rhetoric
    Current Position: Visiting Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Twin-Cities, Department of Theatre Arts and Dance
    Student Bio

  • Mayumi Manabe
    Mayumi Manabe

    Degrees:

    • Ph.D., East Asian Languages and Literatures, in progress
    • B.A., Sociology, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 2001

    Research: Women and Consumer Culture in Interwar Japanese Literature Current
    Current Position: Graduate Student Researcher, UC Irvine
    Student Bio