Doctoral Fellowships
Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowships
The Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship (DDCF) is a competitive award designed to increase Ph.D. completion rates and enhance the recruitment of new students. Doctoral candidates awarded will receive support for their final year of dissertation work. Departmental/college/grant funds previously used to support the DDCF recipient must be used to recruit a new Ph.D. student.
DDCF recipients can receive up to 12 months of RA funding provided by the Graduate School. The length of funding is dependent on when recipients expect to graduate, and stipends will match their current assistantship funding level (RA, TA, or GPTI). Additional funding can be awarded by the academic department to supplement the fellowship. This enables recipients to focus exclusively on completing their dissertation without having the responsibilities of their teaching/research assistantships or external employment. Health insurance, waivers, and in-state tuition support will also continue, if applicable.
More information on eligibility criteria, required departmental commitments, the nomination process, and the timetable for the nomination cycle can be found below.
Eligibility Criteria
Nominees must meet all of the following:
- Must be Advanced to Ph.D. candidacy by beginning of fall award period – 1st day of classes.
- Must be Scheduled to hold an assistantship (RA, TA, or GPTI) for 26-27 academic year.
- Students whose assistantship ends before Fall 2026 are not eligible.
- Must have not received a Distinguished Graduate Student Assistantship
(DGSA) previously. - Must remain under the 99 doctoral credit hour cap throughout the fellowship year.
- Texas law prohibits state funding of doctoral students beyond 99 hours.
- Must complete the Ph.D. within:
- 8 years of starting the doctoral program or
- 4 years from candidacy – whichever comes first
- Extensions require advance approval from the Graduate Dean.
- Must be on campus (not remote) during the fellowship and not engage in any outside employment.
Departmental Commitments
- Departments must reallocate the recipients prior funding to recruit a new graduate student.
- Note: The new student cannot be awarded a DGSA.
- If no new student is recruited, the DDCF award will be revoked.
- Nominations must clearly demonstrate:
- The eligibility of the nominee, and
- The availability of recruitment funds
Nomination Process
Students may not apply directly. Nominations must come from faculty and include contributions from the nominees advisor and program.
- Step 1: Preliminary Nomination
- Submit basic nominee information confirming eligibility and departmental
readiness to recruit a new student.
- Submit basic nominee information confirming eligibility and departmental
- Step 2: Full Nomination (by invitation only based on preliminary nomination)
- Required materials include:
- Major advisor CV and nomination letter
- Program/department endorsement
- Nominee CV, personal and research statement
- Projected dissertation completion timeline
- Recruitment plan for new student
- Required materials include:
DDCF 2026-2027 Timeline
Preliminary Nominations Open | October 1 |
Deadline for Preliminary Nominations | October 25 |
Nominators Informed if Eligible to Submit Full Nomination | October 31 |
Full Nominations Deadline | December 15 |
Awards Announced | February 15 |
Notice of Acceptance of Award by Student Deadline/Submit Name of the Newly Recruited Student Deadline | April 15 |
Recipients
Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship Award 2024-2025
Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Fellowships
Administration Building 328
T. 806.742.2787
gradfellowships@ttu.edu
Graduate School
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Address
Administration Building 328, Texas Tech University, 2625 Memorial Circle, Lubbock, TX 79409-1030 -
Phone
806.742.2787