Brennan Summer Fellowship Awards

Purpose of Fellowship Awards

The purpose of the Brennan Fellowship Awards is to provide students with summer supplementary support. There are two types of awards: Exam Preparation Awards and Master’s Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Awards. All awards will require the listing of any and all alternative sources of funding, which will be taken into consideration by the GSA Awards Committee. Falsification of or failure to disclose this information will result in revocation of this award. Each type of award may be received only one time during a student's academic career at Saint Louis University. Eligibility for funding requires that you must not have previously received either type of Brennan Summer Fellowship Award, which will be verified with the Office of Student Financial Services (i.e., recipients of the Exam Preparation Award are not eligible for the Thesis or Dissertation Research Award in subsequent years). Applications will open on February 5, 2024, and are due no later than March 10, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. 

Information and Eligibility for Fellowship Awards

Exam Preparation

Amount: Up to $500

Number given: Up to 4 per year (2 awards to MA/PhD students in health sciences programs who are taking professional / certification exams; 2 awards to MA/PhD students taking comprehensive / qualifying exams). Applications are due Sunday, March 10, 2024 no later than 11:59 p.m.

To receive the exam preparation award, the graduate student must plan to take all written and oral comprehensive exams in the next academic year (the summer, fall, or spring terms following the award). The applicant must provide verification from their advisor or exams chairs stating that the student is in the process of preparing for exams and that all prerequisite conditions are on target for being met in that timeline. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Requests for this exception should be addressed to GSA Brennan Awards Chairs (gsa.brennan@slu.edu) NO LATER THAN February 23, 2024.

Applicants must demonstrate how the award would facilitate their comprehensive exam preparation in a manner that could not be met through another funding source, such as employment or an existing scholarship, fellowship, or assistantship. Additionally, applicants will be asked to describe the comprehensive exam process in their respective departments.

Master's Thesis & Doctoral Dissertation

Amount: Up to $1000 for master's thesis and dissertation

Number given: Up to 7 per year. Applications are due Sunday, March 10, 2024 no later than 11:59 p.m.

Dissertation and Thesis Awards are given to graduate students who are conducting research for their masters' theses or doctoral dissertations. To receive this award, the applicant must have advanced to candidacy and completed all degree prerequisites prior to the application deadline. The applicant must provide verification from the department chair stating that the student has passed all comprehensive exams and that the thesis or dissertation committee has approved the thesis or dissertation proposal. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Requests for this exception should be addressed to GSA Brennan Awards Chairs (gsa.brennan@slu.edu)  NO LATER THAN February 23, 2024.

The monetary award is to cover research and writing expenses for the summer months (May - August) of the application year only. Applicants should demonstrate how the award would facilitate their projects in a manner that could not be met through another funding source, such as a scholarship, existing fellowship, or assistantship. The clarity of research goals, as well as the intellectual merit and broader impact of the project, will be considered by an interdisciplinary Awards Committee. This is not an award intended for those who are still formulating their research proposals, but rather for those in the midst of their research.

To complete the 2024 GSA Brennan Fellowship Master's Thesis or Dissertation OR Exam Preparation Award application, follow these instructions:

1. Complete the appropriate application, both of which require a signature from your department chair certifying either that: 

2. Upload the application as a PDF document to this Google formIf you are having trouble accessing the form, log into MySLU first, click on Tools, click on Google Drive, then come back to this page and click on our link.


The following graduate programs are ineligible for Brennan Awards:

In addition, faculty and staff members of SLU who are also graduate students are only eligible for funding if they pay the Graduate Student Activities Fee each semester.

For more information, please contact the Brennan Awards Committee at gsa.brennan@slu.edu.