The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship provides support for outstanding PhD candidates in their final year of doctoral degree completion. The goal of the fellowship is to allow exceptional candidates to focus on finishing their dissertation. The Graduate School Fellowship Manual has additional details https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/fellowship/fellowship-resources-for-staff/index.html.

Salary & Usage:

• Bilsland Fellowships are administered as assistantships. It is expected that job duties will contribute to the completion of the student’s dissertation.
• This fellowship includes $32,000 annual salary, tuition remission, medical insurance premium contribution, and coverage of most fees. Engineering differential fee is not covered.
• No additional work appointments may be added, but faculty or schools may increase the salary or provide additional funds as scholarships, etc. AAE will add scholarship funds to raise the salary to match the AAE minimum salary for PhD students who have passed their qualifying exam (currently $35,280.00 per fiscal year).
• The fellowship is to be awarded for the full 12 months or until the student graduates, whichever comes first.
• Funding may begin at the start of the Summer 2026 term OR at the start of the Fall 2026 semester for which the student is registered and working.
• Fellowship recipients who graduate before the completion of the fellowship term or otherwise stop the fellowship before the awarded duration forfeit any remaining funds. Funding is non-renewable and cannot be extended past the award period.

Student Eligibility

• Students must have 1) completed their preliminary exam or, 2) will complete their preliminary exam before May 1, 2026.
• The ideal candidate will be graduating in May or August 2027. If Bilsland Fellows do not graduate as expected, this could hurt our future allocations from OGSPS.
• Students who will complete their defense prior to September 1, 2026, are not eligible.
• Students who need less than 1 semester of support are not eligible.
• Nominees must be outstanding engineering PhD students.

Selection Criteria

All awardees must meet the eligibility noted above. The review process within the program will assess and rank all nominees using the following review criteria:

• Merit. Includes publications, conference presentations, GPA, etc.
• Funding need.
• Good citizen of the School and College. Includes service.
• Career promise. Includes leadership, innovation, readiness and potential to make an impact.

How to Apply

PhD students who wish to apply should submit the following documents as one PDF file to Jon Mrozinski at jwmrozin@purdue.edu before the deadline:

1. Cover page indicating applicant’s name, Purdue email address, expected graduation date, gender, and citizenship (domestic or international is sufficient) - this information is used for data tracking and to assign source of funds; some funds come from endowed accounts with restrictions on them;
2. A letter (limit 2 pages) from the major professor nominating the student and confirming that the student is expected to graduate in May or August 2027 (preferred) or December 2026. Recommendation letter can be sent separately to Jon Mrozinski, directly, if needed/preferred;
3. The student’s thesis abstract;
4. Preliminary examination paperwork (to confirm the student is on track to graduate next year) – this can be a printout of the online Form 8 submitted to schedule the preliminary examination;
5. The student’s CV;
6. Previous funding for the student, which can be a self-made list of past sources and awards with months and/or years they were received;
7. The student’s most recent transcript – graduate work only.

The College office will review the proposed awardees and their goal is to notify schools of their award confirmations before or by December 12, 2025.