Graduate School to welcome 457 Ph.D. students, including first Emerging Scholars Fellows

Yale’s doctoral programs will welcome 457 new students to campus in the fall; they were chosen from among 8,373 applicants to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

“I am looking forward to welcoming this group of outstanding scholars to the Graduate School community later this year,” said Dean Lynn Cooley, the C.N.H. Long Professor of Genetics, and professor of cell biology and of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. “They chose Yale for its excellent faculty and extensive academic resources, and we are eager to help them flourish here as they pursue education programs that will prepare them for leadership in their diverse fields.”

Of the total Ph.D. applicants to the Graduate School, 13% were offered admission. Yale’s newest Ph.D. candidates include 253 students in the natural sciences, 111 in the humanities, and 100 in the social sciences.

Admitted students in these and other departments and programs in the humanities and socials sciences were informed that they would receive a financial aid package that would pay their full tuition and provide a minimum level of support of $29,650 annually for up to five years, with the possibility of a nine-month teaching stipend in the sixth year. Stipends for students in the natural sciences range from $29,650 to $33,150 per year, depending on their departments. The Graduate School each year announces increases in the standard stipend to assure students can support themselves while pursuing their degrees.

 All Ph.D. students will receive a Health Award to cover the cost of comprehensive health care coverage — primary care and “hospitalization/specialty care” —  through Yale Health. The Graduate School also provides half of the cost of health insurance coverage for a student’s spouse or civil union partner. If a student has any dependent children, Yale Health coverage for the entire family is paid for by the Graduate School.

Doctoral students in the humanities and the social sciences normally take courses in their first two years of study and serve as teaching fellows in their third and fourth years at Yale, as teaching is essential to their professional preparation. A writing fellowship year in year five or six is devoted to the completion of the dissertation.  In the natural sciences, the amount and timing of required teaching varies by department.  Advanced science graduate students are typically supported by faculty research grants.

New for the 2016-2017 academic year are Dean’s Emerging Scholar Fellowships for 15 incoming Ph.D. students across all programs in the Graduate School. This new initiative is a partnership between the Graduate School and the Office of the Provost focused on fostering academic excellence, diversity, and inclusion in doctoral programs across Yale’s campus.

In addition to their standard stipends, Yale’s Emerging Scholars Fellows will receive an additional $3,000 in each of their first three years, and a one-time research fund of $2,000 to be used over the course of their studies. A committee comprised of the Graduate School dean, the school’s academic deans, and the associate dean for graduate student development and diversity awarded the fellowships in consultation with the admitted students’ departments or programs.

The Emerging Scholars Fellowships were created as part of the Faculty Diversity Initiative announced in November 2015 by President Peter Salovey and Provost Benjamin Polak. The fellowships reflect Yale’s commitment to expanding and developing the pool of young scholars who will contribute to the distinction and diversity of future generations of faculty.