Funding & Scholarships

Annual Stipends and Tuition Scholarships

All graduate students are admitted with committed funding. The academic year stipend is $24,000 and includes a tuition scholarship which includes coverage for general fees. In addition to the academic year stipend, students receive summer salary from faculty research grants. Though summer funding varies somewhat, most students receive ~$7,000 over the summer. Thus, annual income for most students is ~$31,000. Graduate students earn their academic year stipends through:

Teaching Assistantships
Research appointments on faculty grants

Many of our students are also supported by our Institutional Training Grant (T32 mechanism; see section below). Graduate students are strongly encouraged to prepare individual NRSA fellowships (F31 mechanism) for submission to NIH.

Supporting Diversity

The Behavioral Neuroscience faculty are 100% committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive environment. We have a variety of mechanisms available to strengthen the pipeline of under-represented minorities in STEM, including the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and McNair Scholars Programs. The DEARC provides academic year stipends to support under-represented minorities as undergraduates through the Scholars in Alcohol Neurobiology program. Drs. Lisa Savage and Pat DiLorenzo run the Bridges to the Baccalaureate program that provides summer research opportunities in several BNS labs. Many of our graduate students have been supported by the university Clark Fellowship, designed to support students from historically underrepresented groups in higher education that are joining doctoral programs at Binghamton University. If you are interested in being considered for a Clark Fellowship, please contact the Director of the BNS area: Marvin Diaz, PhD.

Fellowships through the Research Centers

Graduate students who have achieved ABD status (usually years 4-5) can be nominated for Fellowship positions supported by one of our Research Centers. These fellowships provide the opportunity to focus your effort exclusively on research (no teaching) and include the standard academic year stipend and tuition scholarship. Summer funding will continue to be provided by your faculty mentor.

Institutional Training Grant (T32)

The program is home to the Development and Neuroadaptations in Alcohol and Addiction (DNA2) Institutional Training Grant funded through the T32 mechanism by NIAAA. This training grant expands the program of career and professional development available to trainees, supports a robust colloquium series, and funds 4 predoctoral and 2 post-doctoral trainees annually. The DNA2 program is one of only 28 Institutional Training Grants supported by NIAAA.

Individual NIH-NRSA fellowships (F31)

Most students prepare NIH-NRSA predoctoral fellowship applications as part of the grant-writing course or their Preliminary Examinations. Students are encouraged to work with BNS faculty to finalize and submit their grant applications. We have had 3 students successfully compete for F31 Fellowships in the past 3 years. Here is a story about 2 students who were recently awarded NRSAs.