Teaching Assistantships, Fellowships, Awards

PhD Funding

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Teaching Assistantships

The UB Department of Chemistry recognizes the educational value of the teaching process. Entering PhD students are normally offered teaching assistantships, usually in the General Chemistry program (100-level courses) or Organic Chemistry program (200-level courses). Teaching assistants supervise small recitation and/or laboratory sections for not more than nine contact hours a week. Total time required, including grading, office hours, and preparation, is typically 16 hours per week.

Currently, assistantship stipends for incoming students are $26,000. This includes a $23,000 teaching assistantship for the academic year and a $3,000 research assistantship for the summer. Several supplementary fellowships (see below) in the range of $2,000-$8,000 are available for outstanding students. All students in good academic standing will receive continued support in subsequent years, either as teaching assistants or research assistants. Individual research directors provide research assistantships for their advanced students. These appointments allow students to devote their full time to thesis research.

All students receiving assistantships in the department during the academic year also receive full tuition scholarships.

Fellowships and Awards

Dean's Interdisciplinary (CAMBI) Award
The Dean’s Interdisciplinary Award, also known as the CAMBI Award, is intended for domestic students who have an interest in both Biochemistry and Chemistry. Beginning in Fall 2011, students who receive this award will receive a top off to their teaching stipend in their first year. This award is non-renewable.

Dissertation Fellowship
 Outstanding graduate students who have reached the stage of preparing their doctoral dissertations may apply on a competitive basis to receive a Dissertation Fellowship through the College of Arts and Sciences. There are a limited number of these fellowships which entail no teaching or other form of obligation. They are intended to assist advanced doctoral candidates in the preparation of their dissertations. These fellowships may be used to supplement other forms of financial support a student receives, or they may be awarded to students who are otherwise unfunded.

Gordon Harris Fellowship
The Gordon Harris Fellowship was established in 1994 to provide fellowships for top graduate students in the entering recruiting class.  Professor Harris was a member of the UB Department of Chemistry from 1953 to 1983 attaining the rank of Leading Professor, holding the Larkin Professorship in Chemistry, and serving as Chair (1956-1969).

James T. Grey Jr. Award

The James T. Grey Jr. Award was established to support and provide assistance to graduate students in the Department of Chemistry within the College of Arts and Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

John Rys Scholarship 
The John Rys Scholarship is awarded to a student carrying out high quality research in computational or theoretical physical chemistry or materials science. Preference will be given to non-smokers. The scholarship was established by Prof Harry King in memorial to his former PhD student John Rys who helped develop the method of Rys Polynomials.

Kapoor Fellowship
The Kapoor Fellowship is given to advanced Medicinal Chemistry PhD students of outstanding scholarship and character. Dr. John Kapoor has established this generous fellowship to foster medicinal chemistry research.

Edward J. Kikta Jr. Fellowship

Edward J. Kikta, Jr. received his Bachelor’s and Ph.D. in Chemistry at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received his Ph.D. from UB after studying analytical chemistry with an emphasis in chromatography from 1972-1976.

Dr. Kikta served as a teaching assistant at UB from 1972 to 1975. He also served as a research assistant from 1975-1976. In 1976 he joined the FMC Corp. where he was a research scientist/chemist in Middleport, NY. Dr. Kikta was steadily promoted at FMC, holding positions of senior research chemist and research associate until 1981. In 1981, he was appointed manager of the ACG Analytical Sciences at FMC. Today he is a research fellow and competency leader for the analytical and sciences group of FMC Agricultural Products Group in Princeton, NJ.

Dr. Kikta has authored 30 publications to date. He has received numerous honors including the Award for Achievement in Chromatography from the Western New York Section of the ACS and the Niagara Frontier Society for Applied Spectroscopy, and the NECDG Distinguished Chromatographer Award. He was also a former President of the North East Regional Chromatography Discussion Group and three-time Chairman of the American Society for Testing and Materials Committee E-19 on Chromatography. Dr. Kikta was also a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Testing and Evaluation. He has been listed in Who’s Who in the East and Technology Today. He also serves as a charter member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Arts and Sciences at UB.

This fellowship is for one year and will provide one or more incoming graduate students in Chemistry add-on support to their assistantship. The recipients are selected by the members of the Graduate Admissions Committee.

Mattern-Tyler Research Fellowship

This scholarship is intended for exceptional doctoral students who, in the estimation of the Chemistry faculty, have potential for an outstanding graduate career at UB. Recipients must be nominated by members of the faculty, and be engaged in summer research at UB.

This award is made possible by a fund in memory of M. Earl and Ada Canfield Mattern, and Harvey E. and Bessie Gossard Tyler. 

2022: Arianna Rothfuss

2021: Seong Won Jang, Xiaoyu Wang

2020: Jerry Cartagena Brigantty

Mattern-Tyler Teaching Award
The Mattern-Tyler Teaching Award is given out yearly to students who are committed to teaching and who have developed an exceptional competence in teaching. A certificate and a check are awarded to each recipient. Winners are announced at the Safety Seminar during Orientation Week.

PhD Dissertation of the Year Award
In 2016, the Chemistry Department established the annual PhD Dissertation of the Year Award to recognize the students with the best PhD dissertations in Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry from the previous calendar year. The finalists are invited to return to make a public presentation of their dissertations to an audience that includes a panel of judges from outside of UB to evaluate the presentations. A monetary award and a plaque are given to the finalist with the best dissertation; other finalists receive a lesser monetary award and a certificate.

Petra and Baudilio Colón Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize a deserving PhD student in the area of analytical chemistry. This award will provide funds of up to $900 for travel to a conference (national or international) to present the research work performed at UB, which can also provide networking opportunities.

Presidential Fellowship
 The Presidential Fellowship in the College of Arts and Sciences is aimed at enhancing our competitiveness in recruiting outstanding graduate students. To be eligible, a nominee must be a new applicant to a PhD program in the College of Arts and Sciences with at least one of the following:

  • A cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.4 or higher
  • A combined score of 315 or higher on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the revised/new version of the GRE General Test (that was introduced world-wide on August 1, 2011) and a score of 4.5 or higher on the Analytical Writing component of that test
  • A score on the relevant GRE Subject Test that is at, or above, 75th percentile for that test's administration

Please note that, in accordance with the recommendations of the Educational Testing Service, the CAS Fellowship Committee will only consider GRE General Test scores taken on or after August 1, 2011.

The nominee must be offered a teaching/research/graduate assistantship by the Department of Chemistry. Each Fellow will receive a fellowship amount of $10,000 on top of the assistantship stipend and a full tuition scholarship. The Fellowship is renewable for three additional years provided the Fellow maintains satisfactory academic progress.

Silbert Fellowship
Established by Doris and Joseph Silbert in memorial to their brother Samuel Silbert to provide a fellowship award to a University at Buffalo graduate student with preference given to students from Western New York meeting the qualifications of outstanding scholarship and character and having financial need.

Jere Solo Interdisciplinary Award in Chemistry
The Solo Fellowship was established in 2001 by Dr. and Mrs. John N. Kapoor in honor of Dr. Kapoor’s PhD Mentor, Professor Jere Solo. The award consists of a generous fellowship for graduate students studying medicinal chemistry.

Speyer Fellowship
The Speyer Fellowship was established in 2013. This fellowship was made possible through the generosity of Dr. Thomas and Judith Mich and is intended for exceptional doctoral students who have successfully passed both their research synopsis and research proposal requirements in the Department of Chemistry, who show developing independence and have met the qualifications of outstanding scholar and character. The Speyer Fellowship gives a generous stipend and a tuition scholarship.

Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
Each year, a select group of students is called forward to accept one of the most prestigious awards the academic community can bestow — selection to Who’s Who Among Students. This exclusive honor is conferred by more than 1,900 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Marjorie E. Winkler Annual Fellowship in Chemistry

"I received my B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry at UB. The experiences taught me how to analyze scientific problems and test new hypotheses using multiple approaches. It provided me with the keys to open many new doors and has led to a lifetime of questioning and learning.” Marjorie E. Winkler, Ph.D.

Dr. Marjorie E. Winkler has established the Marjorie E. Winkler Annual Fellowship in Chemistry to be used for the purpose of fellowship support in the Department of Chemistry at UB.

This fellowship is for one year and will provide one or more incoming students in Chemistry add-on support to full Teaching Assistantships. The recipients are selected by the members of the Graduate Admissions Committee.