Graduate Student Resource Center

Supporting Graduate Students' Academic and Professional Success

Graduate Student Opportunities

Check out the following list of graduate student opportunities in funding, employment, professional development, and more! 

 

 

Grad Student Opportunities

  • The UCR chapter of the California Space Grant Consortium (CaSGC – (http://CaSGC.ucsd.edu)) will provide fellowship support to UCR graduate students for research. These graduate student fellowship opportunities are for students in the broad research fields related to NASA’s mission in science, engineering, technology, and management (https://www.nasa.gov/tags/). This graduate student fellowship program will serve as a catalyst to focus a campus-wide interdisciplinary team’s (particularly 1st and 2nd year graduate students without other TA or RA support) attention on the science and engineering opportunities involved in the U.S. aerospace program. 

    The Fellowship Program guidelines are as follows: 

    • California Space Grant fellowships totaling $25,000 (~$5,000 – $6,000 per award, depending on the quantity and quality of submitted applications) will be awarded by the end of July 2026;  

    • Graduate students must be U.S. citizens for Space Grant awards; 

    • This fellowship cannot be awarded to those who have a TA/RA support more than 50% in the Summer quarter of 2026; 

    • Each fellowship application is reviewed by a CaSGC selection committee and awards are made on a competitive basis – priority will be given to 1st and 2nd year graduate students over students who have received previous awards;  

    • Award recipients must provide a report by December 30, 2026, on how this fellowship helped research progress. This report must be submitted electronically to jinnam@ ucr.edu; 

    • All award recipients will be “longitudinally” tracked after graduation to assess the impact of the fellowship awards on career choices. Graduate Student Application:  

    The application must include the following components in a single pdf file: 

    Applicant Information: 

    Page 1: Cover page including these items; 

    • Applicant’s Name • Department       

    • Graduate level (year) 

    • Faculty Advisor 

    • Abstract:  Proposal abstracts should concisely summarize the proposed research and its relationship to NASA’s research mission. The abstract should not exceed 100 words in length. The abstract is in addition to the one-page proposal. 

    Page 2: 1-page Project Description:  

    A one-page project description that is authored by the applicant must be submitted. The proposal should describe the student’s proposed and/or ongoing research.

    Page 3: 1-page Biographical Sketch of the Applicant:  

    Provide a short biographical sketch (not to exceed one page) that lists the following information: name, current student status, title, department, e-mail, and ethnicity (optional). The sketch should include relevant career experience, research, awards, scholarships, and other relevant accomplishments.  

    Letter of Recommendation:  The Faculty Adviser must provide a signed one-page letter of recommendation on behalf of the student. The letter must include: 

    1) a statement indicating the level of assistance provided to the student in the preparation of this application, 

    2) a statement confirming that the student is working toward a thesis-based MS degree or a PhD degree, and 

    3) a statement confirming that the student is not under TA or RA support in the Winter quarter of 2026.   

    It is recommended that a single pdf file combining the graduate student application (3 pages described above) be submitted to the faculty advisor for review, and a recommendation letter be attached to the package and finally submitted to Prof. Jin Nam (jinnam@ucr.edu) by the advisor before July 15, 2026, 5 pm for full consideration. Awardees will be announced before the end of July. 

  • Diplomatic Skills Training for Emerging Leaders
     
    The CORE Incubator Team is excited to announce a new Professional Development Opportunity for graduate students and post-docs. 
     
    CORE Incubator, in partnership with the Meridian International Center, invites applications from faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students who are policy novices to join the Summer 2026 cohort of the Diplomatic Skills Training for Emerging Leaders. This is a high-impact, outcomes-driven opportunity for civic engagement, leadership training, and cross-sector institutional problem-solving.
     
    The training will be virtual in July and early August (via Zoom), and will conclude with two days of immersive sessions in Washington, D.C. on August 17-18, 2026.
     
    Graduate Students and Post-Doctoral applicants who are admitted to CORE's 2026 cohort will receive round-trip air travel from California to Washington, D.C., shared hotel accommodations (3 nights), scheduled working meals, ground transportation, and copies of the text Diplomatic Tradecraft.
     
    Applications of interest are due by June 24, 2026 at 5pm. 
     
    For more information about this opportunity, please visit the CORE Incubator's website. 

  •  

    Job Description

    The Well is UCR's student well-being and health promotion department. The Well provides health education, training, resources, and programming for students in a variety of topic areas through a network of peer educators, mentors, and professional staff. 

    The GSA and The Well share an interest in promoting well-being initiatives that include programming, advancing mental health and substance use education, educating on emerging and current public health diseases, sexual health and reproductive justice, and physical health, and in solidifying well-being prevention resources and efforts for the graduate student population. We recognize the mutual gains experienced by graduate students engaged with The Well and the University in supporting a healthy and productive graduate population. 

    The Graduate Student Well-being Liaison will be a formal representative of both the GSA and The Well and sit on various campus-wide committees to assess graduate students' needs.

     

    Qualifications

    Be an active or incoming UCR Graduate student with an expected graduation date of Spring 2027 or later.

     

  • The Pomona College Career Development Office is seeking to hire a Graduate Assistant (GA) for the 2026-2027 academic year. This position would offer students the opportunity to learn about career services across functional areas at a small liberal arts college. Click HERE to see the position description.

    Interested graduate students may apply HERE.

    If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Assistant Dean & Deputy Director, Wanda Gibson (wanda.gibson@pomona.edu) at the Pomona College Career Development Office. The position will remain open until filled.

  • The Immigrant Student Research Project, led by Dr. Kevin Escudero at Brown University, examines immigrant students' experiences across a broad range of graduate and professional degree programs.

    This survey seeks to understand the educational experiences of first- and second-generation immigrant students—including international students and students of all legal statuses—currently enrolled in graduate or professional degree programs. All responses will be collected anonymously to protect participant confidentiality.

    In this study, first-generation students are defined as those who were born outside the U.S., and second-generation students are defined as those born in the U.S. to at least one immigrant parent. 

    Students can access the survey using the following link:

    https://brown.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8w4MZoXQFwEYzlk

    Upon completion of the survey, participants will be entered into a raffle for one of 300 gift cards of $100 each. Students may also choose to participate in an optional Zoom interview for an additional $40 gift card (a prompt to sign up for an interview will be provided at the end of the survey).

    Data from the survey will be used to develop policy recommendations for university administrators, faculty, and staff to increase support systems for this student population. More information about the ISRP Lab and the aims of this research project can be found on our website. 

    If you have any questions, my research team and I can be reached at immigrantstudentproject@brown.edu and Brown’s IRB Office can be reached at IRB@Brown.edu. 

  • UCR STEAM Academy 2026 is looking for Faculty, Postdocs, and Graduate Students to design and teach high-impact, interdisciplinary courses for Middle School students this summer!

    Our goal is to use STEM as a tool for Social Good, using the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to solve real-world problems. We want instructors who can guide students through "productive struggle."

    Instructor Role: We are seeking experts to design and lead either a 4-day mini-course (2 hours daily) or a 1-2 hour workshop. Instruction should build new scientific knowledge through hands-on experiences that encourage critical thinking.

    Perks & Logistics:
    Compensation: All instructors receive a meaningful stipend.
    Dates: Session 1 (June 22 – July 2) or Session 2 (July 6 – July 17).
    Focus: Interdisciplinary topics connecting science and arts to society.

    Click here to apply.

    For additional questions, please contact MSI Coordinator, Liz Benitez, at elizabeth.i.benitez@ucr.edu.

     

  • UCR Ballard Lab Research Study Opportunity
    The Ballard Lab is currently recruiting participants for a new fMRI study!
    This study involves a single in-person appointment at UC Riverside, Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, lasting approximately 3 hours (90 minutes inside the MRI scanner). You will receive $60 in Amazon gift cards after your session as compensation.
    Since the study takes place in an MRI scanner, to be eligible, you must be able to confirm all of the following:
    • NO metal in your body or history of working with metal fragments (e.g., machinist work)
    • NO metallic implants (e.g., pacemakers, aneurysm clips, shrapnel)
    • NO self-reported claustrophobia
    • You are an iPhone user
    • You are a frequent Instagram Reel user
    • You have NOT previously participated in Social Media Use (Study 2) on SONA
    If you meet all the above criteria and are interested in the study, please respond to ucrballardmri@gmail.com with your availability & phone number.
    We’ll go over a more detailed MRI safety screening and schedule your study appointment during the call. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions in the meantime.
    We’re excited about the possibility of working with you—thank you again for your interest!
     
  • GSA Conference Travel Grants

    The Graduate Student Association (GSA) provides conference travel grants to graduate students in good standing who are currently attending the University of California, Riverside to promote the presentation of original graduate student research done at UC Riverside. 

    Learn More and Apply