The Hourani Dissertation Writing Fellowship will convert one term of the student's remaining Graduate Student Instructor guaranteed funding to a candidacy fellowship (i.e. full tuition and fees, living stipend, and benefits coverage). Students must have remaining funding within their 5-year funding package, have successfully defended their prospectus, and meet the award's requirements to qualify for the conversion.
To qualify for the one-term Hourani conversion, a doctoral candidate should submit a polished, formally and logically complete piece of writing between 10,000 and 15,000 words (including notes) that showcases their research---that is to say, a writing sample. This could be a chapter from a dissertation, but it need not be; it must, however, be work that the candidate has done since defending their prospectus. Students must submit their writing sample by March 15 to be considered for as early as Fall term, or October 15 to be considered for as early as Winter term.
The Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Graduate Program Committee, will evaluate the submission as a writing sample within two weeks, and will either approve the candidate for a one-term conversion, or will offer detailed comments about how to improve the submission. Candidates whose samples are not sufficient may apply again, but each candidate may only receive one conversion. This award should not be held in conjunction with another award, both internal and external of the University of Michigan. A candidate is permitted to defend their dissertation while under a Hourani Dissertation Writing Fellowship.
