Our PhD and PhD with MA en route students are fully funded for the five years it takes to complete their degrees through a combination of Teaching Assistantships, an exchange year abroad in Nanterre, and competitive internal fellowships. Students in the PhD with MA en route degree may be funded for a sixth year by receiving a competitive internal fellowship.
Students admitted to the program will generally receive either an Arts and Sciences Fellowship or a Teaching Assistantship for their first year. There are also recruiting fellowships available at the Provost’s level, including the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship for applicants from historically underrepresented minorities and the Provost’s Humanities Fellowship for applicants of exceptional academic promise. The departmental admissions committee will automatically put applicants up for these fellowships when appropriate, so there is no need to request consideration.
Fellowships and TA appointments include a stipend, a tuition scholarship that covers their course enrollment, and individual health insurance coverage in the UPMC Health Plan for graduate students at no cost. More information about teaching assistantships and recruiting fellowships are available on the DSAS Graduate Studies website.
At different points during their studies at Pitt, graduate students also have opportunities to apply for internal summer and year-long fellowships such as the FLAS fellowship for language study and the Mellon and Lawler fellowships for students at the dissertation stage. Students who pursue the Cultural Studies Certificate are eligible to apply for the Cultural Studies Fellowship at the dissertation stage.
Conference travel and summer research funds are widely available from a variety of sources including the French and Italian department, the A&S Graduate Student Organization (travel grants and summer grants), the European Studies Center, and Pitt French and Italian Nationality Rooms.
Summer funding can take the form of a Graduate Student Researcher position with a faculty member and it can also take the form of teaching beginning language classes on campus or assisting the director of the Pitt in Nantes summer abroad program. There is an application process each year for these summer positions.