Graduate School Newsletter

February 2025

Important Announcements

Graduation Applications Due February 5th

Grad students intending to graduate in the Spring 2025 semester must submit their completed graduation application to the Grad School by February 5th. If this is a student's first time applying for graduation, apply through MyInfo. If the student has applied for graduation in a previous semester, use the paper graduation application.

GradCat 360 Wellness Week: Connection

February 10th-14th is Wellness Week at the Graduate School! This semester’s theme is Connection, aiming to promote wellness through greater social connection amongst our graduate students on and off-campus. Please join us at our FREE events (details below) and look out for reminder emails throughout the week!

Community Dinner: Tuesday, February 11th, 5-7PM. Join us for a FREE dinner for graduate students at Rendezvous Dining Pavilion! Please RSVP here.
Rec Night: Thursday, February 13th, 4:30-6:30PM. The Graduate School will be hosting a game night at the SUB Rec Center on campus with bowling and billiards, as well as soda, popcorn, and pizza provided. Spend some quality time with your fellow grad students!
Online/distance students: Be on the lookout for another email about a virtual game night just for you!

GradCat360: Next Steps in Your Career Presentation with AYCSS

Friday, February 7 | 10-11AM | SUB Ballroom B

Learn what you can do now to prepare for a career transition after grad school!

The GradCat 360 Professional Development program and AYCSS team up to offer a "Next Steps in Your Career" presentation specifically for graduate students. Graduate School Career Education Manager Joan Lorraine will cover topics such as networking, interviewing, and negotiating. Coffee and doughnuts provided!

GradCat360: How to Get your Mentoring Relationship Off to a Good Start Workshop

Wednesday, February 19 | 9-11AM | Strand Union Ballrooms | RSVP Requested

How to Get your Mentoring Relationship Off to a Good Start is a collaborative workshop offered by the Center for Faculty Excellence, Counseling & Psychological Services, and the Graduate School. All graduate committee chairs and their graduate student(s) are invited. In the first hour, students and faculty will meet in separate rooms to discuss and share mentoring practices (faculty) and being a productive mentee (graduate students); in the second hour, each faculty/graduate student pair will work together to start a mentoring plan/agreement and a mentoring map. You can also visit the Grad School's mentoring webpage for additional resources.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Feb. 4 - Last day to drop classes without a "W" grade.
Feb. 5 - Last day to file for graduation in MyInfo or via a Graduation Application (only used when a student has applied for the same degree in a prior term).
Feb. 17 - Presidents' Day (no classes; offices closed).

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Funding & Fellowships

GrantForward – Sign Up to Get Notifications for New Funding!

GrantForward is MSU’s relatively new funding opportunity search engine and works great for graduate student relevant opportunities. Anyone with a “montana.edu” email can create a free account, and then they can perform tailored searches for relevant funding opportunities including fellowships and research grants specifically for grads. Other awesome features include setting up saved searches to use again and again to find relevant opportunities as they become available, creating tailored funding opportunity lists to share in an email or link to a webpage, among many others.

Glacier National Park Conservancy – Jerry O'Neal Research Fellowship

Applications are now being accepted for the Glacier National Park Conservancy – Jerry O'Neal Research Fellowship for work in Glacier National Park. The fellowship aims to provide educational assistance for students seeking to understand natural and cultural resources issues and how these interact with human values. Applicants may request up to $7500. Applications must be submitted electronically by March 19, 2025. See details in the Glacier National Park Conservancy – Jerry O'Neal Research Fellowship application directions.

Identify Scholarships and Research Funding for Your Graduate Education!

The MSU Graduate School maintains a Funding & Fellowships webpage listing various ways you may find funding throughout your time at MSU.

The University of Illinois has an excellent Fellowship Finder featuring awards that are open to grad students from any university. It features several filters to aid your search.

The National Research Council postdoctoral program is used by federal agencies across the country to support postdoc searches. This is a great place to look when you are close to finishing your PhD and the salaries are quite good. Quarterly application deadlines.

For more funding opportunities, visit MSU's Research Funding Opportunities and the MSU Graduate School's Funding and Fellowships webpage.

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Workshops & Events

MT Science Olympiad - Call for Presenters

Tuesday, March 4 | 1-2PM | MSU Campus

MSU’s Science Math Resource Center is looking for researchers, graduate students, and staff to present talks and tours to Science Olympiad 2025 competitors. Talks and tours will be held from 1-2 pm on Tuesday, March 4th 2025. We will welcome 800+ high school and middle school students to campus who are not only excited to compete in STEM competitions, but also to learn about the innovative research being done on campus. This is a great opportunity to connect with future STEM students and expand the broader impacts of your research. For more information, visit the MT Science Olympiad website.

Professional Development: GradCat 360

GradCat 360 is a comprehensive professional development program for graduate students at Montana State University. It is a series of programs and events designed by the Graduate School and departments across campus that center around nine focus areas. These areas are tailored to help students cultivate a unified set of skills and knowledge for educational success and professional preparation.

Check out our GradCat 360 Event Calendar, specifically curated for Graduate Students. We are constantly updating the GradCat 360 calendar with workshops and events that are uniquely useful for graduate students.

MSU Writing Center

The MSU Writing Center offers ongoing support to students working on graduate-level writing.