Fellowships & Assistantships
Financial Support for Graduate Students
Important Departmental Policies
- We will begin reviewing applications as early as December 15 each year. Applications can be considered past December 15, but applicants are encouraged to apply by then. Please make sure to submit all required documents to the University by that date to ensure that your application will be given full consideration. Please note that submission of the GRE Physics subject score is optional.
- University fellowships have deadlines beginning in mid-January. The department must nominate candidates. In most cases only students whose application packages are complete by December 15 will be considered by the committee.
- Students may request a fee waiver by completing the fee waiver form. Please note that requests for fee waivers are separate from the application process and receipt of a fee waiver is not a guarantee of admission. This form must be returned by November 10 to receive full consideration, and we anticipate that decisions will be made in early December.
Dr. Elizabeth M. Bains and Dr. James A. Bains, Jr. Graduate Fellowship
The Dr. Elizabeth M. Bains and Dr. James A. Bains, Jr. Graduate Fellowship provides a $35,000 per year stipend for excellent graduate students who contribute in meaningful ways to broaden the department’s access and engagement.
The fellowship is available for new student applicants to our graduate program. Students should apply to the fellowship via a faculty sponsor. Interested students without UT Knoxville contacts are encouraged to contact a faculty member with whom they would like to work. (Faculty members can only sponsor one student per cycle.)
Graduate Assistantships in Physics
The University of Tennessee Department of Physics and Astronomy offers a variety of financial support possibilities for graduate students. The graduate teaching assistantship offers a base stipend of $22,000. Health insurance will be provided. Tuition and maintenance fees for each semester will be waived, but GTAs will be required to pay a Programs and Services Fee, a Technology Fee, a Campus Facilities Fee, and a Transportation Fee. Note that the proposed teaching stipend for the GTA, although paid over 12 months, is for two semesters of teaching duties. This amount can be supplemented through extra research, teaching, or grading duties that become available in the summer. GTA duties may involve teaching recitations, laboratory supervision, grading, and/or proctoring. GTAs are expected to devote a maximum of six credit hours equivalent per semester to these duties for the fall and spring semesters. Additionally, they are expected to carry the course load of a full-time graduate student (nine credit hours per semester). We also offer a limited number of fellowships, which provide increments to the teaching assistantship for students with records of outstanding achievement.
All support is contingent of adequate progress toward a degree. Students typically hold a teaching assistantship for two years before becoming a research assistant.