Grants and Writing Resources for Baylor University

In a report updated in June 2026, Baylor News counted thirteen Baylor students and recent graduates selected for Fulbright awards. Nine will teach English, in countries that include South Korea, Laos and Nepal. Two will study or do research in France and the Netherlands, and one holds the first Fulbright-Schuman award a Baylor student has received. Two more won Rotary Global Grants for master's study in the United Kingdom. Baylor ranks first among Texas universities for Fulbrights.

Money for Undergraduate Research

The Office of Engaged Learning gives out URSA grants in two forms, and students apply for either with a faculty member's support. Project Grants buy supplies and materials for independent research that lacks support from a mentor's grant or department funds, and they can pay for travel to do archival or field research. The ceiling is $5,000 for a full year and $2,500 for one semester, though most awards come in lower. Travel and Impact Grants pay the costs of presenting findings at a conference, such as travel, hotel, meals and registration, or of putting the research into practice. They are normally capped at $500.

The same office advises students on national awards. Its fellowships and awards staff help students pick programs that fit, from the Goldwater Scholarship to the Rhodes, draft application materials, and secure recommendation letters and university endorsements.

Presenting and Publishing

Baylor Student Research Week is open to undergraduate and graduate researchers, who present in flash talks, podium presentations and poster sessions. A small group of judges gives feedback and picks out standout presenters. In 2026 judges gave 19 awards: nine first-, second- and third-place podium awards to undergraduates and graduate students, Outstanding Poster Awards for three undergraduates and three graduate students, and four Outstanding Presentation Awards for undergraduates.

Undergraduates can publish in three campus journals. Honors College students edit and manage The Pulse, Baylor's undergraduate scholarly publication, which takes work from every discipline. Scientia, the journal of the student group Baylor Undergraduate Research in Science & Technology, prints research that students conducted. Its 2023-2024 issue carries papers in public health, virology, chemistry and toxicology.

The Phoenix is the student-run literary magazine. Any undergraduate may submit poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or art and photography, and a student panel reads each category. An outside judge names a Top Submission in three categories.

Graduate Fellowships and Prizes

The Virginia Sugg Furrow Dissertation Fellowship pays a 12-month stipend so advanced doctoral students can finish the dissertation without a TA or GA position. Applicants must be in candidacy, on track to complete the PhD in three to five active years, and able to finish within 12 months of starting. Each award covers a single year. Dr. Furrow, a 1938 Baylor graduate, endowed it in 1990, and selection gives priority to Christian applicants, beginning with graduates of BGCT-affiliated universities.

As of summer 2024, six doctoral candidates a year are named Summer Dissertation Fellows. Each receives a $400 scholarship, a reserved seat in the week-long Dissertation Writing Lab and a place in a weekly writing group with the other fellows. Applicants should be writing through the summer and close enough to finish to defend within 12 months.

Each year the Outstanding Dissertation Award gives a $1,000 cash prize in the humanities, the sciences and the social sciences, and winners are honored at the Outstanding Graduate Student Recognition Luncheon. Doctoral and MFA students who have completed candidacy can apply for the Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award, three of which are given annually in STEM, the social sciences and the humanities. Graduate School travel awards pay up to $400 a meeting, twice a year, to students presenting research or an artistic performance. For dissertation travel such as archival work or fieldwork, the school matches department funds up to $400, one award per doctoral student.

Writing Consultations and the Thesis Office

The Center for Writing Excellence, on the second floor of Moody Library, was formerly the University Writing Center and the Graduate Writing Center. Consultations are free. Its Division of Undergraduate Writing serves undergraduates, and its Division of Graduate Writing works with graduate students, online and on campus, on theses, dissertations, grant proposals and papers for publication. A graduate session runs up to an hour, by Zoom or in person at the Graduate Research Center. Students can also ask for written feedback on up to six to eight pages. Each year, in the week after May commencement, the Dissertation Lab gathers advanced doctoral students in person for a week of writing.

The Graduate School's Dissertation and Thesis Office gives each manuscript a preliminary technical review for formatting and completeness before the defense. Students book it at least 21 days ahead for written feedback or 14 days ahead for a Teams video review. After the defense, the final document and forms go through Vireo, Baylor's submission portal, and doctoral students also submit to ProQuest. BEARdocs, Baylor's digital repository, holds the electronic theses and dissertations collection.

Our editors give dissertations, theses and seminar papers a final edit for grammar, consistency and format, and a Baylor manuscript can come to us before it goes to the Dissertation and Thesis Office. See our Baylor University dissertation and thesis editing and Baylor University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write a Critical Essay: Mastering Academic Critique
• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter
• Managing the Committee: Depersonalizing Critique