Grants and Writing Resources for Iowa State University

On May 4, 2026, Iowa State's Department of Statistics gave five graduate awards to six students. The Holly and Beth Fryer Award went to a student with a superior academic record on completing the Ph.D. core courses, and the Vera David Fellowship went to a student entering the second year of the program for contributions to the graduate program.

Paid Research for Undergraduates

Juniors and seniors can work on faculty-sponsored projects through the Undergraduate Research Assistantship program, which aims to encourage strong students to pursue graduate study. A first-year assistant can earn up to $4,300 over the nine-month academic period, and a student renewing with the same faculty member up to $5,000. Applicants must hold a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25, file the FAFSA and qualify for Work-Study, since College Work-Study pays 60 percent of the wages and the faculty sponsor pays the other 40.

Undergraduates also run a conference. The Stupka Undergraduate Research Symposium began in 2005 as a project of the biochemistry majors club and is now a separate club open to any major. Its 20th annual symposium was set for April 9-10, 2026, showing undergraduate research alongside keynote and alumni speakers, free to the public through student fundraising and donor support.

Graduate Prizes and Travel Money

The Graduate College's Zaffarano Prize goes to a graduate student for research accepted in national or international refereed journals, judged on both quality and number of publications, and carries a $1,500 check and a plaque presented at the Sigma Xi banquet. Students can't apply; a DOGE, major professor or Graduate College staff member makes the nomination. Doctoral work is the subject of the Karas Award, for which a faculty committee picks one dissertation in each of two advertised areas. Karas winners become Iowa State's nominees for the national CGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award.

The Research Excellence Award honors outstanding theses and dissertations with a letter from the president, an honor cord, a transcript notation and a citation in the commencement program; a student can receive one per degree. For conference trips, the Graduate and Professional Student Senate's Professional Advancement Grant paid $250 per graduate student or researcher in 2025-26, with first-time applicants given priority.

Where Student Writing Appears

Sketch is the university-wide literary journal, run and published by students, and its club works to give campus writers and visual artists places to share their work. Graduate writers in the MFA in Creative Writing and Environment finish with a book-length thesis of publishable quality, and the program counts Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment among its resources. Flyway is an online journal based at Iowa State. It ran a short-work contest in 2026 to mark its 30th anniversary.

Writing Consultations and Thesis Review

The Academic Success Center's Writing and Communication Consultations are free 45-minute sessions, up to three a week, held at the Hixson Lied Student Success Center or online. Consultants take any written, oral, visual or electronic project, from brainstorming through revision. They help writers find ways to improve clarity, organization and tone, but they don't proofread or edit papers.

Graduate students and postdocs have the Graduate College's Center for Communication Excellence, which offers individual writing and format consultations. Its thesis and dissertation consultations include 30-minute format checks against Graduate College requirements, and the center also runs in-person formatting boot camps. Finished manuscripts are uploaded to ProQuest after the major professor and DOGE sign the approval form, as the Graduate College's thesis and dissertation page explains. The $145 Scholarly Document Fee covers support, format checks and a digital accessibility check, and the work becomes public through ProQuest and the Iowa State University Digital Repository.

Before a thesis goes to the Graduate College's reviewers or a paper goes to a professor, our editors can check grammar, consistency and format. See our Iowa State University dissertation and thesis editing and Iowa State University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• The Secret to Better Grades: Starting Your Writing Process Early
• The Results Chapter: Presenting Data with Forensic Clarity
• ProQuest Readiness: The Final Mechanical Audit