Grants and Writing Resources for Purdue University

Four Purdue seniors were named 2026 Astronaut Scholars, and the university's October 14, 2026 report calls four in one year a first for any institution. The same report lists nine Fulbright U.S. Student awards to Purdue students and graduates, for English teaching, research and a master's degree in France, along with a Beinecke Scholarship for a senior in the history of science, technology and medicine.

The Spring Conference and JPUR

The Office of Undergraduate Research calls its Spring Undergraduate Research Conference the largest showcase of Purdue undergraduate research. It is judged, with poster sessions, research talks, virtual presentations and a Literature, Linguistics, Languages, & Culture Colloquium. Faculty, staff, graduate students and retirees give the feedback used to pick top presenters. In 2026 the top 50 presentations earned High Distinction, and those with up to four presenting authors received a $100 award, subject to funding. The Provost Carl Drummond Research Excellence Award went to three presentations.

Finished projects can go to the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research, a student-run, open-access journal sponsored by the Office of the Provost. It publishes research articles and Research Snapshots by undergraduates in any discipline who have completed faculty-mentored research, with support from Purdue University Press, the Libraries and the Writing Lab.

Undergraduate Grants and OUR Scholars

An OUR Undergraduate Research and Professional Development Grant pays up to $500 to conduct individual research or to present it at a national or international conference. Research money covers consumable supplies, required printing or postage, and travel to research sites; conference money covers transportation, registration, lodging and meals. Applicants must be full-time students working toward a first bachelor's degree or a PharmD, and each student can receive one OUR grant. First-time presenters get preference.

OUR Scholars for 2026-27 receive $1,000, paid $500 per semester, for a year-long project with a mentor. The office and each participating college split the cost. Scholars take a one-credit online research course each semester and present at the spring conference.

Literary Awards and Sycamore Review

The English department's Literary Awards listed more than 30 prizes for 2026, most of them $100 to $300. The undergraduate list includes $200 Department of English Awards for a short story and a creative nonfiction essay, the $200 Tom Andrews Clapping Award for a poem sequence or long poem, and Kneale Awards in American literature, British literature, history and postcolonial literature that pay $200 for first place. Criticism prizes of $100 cover Shakespeare, women's literature, and African, African American or Black literature.

Graduate students compete for the $300 Barriss and Iola Mills Award for a single poem, the $300 Booth Tarkington Fiction Award, and Kneale Awards in literary criticism and in theory and cultural studies, on the 2026 graduate list. Sycamore Review, Purdue's literary journal since 1989, offers editorial positions to people affiliated with the MFA in Creative Writing program and publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, interviews, book reviews and art.

Fellowships and Graduate Funding

The National and International Scholarships Office, part of the John Martinson Honors College, handles 14 selective national and international awards, including the Goldwater, Truman, Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright. It serves undergraduates, graduate students and alumni with information sessions, writing workshops, one-on-one meetings and mock interviews. In May 2026 three Purdue juniors were named Goldwater Scholars, an award of up to $7,500 toward tuition and fees.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars (OGSPS) runs OGSPS fellowships in two groups. Recruitment awards such as the Graduate Excellence Fellowship come through faculty nomination, and the Presidential Excellence Award adds $10,000 a year on top of a primary funding package. Current students can hold residential fellowships, among them the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship for PhD candidates in their final year; Purdue Engineering's 2026-27 announcement lists a $32,000 salary, tuition remission and a health insurance contribution for up to 12 months. Donor-funded travel grants include the Frederick N. Andrews Environmental Travel Grant and the Graduate Professional Development Travel Award. Graduate students also present in the Three Minute Thesis competition during OGSPS Research Week, explaining their research in three minutes with one slide.

The Writing Lab and the Thesis Office

The on-campus Purdue Writing Lab has its main West Lafayette site in the Krach Leadership Center and satellite sites that change by semester. Consultations run in person, by live video, or as eTutoring with feedback by email. Tutors take course papers from many disciplines, graduate seminar papers, resumes and internship reports, and they show students how to proofread. For graduate writers the lab runs an Intensive Writing Experience for thesis and dissertation writers, an Introduction to Graduate Writing Workshop for first- and second-year students, and a four-week group for mid-stage doctoral students.

All thesis-option master's and doctoral students deposit their work through the Records, Thesis and Dissertation Office. Students write in one of three official templates: the Standard and APA templates in Word, or the LaTeX/Overleaf template. The template formatting must stay unaltered. The office gives one format review per semester, by email for most theses and in person for controlled theses subject to export or data rules. It also posts a list of editors for students who want editing help; the office endorses no one on the list, arrangements are made between student and editor, and it recommends asking an editor for references first.

For a thesis already set in a Purdue template, or an award essay close to final, our editors give a last pass for grammar, consistency and format. See our Purdue University dissertation and thesis editing and Purdue University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• ESL Academic Writing: Overcoming Common Grammar Habits
• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter
• The Results Chapter: Presenting Data with Forensic Clarity