Grants and Writing Resources for Rush University

In September 2026 six Rush students were named 2026-27 Schweitzer Fellows. The fellowship runs a year and asks for 200 hours of service on projects that address the health needs of underserved communities in Chicago; one medical student will develop a health-centered poetry curriculum with the Chicago Poetry Center. A month later a College of Nursing PhD student who studies sex differences in atrial fibrillation care was selected as a Jonas Scholar, one of 80 doctoral nursing students in the 2026-28 cohort.

Trainee Research Day and Early Research

Rush's Trainee Research Day is held each spring, with oral and poster sessions and an award ceremony. The fifth one ran on February 19, 2026. Matriculated students could submit one abstract each, and they presented alongside residents, clinical fellows and postdoctoral fellows. Oral talks last 10 minutes with five minutes for questions. The 2026 poster awards included the Health Equity Research Award and the Irwin Press Patient Experience Research Award, and the colleges gave awards for oral presentations.

Medical students can start sooner. Rush Medical College's research opportunities begin with a first-year elective in which students write a research proposal and present their work. The paid Summer Research Fellowship follows in the summer between the two preclerkship years. Applicants need a faculty mentor and a written proposal modeled on a National Institutes of Health training grant.

Dissertation Money in Nursing

The College of Nursing lists its student funding under research and scholarly support for students. The Golden Lamp Dissertation Award, worth up to $10,000, goes to students enrolled in dissertation coursework. A College of Nursing Dissertation Grant of $2,500 pays dissertation research expenses. A $1,000 Travel Award helps students reach conferences where they present posters.

The college can also send prelicensure, specialty MSN, DNP and PhD students to the Midwest Nursing Research Society's student poster competition. Students it selects get help with the abstract and poster, and can be reimbursed for up to 90 percent of registration, hotel and travel costs, capped at $1,500. Eligible new students in the PhD in Nursing Science can receive full-tuition scholarships.

Writing Help and Thesis Submission

The Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) gives free writing support to Rush students, mostly online through Teams. Its specialists give feedback on course papers, theses, dissertations, personal statements and CVs, with help on APA format and citations. An ESL specialist works with English language learners on sentence structure, grammar and punctuation. The CAE gives feedback and guidance and does not offer proofreading or line-by-line editing. Its research support covers quantitative and qualitative projects from study design to final submission.

A thesis or dissertation starts with a format check, and the student revises the manuscript as needed. Final submissions are locked and sent to ProQuest after the degree is conferred.

After the CAE's feedback is in and the format check is done, our editors can give the manuscript a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our Rush University dissertation and thesis editing and Rush University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• Formulating the PICOT Question: The DNA of Your Capstone
• The Clinical Inquiry Framework: A Forensic Audit of Research Viability
• ESL Academic Writing: Overcoming Common Grammar Habits