Grants and Writing Resources for Saybrook University

The library's list of Eleanor Criswell Dissertation With Distinction Awards names 11 Saybrook winners for 2025 and 13 for 2024. The award goes to original dissertation research that shows academic excellence and rigor, and since 2024 it has carried the name of the institution's founding director.

Dissertation Support

Research training at Saybrook runs through a Department of Research whose core and adjunct faculty teach 17 research courses, foundational and advanced. The Dissertation Services office handles the paperwork side: petitions to form committees and the record of each milestone.

After the defense, doctoral students work with an internal editor during dissertation finalization. The editor checks the manuscript against APA style and the Saybrook Handbook of Format and Style over two rounds of edits, then sends the approved files to the Registrar. In most cases student fees cover it. Saybrook requires publication in the ProQuest Dissertation Database before the degree is conferred.

Scholarships for Continuing Students

Several of Saybrook's scholarships are open only to students already enrolled full time. The Rollo May Student Scholarship Award gives $5,000 for graduate work that carries forward Rollo May's existential-humanistic thought; four students received it for 2023–2024. The Saybrook Alumni Association Scholarship Award gives $2,500 to students entering the dissertation, thesis or capstone phase, and the Alan Watts Student Scholarship Award ranges from $2,000 to $5,000.

For outside money, the Sponsored Programs Office works with students looking for external funding for research, scholarship and creative work.

Writing Help

Saybrook's Writing Services department offers one-on-one support from writing coaches, along with online APA resources. A weekly Thursday drop-in handles quick writing questions. Longer projects are booked as appointments with a writing coach, and the department runs a weekly early-morning writing space, Wake Up and Write!.

Our editors work with Saybrook writers at the final-draft stage, from seminar papers to dissertations. See our Saybrook University dissertation and thesis editing and Saybrook University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• ProQuest Readiness: The Final Mechanical Audit
• The Dissertation Conclusion: Closing the Logical Loop
• ESL Academic Writing: Overcoming Common Grammar Habits