Grants and Writing Resources for the University of Connecticut
In April three UConn undergraduates were named 2026 Goldwater Scholars. They were among 454 students picked from more than 5,000 applicants. Two belong to the Class of 2027 and one to the Class of 2028, and all three study in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Honors Program, with majors in molecular and cell biology, applied mathematical science, chemistry, physics and mathematics. A five-member faculty committee nominated them, and alumni donors supported their early research.
Summer Funding and Frontiers
The Office of Undergraduate Research raised the Summer Undergraduate Research Fund award to $5,500 beginning in summer 2025: a $5,000 stipend and up to $500 for research consumables. Applicants need a UConn faculty supervisor and good academic standing, and SURF goes to a student only once. Recipients present at a Frontiers poster exhibition and file an end-of-summer report.
Second-year students with a 3.4 GPA can propose a project of their making for the Caxide Scholars program, which gave awards of up to $5,000 for summer 2026. Research qualifies, and so do creative work, community service and entrepreneurial ventures. Scholars put in 360 hours and present at the Caxide Scholars Symposium.
Any undergraduate may show research or creative work at Frontiers in Undergraduate Research, held each fall and spring with a virtual option for students at every campus. Several hundred students present each year.
Prizes for Essays, Lab Reports and Poems
The Writing Center runs the Aetna Writing in the Disciplines Awards for undergraduate writing done for UConn course credit. Three winners, one each in sciences and engineering, social sciences and humanities, receive $200 from the Aetna Chair of Writing Endowment. Lab reports, literature reviews, case studies and infographics all qualify, as do thesis chapters under 15 pages.
The English Department lists its awards, contests and scholarships on one page. The Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize pays $1,000 for first place, and the Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction pays an undergraduate $1,000 for first place. Graduate students can enter the Aetna Graduate Writing Award, up to $500 for critical research and nonfiction essays of up to 20 pages, and can apply for an Aetna Graduate Writing Support Award of up to $500 a year for research or travel connected with writing. Many winning pieces are published in the Long River Review, UConn's literary and arts magazine, which students edit and produce.
National Awards and Graduate Funding
The Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships works with graduate and undergraduate students at every UConn campus. It nominates and prepares candidates for awards that require a university endorsement, among them Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Udall and Goldwater, and runs the campus review for Fulbright.
Doctoral students who have passed the General Exam and submitted a dissertation proposal can apply for the Graduate School's Summer Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, a one-time $2,000 award in the 2026 cycle. The Conference Participation Award gives doctoral and MFA students $750 to present research at a national or international conference, in person or online. A student receives it once. The Graduate School's fellowships page links to outside funding databases, including Pivot, where UConn affiliates can create a profile.
The Writing Center and Dissertation Submission
The UConn Writing Center is on Level 2 of Babbidge Library. Tutors meet writers in person or in synchronous online sessions, and asynchronous appointments return written feedback. A pilot format called AIM puts a tutor beside the writer for accountability while the writer works. Graduate students also get workshops on topics from introductions and literature reviews to publishing, and a day-long writing retreat.
Doctoral candidates submit one electronic copy of the dissertation through Submittable, following the Registrar's dissertation information page and the Dissertation Submission Checklist. A printed copy for the Library has not been required since May 2016. Dissertations from before the August 2020 change in the process are indexed in Doctoral Dissertations on Digital Commons @ UConn.
Our editors give UConn dissertations, theses and course papers a final edit for grammar, consistency and format, whether the next stop is Submittable or a prize committee. See our University of Connecticut dissertation and thesis editing and University of Connecticut essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with the University of Connecticut, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your UConn writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.