Grants and Writing Resources for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Twenty-two dancers from HYPE Dance, an audition-based UWM student crew open to every major, performed in the pregame ceremony before Game 1 of the World Series at American Family Field in October 2026. They worked in a cast of about 200, flipping cards to spell out dates while a narrator traced the Brewers' and Rays' seasons, in front of 43,250 fans in the stadium. The call came by email about two weeks before the Series, and the team put in more than eleven hours of rehearsal over three days.

Paid Research for Undergraduates

The Office of Undergraduate Research works with more than 500 undergraduate researchers a year and backs faculty-student projects with student pay and travel support. Its main fund is Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF). A faculty member and a student write the proposal together, a committee reviews proposals three times a year, and the money arrives as hourly wages, $14 an hour, up to $1,500 a semester during the academic year and $2,000 in summer. Students must be degree-seeking undergraduates, with at least six credits outside summer.

Seniors with a research record can propose a senior-year plan for the Senior Excellence in Research Awards, which go to a small group. UR@UWM brings about 20 incoming first-year students to campus each summer to work as research assistants before their first semester. Finished projects go up at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, a free public event with posters and oral presentations.

Fellowships and Travel Money for Graduate Students

Two of the Graduate School's fellowships are one-year, non-renewable awards that students apply for. The Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship paid a $17,000 academic-year stipend for 2026-27, with full tuition coverage and eligibility for health benefits, to PhD students holding dissertator status by the start of the award year. The Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowship paid $15,500 for 2026-27. New and continuing graduate students can apply, and prospective students can apply along with their program application; doctoral students who will reach dissertator status by the deadline are excluded. Program faculty nominate graduate students for the Graduate Excellence Fellowship, which is matched to donor wishes.

In April 2026 the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry reported that four of its graduate students won Graduate School fellowships for 2026-27, two of them the Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship. For conferences, Graduate Student Travel Awards reimburse students who present, perform or exhibit work from their UWM program as lead author. Doctoral students can receive up to $1,000 while enrolled and master's students up to $500.

Writing Center and Thesis Format

The Writing Center meets UWM students, faculty and staff one on one in Curtin Hall 127 or online. Walk-ins are welcome; an appointment holds the time.

For theses and dissertations, the Graduate School posts Word templates, sample pages and a formatting checklist, and staff will review a draft's general format by email before the deadline. The final PDF goes through ProQuest's ETD Administrator with a signed approval and publishing options form, and the work is published in the UWM Libraries' Minds@UWM repository. A student with a pending article or a patent question can request an embargo of six months, one year or two years.

Before a UWM paper, thesis or dissertation goes to a committee or to the Graduate School's format check, our editors can give it a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee dissertation and thesis editing and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write an Analytical Essay: Analysis vs. Interpretation
• Methodology Chapter Secrets: Building the Architecture of Your Argument
• ProQuest Readiness: The Final Mechanical Audit