Graduate Dean's Research and Creative Activities Assistantships

The College of Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR) is pleased to announce the 2024-2025 Graduate Dean’s Research and Creative Activities Assistantships (“RCA Assistantships”) for graduate students at Northeastern Illinois University. The goal of these awards is to give graduate students an extended opportunity to experience and participate in the conduct of a research or creative activity project with an NEIU faculty member.

The RCA Assistantship award provides support for the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters. It includes one 3-credit-hour course tuition waiver per semester and a stipend of $1,200 per semester for 10 hours per week of work conducting your research project or creative activity with the supervision of a faculty mentor or assisting a faculty mentor with their research or creative activity project. The award also includes a research budget of up to $250. Note: Awards are contingent on available funding. 

Submission Deadline: Monday, Aug. 5, 2024 
Awards Announced: Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024

Eligibility: Graduate students who are in good standing in a degree program at Northeastern during the period of the award are eligible. Awards are contingent on students enrolling in at least one graduate-level course in the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters. 

Application Process 

Submit the following materials in PDF format to graduatestudies@neiu.edu.

  • Copy of the student’s NEIU full transcript (unofficial transcript is acceptable) including both undergraduate and graduate level, if the student did undergraduate work here.
  • CV or resume (optional)
  • 1-2 page outline of the research or creative activity project and plan, including a description of what will be produced. The first paragraph should be a lay summary of the project and plan. Proposed projects should include adequate precautions to ensure the safety of the participants as applicable.
  • Annotated budget up to $250 for research or creative activity support (if requesting this support)
  • Letter of recommendation for the student from the faculty member mentoring the student on the research/creative activity project, including a description of any objectives for the student’s growth experience as an RCA Graduate Assistant that complement the project plan.

​Award process

A group of faculty solicited by the CGSR Dean will review the applications and budget proposals, and make its recommendations to the CGSR Dean. The committee encourages projects that develop the professional skills of the graduate assistant as well as further the research or creative activity itself. 

Deliverables

The student will present in the spring at the John Sargon Albazi Student Research and Creative Activities Symposium, and will submit a 1-2 page research summary by the end of the spring term.

Please contact graduatestudies@neiu.edu with any questions about this assistantship opportunity.