This portal is for the submission of applications to SGS programs.
I am pleased to share with you the request for proposals (RFP) for the BRIDGE program at the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). This new signature initiative is designed to solicit and support innovative program ideas that will improve the experience of graduate students here at Rutgers-New Brunswick (including the programs at Rutgers Health) for our graduate students.
INTRODUCTION:
I am pleased to announce the opening of the School of Graduate Studies solicitation (request for proposal - RFP) for our BRIDGE initiative. BRIDGE is our acronym for Building Rutgers Initiatives for Development and Graduate Engagement. Five $10,000, 12-month grants are available to support programming initiatives that will enhance graduate student engagement.
Funding from the Office of the Chancellor of New Brunswick/Piscataway will support four of the projects, and funding from the Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC) will support one project, for a total of funding to support five projects.
BACKGROUND:
Under the leadership of Chancellor Francine Conway, Rutgers New Brunswick undertook a major initiative called the Academic Master Plan (AMP) in 2022. Now in its 5th year, this plan is a grounded and ambitious roadmap that provides for a rigorous academic experience for solving the complex grand challenges of our day, in public service and social justice, and in fostering student success.
I had the privilege of serving on one of the committees for the AMP. When I was appointed the SGS Dean in August 2023, the Chancellor suggested that we look to build on the extensive efforts of the AMP and directly link the findings to improving graduate education.
Since 2023, improving the experience for our 5,300 SGS students has been my top priority. For the past two years, I have led the reorganization of the School of Graduate Studies to bring our staffing and services in alignment with the AMP. I have worked with my executive leadership team to assess the needs of our graduate student population and the opportunities and challenges they face as they pursue their programs of study. I am now ready to ask you, our graduate education community, and partners for your help. As a basic scientist researcher (I am trained in plant biology and public health), I am very used to responding to RFPs from federal agencies and foundations, which are often very specific. Unlike a typical RFP, this call is very general and broadly defined to encourage creative, innovative, and bold ideas. I am looking to support five innovative project ideas to make the graduate student experience a better experience for students and the faculty and staff that support them.
I invite you to use this mechanism to share with me your best ideas on what you think will have an impact on improving the graduate experience here at Rutgers-New Brunswick. It can be an idea with immediate results, or it can be a pilot that we can grow and refine for a longer and larger effort.
Examples of the types of initiatives the program is designed to support include these three ideas that were shared with me when I began discussing the initiative in 2023.
- Support for a student navigator to work with my office and the Office of Graduate Student Life, who will focus on graduate students who are parents and caregivers. Rutgers is a complex place spread over several municipalities with different housing options, school systems, and support systems. One proposal I hope we can fund is to support (hire) a graduate student to be a resource and navigator for our students who are parents or have responsibilities as caregivers.
- Building a team to work with Institutional Planning and Operations (IPO) and others to do a critical assessment of Graduate Student Housing so that we can provide recommendations and assist the university as they review infrastructure needs and ensure the on-campus housing needs of graduate students are met.
- Build a community of graduate scholars. We have an outstanding Graduate Student Association (GSA). Many departments have exceptional student communities of student scholars who are supportive and provide insight and experiences for each other, but I would like to take this to another level by having a forum for a larger exchange of ideas and knowledge with graduate students across the New Brunswick Campus.
PROPOSAL GUIDELINES:
I am looking forward to supporting five (5) proposals for $10,000 each. The proposals should be designed to cover a 12-month period. Funds can be used for student wages, student activities (meetings and symposiums), meals, and meeting space. Proposals that have identified partnerships and collaborations across disciplines and interests will be very favorably reviewed.
Student groups, student associations, graduate programs, and units that support graduate students at Rutgers are eligible to respond to this RFA.
The proposal will be two pages in length (Single-spaced, 12 point font). PAGE ONE will describe the idea (project) with your plans for a 12-month period including who will benefit, what are your expected outcomes, plans for assessment, and your plan to scale this up into a sustainable project. PAGE TWO will be the names of the principal partners and a very brief bio on each partner, if they are students, include the program, degree, and year in program.
APPLICATION TIMELINE:
RFP released on October 20, 2025
Proposals submitted by November 17, 2025
Proposals reviewed by December 10, 2025
Announcement of Year One winners December 20, 2025
Project start date/availability of funds: January 20, 2026
Mid-Year Project Report: September 1, 2026
Final Report: February 1, 2027
REVIEW
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee consisting of members of the SGS staff, two graduate students from the GSA, and two members of the Dean’s Advisory Council (DCA). The DCA is the group of academic and private sector leaders who advise me, as the dean, on development and fundraising opportunities.
Evaluation Criteria include:
1. Project novelty
2. Number of graduate students who will benefit
3. Number of collaborators
4. Evidence of cross-program/school collaboration
Questions about the program should be sent directly to me at robson@sebs.rutgers.edu.
I look forward to your ideas and collaboration as we continue to work together to improve the quality of life for all our Rutgers Graduate Student Community.
With gratitude,
Mark Gregory Robson, PhD MPH DrPH
Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Distinguished Professor
Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education
School of Graduate Students
Promotion of Academic Excellence Program
Request for the Provision of Tuition and/or Fellows Health Insurance from the Office of the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies
The School of Graduate Studies in its commitment to supporting graduate student success provides access to fellows' health insurance and provision of tuition remission to doctoral students who secure fellowship support.
Fellows's Health Insurance Enrollment and Tuition Remission for Externally Funded Fellows
To incentivize and support graduate student success, the School of Graduate Studies will provide doctoral students who secure nationally or internationally competitive fellowships with the minimum number of tuition credits required each semester they are on the fellowship.
Each year, Rutgers University sponsors a Student Health Insurance Plan with UnitedHealthcare Student Resources (UHCSR) to provide health insurance to doctoral students who are on internal or external fellowship support.
The School of Graduate Studies manages student enrollment in collaboration with the graduate programs. SGS doctoral programs based in the NB/P Chancellor area may request enrollment of their fellows through this portal.
The effective enrollment date is September 1, annually.
Requests for the tuition benefit and/or health insurance enrollment should be submitted to the portal by graduate program staff and should include copies of the fellowship award documents. If additional information is needed, the request will be sent through the portal. The decision on whether tuition will be provided will also be communicated to the program through the portal.
Tuition Remission to Support Doctoral Degree Completion
To support and incentivize graduate student success, graduate programs may request up to 3 credits of tuition support for unfunded doctoral students who are in the final year of their program of study. We recognize that there may be times when a student has expended their funding package, and the cost of tuition is a barrier to timely completion of their PhD. SGS will receive and review requests from graduate program staff for the one semester provision of up to 3 credits of tuition to help a student finish their degree.
Requests for the tuition benefit should be submitted to the portal by graduate program staff and should include a written request from the graduate program director that explains the need for the tuition and the plan and timetable for the student to complete their degree. A clear and compelling case should be made for why the tuition is needed including an explanation for why the tuition cannot be covered by the graduate program or the school in which the program resides. A small percentage of these requests can be granted each year.
Requests may be submitted through the SGS Submittable Portal and will be reviewed weekly: https://rutgersnewbrunswick.submittable.com/submit/7aa7988c-31b0-419b-a3d2-7f05bfa43f30/request-for-the-provision-of-tuition-and-or-fellows-health-insurance-from-the-off
Questions regarding the program should be directed to Senior Associate Dean Teresa Delcorso-Ellmann at sgs.sadean@grad.rutgers.edu.
Program Purpose: The School of Graduate Studies Conference and Research Award program is designed to provide support to Ph.D. students in the School of Graduate Studies (School 16) who do not have access to the conference funding programs available through the New Brunswick/Piscataway and Newark Biomedical Sciences programs. The purpose of the SGS Conference and Research Award program is to help defray costs associated with off-campus research activities and presenting at academic, scholarly, and scientific conferences. Priority will be to support students who do not have access to other resources to support these activities and who are making good progress in their degree program. Support is provided in the form of a $1000 stipend award that will be paid to the student through student accounting.
The application portal is now open, and applications will be accepted until December 15, 2025. Students may apply for a $1000 stipend to support research or conference travel between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. The award is a stipend intended to support travel expenses related to conference travel or research.
Funding is available to support up to 200 students. Awards will be distributed equitably across our graduate programs.
Priority will be given to students who are ABD. For conference travel requests, the student must plan to present at the conference. For research travel requests, priority will be given to students who do not have access to other sources of funding to support their research.
Informational Webinar: To support student success, we hosted an information webinar on September 18, 2025 at 10am. The purpose of the webinar was to review how to apply for SGS Research and Conference Travel awards. The session will be recorded and can be viewed on Box.
Review Process: Only completed applications will be reviewed. The review process is a three-stage review process. In stage one, a technical review will confirm your eligibility to be considered for the award program. Only eligible applicants will be moved forward to stage two. In stage two, your application is reviewed by your graduate program which will be asked to endorse and rank your application. In stage three, the SGS Conference and Research Travel Award committee will review the top ranked applications and make award decisions. All decisions by the SGS Committee are final and confidential.
Questions? Please send your questions about the competition or application process to: SGS_Awards@grad.rutgers.edu.
Log in to get started: We use the university's single sign on (SSO) tool on the Submittable platform. If you have used our platform in the past, click on the "Have an Account? Sign In" button and follow the links for Single Sign On. If you are a first-time user, click on the "Create Your Account" button and follow the links for Single Sign On.
Program Timeline
- September 5, 2025: Application Portal Opens
- September 18, 2025 at 10am: Information Webinar for graduate students, GPDs, faculty and staff
- December 15, 2025: Application Deadline
- December 15-19, 2025: SGS Technical Review
- December 22, 2025-January 30, 2026: Graduate Program Review
- February 2-20, 2026: SGS Review
- March 1, 2026: Applicant Notification
Questions? Please send your questions about the competition or application process to: SGS_Awards@grad.rutgers.edu.
Log in to get started: We use the university's single sign on (SSO) tool on the Submittable platform. If you have used our platform in the past, click on the "Have an Account? Sign In" button and follow the links for Single Sign On. If you are a first-time user, click on the "Create Your Account" button and follow the links for Single Sign On.
GradFund External Funding Application Report
Let us know when you’ve started your application, or when you’ve won. SGS students may be eligible for additional resources from the School of Graduate Studies. Plus, we want to help you develop a competitive application and ultimately, celebrate your success!
In your report, please tell us whether you plan to apply for a specific award, if you have an application in development, have submitted it or have results. You may report one award per form and you should plan to initiate a form for each award that you plan to apply for, each cycle that you apply for external funding. As you move through the application process, be sure to return and provide an update.
Log in to get started:
We use the university's single sign on (SSO) tool on the Submittable platform. If you have used our platform in the past, click on the "Have an Account? Sign In" button and follow the links for Single Sign On. If you are a first time user, click on the "Create Your Account" button and follow the links for Single Sign On.