Research and Teaching Assistantships

Graduate students in the Department of Biology’s Ph.D. and M.S. (thesis) programs are typically supported through departmental teaching assistantships or through research assistantships from individual faculty. The current 9-month stipend for Teaching Assistants is $23,000 for students in the Ph.D. program and $21,000 for students in the M.S. program. Stipend amounts for Research Assistants are determined by the sponsoring faculty member. Students with either type of assistantship also receive a tuition waiver (covering both in-state and out-of-state tuition) and subsidized health insurance. Students entering into the non-thesis M.S. program as a new student do not typically receive assistantship support (but PhD students picking up the non-thesis M.S. degree in route, and graduate students leaving the graduate program with the non-thesis M.S. option, can keep their current assistantship for one semester when doing so).

To qualify for assistantships, the applicant must be admitted to the graduate program in the Department of Biology as a Ph.D. or thesis M.S. student. All components of the application are used by the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) to determine eligibility for assistantships. These assistantships are competitive and the Department of Biology recommends that applicants have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and/or a strong research background to qualify.

Summer teaching assistantships supplement 9-month stipends and are usually available on a competitive basis for up to two months. Summer stipend depends on teaching loads and responsibilities. Students may also compete for a limited number of summer scholarships available from the Department of Biology.

Visit the University of Mississippi Graduate School website concerning Fellowships and Travel Grants that are also available.