Fellowships and NIH T32 Funding

All full-time graduate students in good standing in the Molecular Biophysics & Structural Biology Graduate Program receive a stipend, an educational enrichment account, individual health insurance (with an option to purchase additional family coverage), and full tuition remission (for more details see the MBSB handbook). After the first year, the above is paid by the student’s research lab, but eligible students can also apply for a two-year NIH-funded fellowship, as delineated below.

 

NIH-funded T32 fellowships

In 2011, the MBSB graduate program was awarded an NIH T32 training grant, which currently allows for simultaneous funding of four T32 fellowships awarded to eligible MBSB graduate students. These two-year fellowships are awarded based on availability, in a competitive application process. The application package includes a concise description of proposed PhD research along with letters of recommendation from MBSB faculty. Specific details on the application process are provided during each application round. The selection process considers not only the proposed research plan and student accomplishments, but also the potential contributions to the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the MBSB program. A list of current and past recipients of the MBSB T32 fellowships is found in the table below. The T32 fellows have studied a range of topics, including HIV/AIDS, herpes virus, and Huntington's Disease. MBSB T32 students' publications can be found in the public PubMed database


StudentLabFellowship Period
Karl DebiecGronenborn/Chong (Pitt)2011-2013
Grant SchauerLeuba (Pitt)2011-2013
Cody Hoopvan der Wel (Pitt2012-2014
Rebecca EellsLösche (CMU)2013-2015
Elizabeth DahlburgAsher (Pitt)2013-2015
Dave BauerEvilevitch (CMU)2013-2015
Kindra WhitlatchSmithgall (Pitt)2014-2016
Emily BeckwittVan Houten (Pitt)2015-2017
Chino CabaltejaHorne (Pitt)2015-2017
Lisa ClarkVilardaga (Pitt)2015-2017
Jennifer Boatzvan der Wel/Gronenborn (Pitt)2016-2018
Kirill LavrenyukDahl (CMU)2017-2019
Stephen White Hinck (Pitt)2017-2019
Sara WhitlockChilders (Pitt)2017-2019
Wesley BrownDeiters (Pitt)2018-2020
Andrew BellesisChong (Pitt)2019-2020
Zikri HasanbasriSaxena (Pitt)2019-2021
Ananya MukundanHinck (Pitt)2019-2021
Ari SelzerSmithgall (Pitt)2020-2021
Brittani SchnableVan Houten (Pitt)2020-2022

Annual MBSB Research Symposium

The MBSB program also organizes an annual research symposium that brings together the faculty and students of the program. The one-day symposium features talks and posters highlighting the diverse research going on in MBSB labs, with a specific focus on MBSB graduate student research. More information about future and past MBSB symposia can be found on the MBSB symposium website.