Details

Develop your dissertation on global issues with a toolkit of resources. You’ll participate in seminars, workshops, and mentoring sessions over the course of the year and receive up to $2,000 for your summer research travel. 

This year's DPD will support a cohort of 18 PhD students. Applicants’ research projects must focus on global issues, but the proposed research setting may be international or domestic.

2027 Program and Mentors

If selected for DPD, you'll receive funding for air travel to and from your summer 2027 research site. To help you prepare for summer research, DPD begins in the spring semester. The program includes these community-building and mentoring events:

• Spring seminars: Up to three sessions on topics including proposal writing, research methods, and interdisciplinary international studies. 
• Spring workshop: Three-day workshop in May to help you refine your proposal and plan your summer pre-dissertation research.
• Fall workshop: Three-day workshop in September to support you as you finalize your dissertation proposal.

Applicants must commit to attending all seminar and workshop sessions. DPD participants are required to conduct at least six weeks of summer research away from Cornell between the workshops.

DPD Faculty Facilitators

• Virginia Doellgast, Estabrook Professor of Employment Relations and Dispute Resolution (ILR)
• Mara Du, Associate Professor of History (A&S)
• Ziad Fahmy, Professor of Near Eastern Studies (A&S)

Amount

Up to $2,000 to cover round trip airfare to your summer research site. The DPD award covers economy airfare only. No other travel expenses will be considered for funding.

DPD recipients are not eligible to apply for Einaudi's travel grants. We encourage you to apply for other Cornell and external grants to supplement your DPD funding, but you may not use other grants to pay for the same travel expenses covered by your DPD award.

Eligibility

• Students who are currently enrolled full-time in PhD programs at Cornell University are eligible.
• Both U.S. citizens and noncitizens are eligible.
• Progress within graduate program:
  • Applicants must have completed at least two full years of graduate study (MA and/or PhD) by the end of the spring workshop in May. First-year graduate students who have completed master’s degrees and fourth-year students who have not yet undertaken dissertation research may be eligible.
  • Applicants must be on track to obtain approval of their dissertation proposals after the fall workshop but before the end of the upcoming academic year.
• Students who have already submitted dissertation research proposals to their departments for approval or to funding agencies for dissertation research support are not eligible to apply.

Questions? 

Please email our academic programming staff if you have questions about DPD.

How to Apply

Apply by November 30 using the button below. Decisions will be announced in January.