Most graduate students in the Physics Department receive financial aid during their entire graduate careers. There are various forms of financial aid available and, generally, students receive several different forms of support while completing their degree requirements.
The form of financial aid offered most incoming graduate students is a teaching assistantship. A teaching assistantship requires approximately 20 hours of service per week, of which about 9 are contact hours of teaching laboratory sections in introductory physics courses. Well-qualified applicants may be offered a half assistantship in combination with fellowship support, yielding the same income and benefits, but requiring fewer hours of service to the department. Applicants with particularly distinguished academic records may be eligible for either the Charles A. Reynolds Fellowship in Physics, or an award under the Graduate School Outstanding Scholars program, both reserved for exceptional incoming graduate students. Both of these special awards are given in combination with a one-half graduate (teaching or research) assistantship. International graduate students who are not native English speakers must demonstrate a very substantial mastery of written and oral English in order to be eligible for a teaching assistantship. Mastery of oral English is generally demonstrated with a passing score (50) on the SPEAK test; an alternative qualification, the TEACH test, is also available at the discretion of the Director of the International Teaching Assistant Program. (ITAP). Other financial aid, including awards designed to promote diversity within the graduate student body, is also available through the Graduate School.
After a Ph.D. student has become associated with a research advisor and has begun thesis research, the advisor may offer him or her a research assistantship, which is generally supported by funding obtained externally by the advisor to support his or her scientific program. Such support should be sought by graduate students from their thesis advisors, not from the Physics Department.
Doctoral students are also eligible for predoctoral fellowships, generally in the form of half fellowships, each in combination with either a half teaching assistantship or a half research assistantship. These fellowships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and of evidence of timely progress towards completion of degree requirements.
Summer fellowships are available to help doctoral students to devote their summers to full time study, particularly during their early years of graduate work. Ph.D. candidates, while working on their thesis research, are eligible for summer support from their thesis supervisors as research assistants.
Dissertation fellowships are available to support students while writing their Ph.D. theses. These fellowships include one-time awards of a maximum of $2000 to help defray expenses connected with writing, reproducing and binding dissertations.
Fellowships, and other financial aid that is offered in combination with half assistantships, include full tuition remission, though the much smaller University Fees must be paid by all students receiving financial aid. Both half and full teaching assistants may purchase excellent health-care coverage, heavily subsidized by UConn. The remuneration attached to all these forms of financial aid are set by statute each year; their stipends for the nine-month academic year 2006-2007 are:
$18,270 for students with only a baccalaureate degree; $19,226 for students with a Master's degree; $21,371 for students who have passed the Ph.D. General Examination.
Students awarded the Charles A. Reynolds Fellowship or a Graduate School Outstanding Scholar Award receive an additional stipend associated with these awards.
Further merit-based financial aid for the three summer months is available for students studying to prepare for the General Examination, and for students involved in thesis research.