Application and Funding

NYCEP is an umbrella structure that unifies the faculty and students across the five participating institutions. All Physical Anthropology (or EEEB/Primatology) students at CUNY, NYU or Columbia are automatically part of NYCEP, whatever their source of funding. Individual students must be enrolled in one of these university degree-granting programs; neither AMNH nor WCS grant degrees, although staff members may be associated with one or more of the NYCEP universities. The new NSF IGERT award to NYCEP provides funds which are disbursed by the institutions for various aspects of student support.

Students apply to NYCEP by submitting a formal application for graduate study at one or more of the participating universities (CUNY, Columbia, and NYU) as well as sending a NYCEP tracking form to Dr. Eric Delson, the NYCEP director. The university departments evaluate these applications independently, rank candidates, and make offers to students. Students whose applications are ranked highly may be invited to visit New York to meet with faculty and students, attend seminars or classes, and learn more about NYCEP and its constituents.

The NYCEP admissions committees at the universities may offer applicants a fellowship package including stipends of up to $30,000 per year, plus tuition, with some variation among the universities. Some packages may include responsibilities for service in research or teaching, with funding from a combination of NSF and university sources. Each university has special fellowship support for minority students and/or unrestricted fellowships for entering students on a merit basis. Students are expected to apply (or be nominated) for these if eligible. Individual offers will usually be made in March. Of course, continued funding is based on continued satisfactory progress in the program of study.

We hope that NYCEP applicants will also have applied for a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, as well as other external awards for which they may be eligible. NYCEP students will be encouraged to apply for these external fellowships again during their graduate career. Teaching experience is a valuable component of a graduate career, and departmental positions as lab instructor or lecturer may be available, especially during the third or fourth year while dissertation proposals are being finalized. Some of these positions may be included as part of the original fellowship offer, while others may be paid adjunct positions (in some cases, the likelihood of a paid position may be factored into a fellowship offer).