The most competitive applicants will be supported financially by the Department. Teaching Assistantships for 2009/2010 include a salary of ~$16,250 for the nine-month academic year (20 hours of work per week). Teaching Assistant appointments of 25% or more include Graduate Student Health Insurance and partial payment of quarterly fees and tuition. California Resident fees for Fall 2009 are $3,120.18 and the mandatory health insurance charge is $721.25 per quarter. The Fall 2009 fees for Students who are not residents of the state of California are $3244.18, the mandatory health insurance charge is $721.25, and tuition is $4,898.00 per quarter. The Department has a limited number of fee and tuition fellowships, and can also nominate you for UCSB and University of California Fellowships for as much as four years in duration. To be considered for a fellowship, we must receive your completed application by January 1 . Fellowships are highly competitive and based on general evaluations of your academic record, Graduate Record Exam scores and letters of recommendation.

Research Assistantships are funded under existing research grants to faculty members. These positions are usually occupied by more senior graduate students who are conducting thesis research. Awards to entering students are pre-negotiated directly between the student and a faculty sponsor. You should consider applying for need-based financial aid through the Office of Financial Aid ( 2103 SAASB,893-2432). For US citizens the application deadline for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is June 10, 2010 (please see http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ for current information).

In addition to sources of graduate student support available within and outside the University, the Department of Geological Sciences offers the following research awards. Students must be nominated to the awards committee by their advisor; awards are presented at the end-of-year award ceremony:

Alumni Graduate Award for Research Excellence:
for outstanding research in any field.

Graduate Research:
awarded on the basis of competitive proposal evaluation.

Preston Cloud Memorial Award:
assistance to attend annual national or other major meetings.

G.K. Gilbert Award:
for best paper on original research (usually in a department forum).

Harry Glicken Award:
given for best Ph.D. research in volcanology or fields related to volcanic processes.

The Richard and Eleanor Migues Field Research Prize:
for outstanding research involving field studies.

George Tunell Endowed Fellowship:
for research in the field of economic geology.

Wendell Phillips Woodring Memorial Graduate Fellowship:<
Ph.D. research in any field of the solid Earth Sciences, with a preference to biogeology.

UCSB's Graduate Division maintains a financial support page that is very helpful in locating sources of funding both inside and outside UCSB.