Start the general application by answering the asterisked questions and electronically signing before submitting. Completion and submission of the general application is required for applying to any departmental award and fellowship opportunities.

• You only need to answer the 9 asterisked required questions.
  • One of the required questions asks whether you have or will file a FAFSA for the upcoming year. Because some funding opportunities are given to students who demonstrate financial need, consider filing a FAFSA to provide greater access to funding. Applying for a FAFSA is completely optional and not a program requirement.
    • International student applicants are not eligible to apply for a FAFSA and can therefore select “No” for this question.
  • For the general essay questions, enter “N/A.” We will not use your general essay as a basis for the departmental awards.
  • Be sure to select all acknowledgments necessary for submission at the end of the application.

The rest of the general application contains many questions that are designed for IU applicants as opposed to current IU graduate students who are eligible for departmental awards. Skip or enter “N/A” for these optional questions.

After completing the general application, you will need to complete the Biology Conditional Application, which will request items applicable to all Biology opportunities. Reviewers of IU Biology awards review committee(s) primarily focus on the Conditional Application information, which consists of your research statement, CV, a G901 Eligibility question, and PI letter of recommendation request.

For the Biology Conditional Application, please review the following guidelines:

A. Research Statement

• <=500 words
• Clearly convey the broader significance of your research. How does it contribute to advancing big picture questions and/or solutions?
  • Avoid copying and pasting text from research proposals.
  • Keep broader significance content from dominating your statement. Ideally, the ratio of content on broader significance to content on your own research accomplishments should be about 1:2.
  • An effective pattern is to start and end your statement with broader significance.
• Clearly describe your significant science research accomplishments in your current IU graduate program to date.
  • Be specific about your own findings, noting key methods you used to produce those findings, and why/how the findings are important.
  • Be specific about whether your findings have been published and where.
  • Write in the first person here, using ‘I’ statements to clearly indicate your work and accomplishments.
• Use grammatically correct and accessible language.
  • Write for faculty who are not necessarily experts in your field, avoiding jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations.
  • Write in your own words and voice, with the intent of sharing your enthusiasm for your work.

B. CV

• For Biology Departmental Fellowships, the most important section of your CV is comprised of publications produced from research conducted in your current IU graduate program. First-author publications count the most towards award worthiness.
  • Provide complete citations for publications using standard scientific format. Include all author names, spell out the journal name, and provide volume and page numbers.
  • If a manuscript is not yet published but exists in full draft form, indicate whether it is in prep, submitted, or in review.
  • Avoid mixing presentations with publications. Put presentations in a separate section.
• Otherwise, be sure your CV is up to date and in the style of an academic professional.

C. PI Recommendation Letter

For the application, you will need to submit the Name and IU email address of your recommender. The “IU Scholarships” portal will contact your recommender to request a letter, but we encourage you to contact potential letter writers before you submit their names to the portal to make sure that they are willing and able to write a letter for you.

• Only one letter can be uploaded per student. Effective PI letters are:
  • Up to date.
  • Inclusive of the specific award(s) the student is currently applying for (If you are applying for specific awards, make sure your PI knows which ones).
  • Concise (1-1.75 pp.).
  • Supportive of the student’s application, not used to discuss the PI’s research or elaborate on what the student’s statement should have included.
    • As applicable, provides specifics about how the award(s) will help the student.
  • Specific about the graduate student’s progress for their stage.
    • Focused on research strengths, accomplishments, and value to the PI’s research group, although depending on the award, teaching and/or service may be important.

D. G901 Eligibility

After submission of both the General Application and the Biology Conditional Application, you will see additional recommended opportunities for which you are eligible.

Some opportunities may have additional requirements including an additional recommendation letter specific to the opportunity. Eligibility requirements and necessary application materials are provided in IU Scholarships and should be reviewed in full on IU Scholarships.

You may update any of your applications, including submitted applications, at any point BEFORE the IU Scholarships deadline (timing varies; check the opportunity deadline within IU Scholarships). Please review the guide below for step-by-step instructions to updating your application: 

Updating-a-Submitted-Application (7_2026)