The Department of Biological Sciences actively encourages its graduate students to apply for external fellowships. Sources of such funding have included the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NIH), the Merck Foundation, the American Heart Association, and the U.S. Air Force; current opportunities being pursued include the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Hertz Foundation.

Students can expect guidance from their research mentors and the Coordinator of Graduate Programs in seeking funding opportunities, organizing and writing proposals, and managing successful awards.

• American Heart Association
  To help students initiate careers in cardiovascular or stroke research by providing research assistance and training
  
• DoD: National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
  To increasing the number and quality of our nation's scientists and engineers. Toward that end, the DoD annually supports approximately 8,000 graduate students in fields important to national defense needs
  
• Department of Homeland Security
  To ensure a diverse and highly talented science and technology community to achieve the DHS mission and objectives
  
• Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship
  The Hertz Foundation identifies the rare young scientists and engineers with the potential to change the world for the better and supports their research endeavors from an early stage.
  
• Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
  
• NASA (GSRP Program)
  To cultivate research ties to the academic community; fellowships for graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering related to NASA research and development
  
• NIH (NRSA program)
  To help ensure that highly trained scientists will be available in adequate numbers and in appropriate research areas to carry out the Nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research agenda.
  
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
  To ensure the vitality of the scientific and technological workforce in the United States and to reinforce its diversity; graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are at the early stages of their graduate study
  
• The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
  
• Sigma Xi (Grants-in-Aid of Research)
  The program promotes scientific excellence and achievement through hands-on learning