CONACYT Graduate Fellowship Program

The U of I System (UIC, UIUC, UIS) has entered into an agreement with CONACYT (the National Science Foundation of Mexico) to support up to 10 Mexican nationals [annually] who have been admitted into PhD programs at one of the three UI System universities.

CONACYT has agreed to support these PhD students for the first four years of their study and the UI administrative core will support the fifth year, if applicable. This is a competitive program and students must apply for the CONACYT award after having been accepted into a UIC PhD program.

The Graduate College will periodically run queries in Slate, but PhD programs should specifically reach out to eligible applicants to inform them about this funding opportunity.

Specifics of the Funding Agreement: Heading link

  • CONACYT will provide tuition funding to the level of $20,000 per PhD student per each CONACYT-­funded year. The receiving university of U of I System will waive any additional tuition costs above $20,000. [Split waiver]
  • CONACYT will provide each PhD student an annual stipend “equal to CONACYT’s standard award for living expenses” for each CONACYT-­funded year [approximately $15-18K last AY].
  • CONACYT will provide each PhD student with financial support for the health insurance fee for each CONACYT-­funded year.

Application Process Heading link

1. The Student applies for admission to any UIC PhD program
2. The student visits the CONACYT website

 

Some of the requirements: Heading link

  • On­line scholarship application form [“Formato de Solicitud”], circa March.
  • Letter of acceptance.
  • Description of a research project.
  • Information on the specific doctoral degree to which the student has been admitted (duration, language required, tuition cost, fees).
  • Three letters of recommendation using the CONACYT format designed for this purpose.
  • Official transcript(s) from the previous university degree(s), with an average of 8.00 in the scale 1 to 10 used in Mexico.
  • TOEFL score of ≥ 79-­80 Internet version (IBT) or IELTS of 6.0.