MiFF Scholar Awards – 2026
The GC runs this limited competition because UIC is limited to ONE nomination.
February 26, 2026 update: The competition is now open! March 10, 2026 update: The sponsor has changed the deadline. See our new deadline below.
The Mobility is Freedom Foundation (MiFF)-Scholar Award Program supports the research and training of talented young doctoral students in the rehabilitation sciences at graduate institutions with the intention of supporting scholars with an interest in advancing knowledge, research and publications related to integrated, multi-disciplinary care for amputees, i.e., person with limb loss. Based on institutional nominations, the program provides discretionary funding to a promising pre-doctoral student. The award is based on accomplishment in scholarly research as well as a compelling commitment to future rehabilitation research, and provides an unrestricted research grant.
Amount: $50,000.
Eligible disciplines: "Students do not have to be enrolled in a Rehabilitation Sciences program to be eligible. We encourage applicants from a wide variety of programs to apply, recognizing that amputee care draws from multiple disciplines. We hope you will encourage all students interested in advancing care for amputees to apply for our scholarship." (-President of MiFF)
details
Since UIC can nominate only ONE student, the Graduate College is running a limited competition.
Eligibility and research areas of focus
Students must:
- Be enrolled full-time in a PhD program at UIC;
- Be ABD (all but dissertation) and pursuing dissertation research.
No known citizenship restrictions.
“Students do not have to be enrolled in a Rehabilitation Sciences program to be eligible. We encourage applicants from a wide variety of programs to apply, recognizing that amputee care draws from multiple disciplines. We hope you will encourage all students interested in advancing care for amputees to apply for our scholarship.” We thus anticipate nominations from rehabilitation sciences, biomedical engineering, disability studies, etc.
criteria
The Foundation seeks Mobility is Freedom-Scholars who have demonstrated leadership, original scholarly research of outstanding quality, and dedication to their training. Recommendations for awards are based on evidence of outstanding educational efforts and the nominee’s scholarly research achievements, as assessed by a panel of distinguished scientists and clinicians in the orthotic and prosthetic industry. Optional external letters of support (see below for details) are of value to the reviewers. Other considered factors are awards and honors, publication of research achievements in leading journals, and evidence of leadership.
Nomination Procedures
Each nomination (likely completed by a DGS or faculty mentor) must include the following information in a single PDF, emailed to the dedicated Box folder.
- Scholar Information [copy, paste, edit in word processing program; fit on 1 page]:
First Name:_________ Last Name:_________________
Position:____________________________________________
Year of first academic appointment: [at UIC] ____
Department:____________________________________________________
Address:________________________________________________________
City:_____________________________________ State:__ Zip:___________
Phone:_________ Email:______________________________________
Undergraduate Institution:__________________________________________
Department:_____________________________________________ Year:____
Graduate Education (if applicable):
Institution:______________________________________________ Year:____
Department: ____________________________________________________ - Research project/dissertation title (maximum: 105 characters including spaces) and short description of research (maximum: 100 words). [Fit onto 1 page]
- Letter of nomination (maximum: 2 pages) from supervising professor or department chair highlighting the student’s academic and research accomplishments and the basis for selection. In addition, this letter may contain institutional and departmental descriptive information.
- Summary description of the research plans (limited to 6 pages, including references)
- CV (limited to 5 pages) including a list of publications in which independent contributions are clearly and separately identified. Research support should be indicated. [For example, departmental, college-level, and university/system-level, and external funding received; PI’s grant(s) if relevant to the student’s funding situation.]
- (Personal) Statement that illustrates the nominee’s efforts in rehabilitation science (limited to two pages)
- Budget (limited to one page) describing how award funds will be used. [Indirect costs are NOT permitted.]
Optional (but recommended): Up to three letters of support (signed and on letterhead) to be sent directly to the staff member or DGS collating materials on the student’s behalf. If included, insert after the nominating letter and before the research plans.
Submissions
Given that the application includes a confidential letter of recommendation, the head/chair, DGS, mentor, or a grad staff member is expected to submit the nomination file to the Graduate College. Nominations must be sent as an email attachment (with all the materials in a single file) to the Graduate College’s Limited Competition folder in Box (a FERPA-compliant cloud storage service): MiFF_Sc.qbf4oage5o55z69x@u.box.com
Each nomination must be a single PDF. Naming convention: MiFF + two- to four-letter program abbreviation (e.g., KN, DHD, NEUS) + hyphen + LastNameFI.pdf. Example: MiFF-BME-HughesH.pdf for the Hugh Herr, a fictional doctoral student in biomedical engineering.
Should you have a common name, e.g., John Smith, please spell out your first name to avoid confusion with Jane Smith.
FAQs
Why is there a limited competition? The university is permitted only ONE nomination and since students could be based in a number of different programs/departments, it falls to the Graduate College to coordinate.
Who is the Graduate College contact? Benn Williams, Fellowships and Awards Coordinator (bwilli7@uic.edu)
What if I have grant specific questions? Visit https://www.mobilityisfreedom.com/scholar and/or contact info@miff.fund
deadline
DEADLINE: NOON, May 1, 2026 (updated)