Overview
The PhD Plus Professional Development Award supports graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who seek funds with awards of up to $3,000 to engage in career-related activities that build skills, competencies, and networks necessary for long-term success in their career of choice. Funds provided by the award may be used to support participation in career-focused professional development that is not available to scholars at the University, and that will directly impact their career development. Although funds may be used for a wide range of activities and opportunities, applicants must clearly distinguish these activities from those that are normally supported during their research and scholarship by their primary department, or more broadly, from those that are available at UVA.
PhD Plus is enthusiastic to support graduate students and postdocs who are pursuing funding for leadership training, entrepreneurship, professional development, and more. We encourage individuals to submit an application for this award only if they have a specific professional development need and after confirming that the funds are not available from other sources, such as your advisor, department, school, institute, UVA, etc.
PhD Plus will be making updates to the Professional Development Award and will pause the program following the Fall 2026 cycle.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for this award, an applicant must be:
- a current UVA graduate or professional student enrolled full-time in a degree-seeking program and in good academic standing; or
- a current UVA postdoctoral scholar at the time of submission and use of the funds.
Please note: Graduate and professional students must be enrolled at the time of submission and use of the funds. Additionally, the activities for which you are requesting funding must fall after the award notification date.
Deadlines
The application deadline for the Professional Development Award will have three cycles for 2026. ALL application components (including the reference form) are due by each deadline.
- Spring 2026: The deadline is Monday, November 17, 2025. The final decision for the recipient(s) will be made by Monday, December 15, 2025.
- Summer 2026: The application deadline is Monday, March 2, 2026. The final decision for the recipient(s) will be made by Friday, March 27, 2026.
- Fall 2026: The application deadline is Wednesday, July 15, 2026. The final decision for the recipient(s) will be made by Friday, August 14, 2026.
PhD Plus will be making updates to the Professional Development Award and will pause the program following the Fall 2026 cycle.
What are examples of appropriate uses of the Professional Development Award?
The goal of this award is to support graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in gaining skills and experiences that are critically important in the career sector they are pursuing.
Past and eligible examples of qualifying uses include, but are not limited to, opportunities such as:
- Professional development training or activity that is outside of the academic or professional area in which the applicant has received previous training, and that is unavailable at UVA.
- Training in a niche area of research that does not exist in their graduate program or through their department (or at UVA more broadly), does not primarily benefit their current research (or dissertation), and will contribute to their career development in a chosen field; OR
- An interdisciplinary approach or research techniques that are not common in the applicant’s current field, does not primarily benefit their current research (or dissertation), and will help position them to be successful in their career of choice.
Examples of ineligible expenses include:
- Travel and related meeting expenses solely to present current research at conferences
- Networking activities taking place at a disciplinary or research-focused conference or symposium
- Tuition or fees affiliated with graduate programs at the UVA
- Health insurance, fringe benefits, and indirect costs
- Living expenses affiliated with your graduate studies or postdoc at the UVA
- Language training for academic degree or department requirements
- Analytical or skills-based training for the exclusive purpose of completing an academic or research-related project, dissertation chapter, etc., at UVA
- Research activities, software, trainings, or certifications that can be provided by the UVA school, department, and/or research advisor. For a full listing of available software available at UVA, please visit https://virginia.service-now.com/its id=itsweb_services&category_id=1f0fc337db5fc7c0f032f1f51d9619b0
- Funding to support short-term internship or similar experiential activities
- Expendable supplies and permanent equipment for research, such as laptops, tablets, cell phones, and other similar devices
- Leisure and/or recreational activities
Application Components of the PhD Plus Professional Development Award
All Professional Development Award application packets must include:
- CV or Resume (two-page maximum; minimum font size 11 point; minimum one-inch margins). Any additional pages beyond the two-page maximum will not be reviewed.
- Acknowledgement of Support Form, completed and signed by the applicant's primary faculty advisor or Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).
- A 500-word maximum description of the professional development opportunity, written and framed by the applicant, including dates and location(s). Applicants may include a hyperlink to provide additional information about their proposed activity.
Applicants should provide answers to the following questions (500 words maximum for each response). Competitive applications will include specific and concrete examples of how participating will directly further their career development and goals.
What is your professional career goal(s) in the next 5-10 years, after you leave UVA?
How will the proposed activity advance or enable your professional career goal(s), and/or overall professional development?
- Optional (200 words): If there is a similar opportunity like this at UVA, why have you not participated in that training?
- A budget narrative for proposed expenditures. We ask that all applicants list external funding sources, both potential and acquired from sources such as a faculty member, program, department, institute, school, fellowship, or personal, that will supplement the funding request.
- Reference form completed by a UVA faculty or staff member, recent graduate advisor, professional mentor, etc., who has a deep understanding of the applicant's professional and career goals. The online questionnaire will be emailed to the designated reference once the applicant fully completes and submits their application. Reference will be asked to submit their responses no later than the application deadline (July 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET for the Fall 2026 cycle).
Please note: only the required materials outlined above should be submitted; additional documents (e.g., additional letters of support, resumes/CVs longer than two pages, etc.) will not be reviewed.
How will the applications be evaluated?
Reviewers will read and assess all submitted applications based on the selection committee rubric which is available here. Please note that PhD Plus strongly considers the reviewers' scores and funding recommendations, and retains the final discretion to select projects based on funding availability and programmatic goals, needs, and priorities.
Want to Learn More?
For a full view of additional information about the UVA Professional Development Award and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, click any of the (+) signs below.
If you have any questions or concerns that are not addressed on this page, contact us at [email protected].
The application deadline for the Professional Development will have three cycles for 2026.
- Spring 2026: The deadline is Monday, November 17, 2025. The final decision for the recipient(s) will be made by Monday, December 15, 2025.
- Summer 2026: The application deadline is Monday, March 2, 2026. The final decision for the recipient(s) will be made by March 27, 2026.
- Fall 2026: The application deadline is July 15, 2026. The final decision for the recipient(s) will be made by August 14, 2026.
PhD Plus will be making updates to the Professional Development Award and will pause the program following the Fall 2026 cycle.
Applications must include responses to a short series of budget-related questions.
- Applicants must provide a narrative budget below, using the following format (please amend categories and include additional context, if necessary):
(Domestic or international) travel in the total amount of $#,### is requested to attend (professional development activity name) in (city, state, country) on (dates):
Registration fee: $###
Airfare: $###
Ground and local transportation: $###
Lodging: $###
Meals: $##
TOTAL REQUESTED: $#,###
- The applicant must also identify any other sources of funding and the amount that they have acquired or requested for the proposed professional development activities.
The Professional Development Award will be distributed following the notification deadline in the form of a one-time stipend payment issued to the recipient for the sponsored activity. Award(s) with a maximum value of $3,000 each will be issued.