Fellowship Funding
The New York Botanical Garden offers fellowships every year to support Graduate Students working through our partner programs. Applications must be submitted to NYBG and at least one affiliated program. NYBG application here.
Graduate Fellowship in Botany (1)
The New York Botanical Garden seeks prospective Ph.D. students to join the Graduate Studies Program. Qualified candidates should apply through NYBG and one or more of NYBG’s partner university programs: The City University of New York, Yale School of the Environment, New York University, Fordham University, Columbia University, and Cornell University.
Fields of study include systematics, genomics, biodiversity informatics, ecology, ethnobotany, food security, conservation biology, environmental science, and plant morphology, anatomy, and development. NYBG graduate students combine field- and laboratory-based research and actively use the collections and laboratory facilities at NYBG. Preference is given to candidates who will integrate diverse methodologies and leverage NYBG’s collections and professional networks to develop interdisciplinary research projects.
Interested candidates must submit applications to NYBG and an affiliated program. Deadlines for affiliated programs vary; NYBG applications must be received by January 15 each year.
Annette Kade Charitable Trust
Fellowship in Tropical Plant Systematics (1)
(French or German students)
A graduate fellowship is available in tropical plant systematics at The New York Botanical Garden. In the 2024-25 academic year, one graduate fellowship will be granted by the Garden in association with the Annette Kade Charitable Trust. Funding is designated to support a German or French student who is doing doctoral research in tropical plant systematics in the broadest sense. Preference is given to candidates who will integrate diverse methodologies such as molecular systematics, genomics, bioinformatics, biogeography, or plant morphology and development.
Funding is available for students who are enrolled in French or German Ph.D. programs who would like to conduct dissertation research at NYBG. Preference will be given to students whose interests combine field- and laboratory-based research and who will actively use the collections and laboratory facilities at NYBG. Limited funds are also available to cover fieldwork and laboratory expenses related to the dissertation project. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis beginning January 2024.
Florida International University
International Center for Tropical Botany (ICTB)
Graduate Fellowships in Tropical Botany (2)
We have two available fellowships for Ph.D. graduate research assistant positions in tropical plant biology with the ICTB and NYBG.
We are seeking graduate students in tropical plant diversity in the International Center for Tropical Botany in partnership with The Kampong and Florida International University. The ICTB is a new, collaborative effort between FIU and the National Tropical Botanical Gardens to develop programs in research, education and outreach in tropical plant biology. The ICTB has recently opened a world-class headquarters with offices, laboratories, and an herbarium, adjacent to The Kampong botanical gardens on Biscayne Bay in historic Coconut Grove (http://ntbg.org/gardens/kampong.php).
Graduate Fellows will be hosted for two years each at NYBG and the International Center for Tropical Botany, at The Kampong, the historical estate of plant explorer Dr. David Fairchild in Coconut Grove, Florida.
Support will include four years of funding, with an annual stipend base of $36k, in addition to a $12k annual housing allowance and a modest annual budget for travel and research expenses. Fellows will be expected to secure an additional 1-2 years of support through grants or teaching assistantships during a Ph.D. period of 5-6 years.
Interested candidates can send inquiries to cbaraloto@fiu.edu and lkelly@nybg.org. Candidates are encouraged to contact both faculty mentors at FIU (listed here) and curators at NYBG (listed here) to discuss project ideas.
Applications are due to the FIU Graduate School in December 2024 for positions starting in August 2025. Applicants must also submit an NYBG application by January 15 2025 (linked from here). In addition to the requirements for FIU Graduate study (detailed here), applications for this fellowship will require a statement indicating how a proposed research project will take advantage of synergies in resources and mentoring between FIU and NYBG to contribute to tropical plant science and conservation.
Research Assistantship: Sporangia (1)
Dr. Barbara Ambrose, NSF funded research project
The New York Botanical Garden seeks prospective Ph.D. students to join the Graduate Studies Program. Qualified candidates should apply through NYBG and one or more of NYBG’s partner university programs. Most likely partners for this research project are The City University of New York, New York University, or Columbia University.
The project investigates the molecular genetics of sporangium development in the model fern Ceratopteris. This research will help build an understanding of the evolution of sporangia across plants and fill a gap in our knowledge about plant reproduction.
Please direct enquiries to Barbara Ambrose, Ph.D., Curator of Genomics and Director of Laboratory Research (bambrose@nybg.org). Interested candidates must submit applications to NYBG and an affiliated program. Deadlines for affiliated programs vary; NYBG applications must be received by January 15 each year.
Research Assistantship: Neotropical bromeliads (1)
Dr. Brad Oberle, NSF funded research project
The New York Botanical Garden seeks prospective Ph.D. students to join the Graduate Studies Program. Qualified candidates should apply through NYBG and one or more of NYBG’s partner university programs. Most likely partners for this research project are The City University of New York, Florida International University, or Columbia University.
This project seeks to understand how functional trait tradeoffs are affected by photosynthetic pathway in the diverse Neotropical Bromeliaceae family, and how these shifts in tradeoffs affect resource allocation and feed back into nutrient cycling. Specifically this project will test 1) the physiological and molecular responses to nitrogen limitation in C3 and CAM bromeliad species, assess, 2) long-term effects of nitrogen limitation on allocation to functional traits, including vegetative vs. reproductive growth, and determine 3) how nitrogen, photosynthetic pathway, and functional traits affect leaf litter quality and the feedback of litter quality to the ecosystem.
Please direct enquiries to Brad Oberle, Ph.D., Associate Curator, Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology (boberle@nybg.org). Interested candidates must submit applications to NYBG and an affiliated program. Deadlines for affiliated programs vary; NYBG applications must be received by January 15 each year.