Graduate Student Cancer Research Award (CRA)

Academic Level: Graduate students (submitted by JCRC Faculty Member)
Application Deadline: February 2026
Application Link: Applications are closed for the year. A new application will be live January 2026.

NOTE: Prepare all your information before starting as you cannot save or re-enter the application.

The center will fund summer stipends for graduate students studying under the direction of JCRC faculty members. The JCRC will fund only one student per faculty member. These competitive awards are provided to the faculty mentors, not the students, and the application must be submitted by the faculty member.

The intention of these awards is to support: 1) graduate students working on cancer-relevant projects; and 2) the overall research programs of their major professors. Both graduate students with nine-month teaching assistantships and twelve-month research assistantships qualify for the program. Our intent is not to replace departmental support of graduate students, but rather to assist major professors who are covering the expenses. Thus, the application directly asks if the professor would otherwise be responsible for summer support.

These awards will be made based on the merit of the student’s research, its cancer relevance, and the ability of the mentor to provide funding from other sources.

Eligibility Requirements: Graduate student performing cancer research in JCRC member laboratory

Application Requirements:

1. Application must be submitted online by the JCRC Mentor
2. Upload the following STUDENT information as PDFs
   1. Current Transcript (may be unofficial)
   2. Project Description (PDF one page, including hypothesis, methods, and expected outcome)
   3. 100 word description of how your project will help cancer patients in the future
   4. Publications in the last 3 years (attach a PDF of each publication)
   5. NIH Biosketch Form H - 5 page maximum
3. Upload the following MENTOR information as PDFs
   1. All Lab Publications in the last 3 years (attach a PDF of each publication). Please highlight those that acknowledge the cancer center
   2. Past Graduate CRA Information (Outcome of CRAs trained in the last 3 years. Where are they now?)
   3. NIH Biosketch Form H - 5 page maximum

Student Expectations:

Awardees are expected to provide or participate in the following by accepting the award:

1. Provide periodic progress reports for both the Johnson Cancer Research Center and the donor
2. Participate in university and JCRC presentations and events to showcase your research and engage the university and broader community
3. Agree to media participation (social/web/print) to help promote the successes of the JCRC and increase visibility of our programs and research.