Many of the world's biggest problems are so complex that no single field of study has the answers. As up-and-coming researchers, graduate students are crucial to finding solutions—yet in order to qualify for funding, they usually tie their research to a specific professor, department, or grant. When problem-solving cuts across disciplines, students run into walls.
In 2008, Stanford President John Hennessy announced a new way forward: the Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowships (SIGF) program. Now that initiative has reached its goal, with more than 60 donors having stepped forward to reach the target of raising 100 interdisciplinary fellowships. These gifts free graduate students to pursue research interests across boundaries, with the added benefit of reducing dependence on federal research grants.
VPGE provides competitive funding to support individual doctoral students, student groups, and department-based projects.
