Financial Support

CMB students in good standing receive full financial support throughout their training, including tuition and fees, stipend (living allowance), and university benefits. CMB also provides funding toward student travel to present their research at national meetings or attend career events ($300/academic year).

Stipends for CMB students are competitive with top-ranked research institutions nationwide. 

The University of Michigan Health System is renowned for the quality of its health care. CMB students receive health and dental care insurance through the unique GradCare student health insurance plan, which allows students a full range of health care coverage. GradCare is provided to students and spouses, including a family allowance.

Financial Support Sources: 

The major emphasis of graduate training in the CMB Program is on laboratory research. By providing financial support, CMB ensures that students do not have to teach to support themselves, although all students are teaching assistants for one term for the purpose of gaining teaching experience.

Financial support is typically provided by PIBS in the first graduate year, then by CMB Training Grant funds, individual fellowships, or research grants from the student's dissertation laboratory, as follows:

  • 1st year – PIBS
  • 2nd year – CMB Program
  • 3rd year and beyond – Sources of support include:
    • CMB Training Grant (limited number of slots)
    • Mentor’s research funds
    • External fellowships: E.g. F31/F30, NSF, DOD NDSEG, various professional societies and foundations
    • Specialized training grants: CMB students can compete for training support in a variety of specialized areas pertinent to their training, including Training Grant programs such as: Cancer Biology, Microbial Pathogenesis, Organogenesis, Systems and Integrative Biology, Tissue Engineering.

For questions/information about financial support in the first year, please contact the Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS) at [email protected]. CMB can assist with applying for funding in the 2nd year and beyond ([email protected]) - though students are always supported financially in one form or another.