We offer you three years of guaranteed funding from the Allen School as well as additional funding provided you continue to make satisfactory progress toward the degree.

You may not yet know if you'll be working as an RA or a TA, and that's ok! Your temporary advisor may be waiting to hear back regarding grant proposals, and that information may come late in the summer (or even a little later).

Folks on fellowships will need to answer this question after the end of their fellowship periods (typically the end of spring quarter in year one).

Research Assistantships (RA)

Faculty can offer you an RA and some may have already. You can ask faculty if there is RA funding they can offer you. RA funding is for a specific research project, so you would be required to work on that project while being paid by the grant. You and your temporary advisor should discuss this. Once you know who your temporary advisor is, you can start discussing the possibility of an RA for this fall. Otherwise you can sign up for a TA position when the call goes out in August (read below for more details).

Teaching Assistantships (TA)

TAing is a good way to look around without being committed to any specific project. There is a 20-hour-week commitment of time, but some students prefer to have this freedom until they find a suitable project. 

Each quarter, all Allen School graduate students are sent an email from Pim Lustig, Curriculum and TA Coordinator, soliciting TA signup for those interested in a position for the following quarter. The call for fall quarter TA signup should be sent out sometime in August. You will need your CSE NetID and password to access the signup site.

For new students who have a fellowship or who have secured an RA offer, Pim's TA message can be ignored for autumn. But please continue reading as you will need this information later.

All PhD students must complete two quarters of TA/teaching before graduation, so you should keep this requirement in mind and plan with your advisor the best time to complete it.  If you respond to Pim putting your name in the TA pool for a given quarter, and you do not remove your name from the pool by a given date (this will be noted in Pim's TA signup email), then you are obligated to TA in that quarter.  If you are still negotiating a RA position by this deadline, please tell Pim and he may be able to give you an extension.