Regents' Winrock Doctoral Fellowship
Program Description
The Regents’ Winrock Doctoral Fellowship (RWDF) promotes the recruitment of highly competitive doctoral students of exceptional academic merit. The fellowship is designed to attract outstanding doctoral students whose educational, socioeconomic, or life circumstances reflect resilience, leadership, and a demonstrated commitment to broadening participation in graduate education.
Pursuant to the availability of funding, Graduate Studies will award four two-year Regents’ Winrock Doctoral Fellowships on the following basis:
- Odd-numbered academic years (e.g. 2027-2028, 2029-2030; 2031-2032): one fellowship in the STEM fields, including Health Sciences; one in the Arts/Humanities;
- Even-numbered academic years (e.g. 2026-2027, 2028-2029, 2030-2031; 2032-2033): one fellowship in the STEM fields, including Health Sciences; one in the Social Sciences (Anthropology, Psychology, etc.) Education.
Selection Process
The college deans will make nominations to Graduate Studies via Infoready by February 16, 2026 for the 2026-2027 academic year. College deans should encourage departments or graduate units within their college to submit one nominee for college level review.
Nominations forwarded from College/ School should include:
- Nomination letter from college/ school
- Nomination letter from department/ program
- CV
- Transcripts
- Student's personal statement, cover letter, or letter of intent from the student's admission application
Terms and Conditions (RWDF)
Terms
Each fellowship provides full funding, including a stipend of $25,000.00 per academic year, plus tuition, and health insurance. To maximize the impact and to keep the program sustainable, the RWDF is not renewable beyond the two-year award period. The RWDF award cycle begins in fall semester and runs continuously for four semesters (excluding summer). The RWDF award cannot be extended beyond the two-year (four consecutive semester) window. If for any reason a recipient takes a leave of absence or skips a semester, the student will lose that portion of the fellowship.
Eligibility
Recipient must be continuously enrolled as a full-time graduate student for the term of the award. Fellowship recipients who defer or postpone their enrollment will forfeit the fellowship, which will be awarded to another nominee.
Recipient must not hold an assistantship during the semesters in which the stipend is received.
Recipients who take a leave of absence during the award period will result in forfeiture of the award. You must meet the academic requirements of your department, college and the university and remain in good academic standing during the term of the award.
Recipient must observe the UNM student code of conduct.
Recipient must fulfill each semester the responsibilities stipulated below.
International students are not eligible.
Responsibilities of the Recipient
- Recipient must meet with their faculty mentor at least once a month, and take responsibility to ensure that these meetings are scheduled and documented.
- In the final semester of the award, the recipient must give a presentation based on their research as part of a graduate research conference or symposium.
Responsibilities of the Graduate Unit
The graduate unit agrees to award an assistantship of at least .25 FTE when the fellowship period ends, for an additional 2 years, in an effort to allow the student to complete the doctoral program so long as the student remains in good academic standing.
The graduate unit will appoint or otherwise coordinate the selection of a faculty mentor for the RWD fellow. RWD fellows may change their mentors with approval of the graduate unit chair or director.
Renewability
So long as the recipient remains in good academic standing and observes the student code of conduct the RWDF award will renew automatically for four consecutive semesters (excluding summer).
Termination
The RWDF award may be terminated at any time if the conditions of the award as described here are not met. The University of New Mexico reserves the right to terminate a fellowship and related funds immediately and without prior notice if, in the judgment of the Department Chair or Awarding Department and concurrence of the appropriate college dean, such action is warranted.
Tax Implications
Awardees are responsible for understanding the federal and state income tax implications of receiving a fellowship. The University of New Mexico has no tax withholding or reporting requirements related to the stipend portion of the fellowship. Because tax liability varies based upon each student’s financial situation, students should contact a tax advisor or the IRS with any questions about taxation of the fellowship.
