Technology Innovation in Educational Research and Design (TIER-ED) Fellowships are awarded each year to graduate students working on a research project in a TIER-ED focused area. TIER-ED strongly encourages designing, developing, building, trialing, assessing, scaling, disseminating, and commercializing evidence-based, replicable, cutting-edge, and transformational technological tools, solutions, and platforms to support, enhance, and create innovative learning environments and practices. The Fellows selection process is competitive and research projects are chosen by a committee of faculty members from disciplines within and outside of the College of Education. Applications are solicited each spring for the academic year beginning the following fall. The proposed research must be interdisciplinary and must have a strong and clearly defined technology focus, with implications for critical issues in education (e.g., learning, equity and access, etc.).
Due to COVID-19, research plans had to be modified as many in-person actions and requirements could not be completed. We encourage students to apply for this fellowship who had to incorporate technology and use online methods to continue with their research and data collection, even if their original research plan did not focus on technology and education. The proposal must be submitted jointly by the student and at least two faculty co-advisers from different disciplines. The co-advisers must be TIER-ED affiliates, and can be from the same department, but must have different research foci, bring different expertise, etc. TIER-ED Fellows selected by the committee will receive $20,000 for one academic year (9 months) and that will also make the Fellow eligible for tuition waiver (unless in a self-supporting or cost-recovery program; prospective applicants can check with their respective departments). The fellowship comes with expectations that Fellows participate in TIER-ED initiatives during the award year and will regularly utilize the TIER-ED student/faculty workspace at the Children’s Research Center when in-person activities resume on campus. TIER-ED Fellows will also present their research progress and processes at a TIER-ED community event or seminar in the spring semester.
Graduate Fellowships will be awarded to graduate students working on a research project in a TIER-ED focused area. Selected TIER-ED Fellows will receive $20,000 for one academic year. Please submit required documents and reference letters by email to tier-ed@education.illinois.edu. The submission deadline is Friday, April 23, 2021, by 5 p.m. CST.
The full Call for Application for Grad Fellowships, including info on eligibility, selection criteria, and procedures for applying can be found at the TIER-ED website.
