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Contact the Team

Make an Appointment

Please email gradgrants@nd.edu to make an appointment with a graduate fellowship consultant.

Our History

In 2011, the Graduate School formed the Office of Grants and Fellowships, a dedicated office open exclusively to graduate students with the goals of enhancing student experience relative to scholarly research and merit-based grants and fellowships. Consultations with our office led to our graduate students receiving more than $6.47 million dollars in external funding in AY 2016-2017 and we are second in the nation in the number of Fulbright fellowships received.

Our Services

We offer a wide range of services to support Notre Dame graduate students as they prepare and apply for external funding. We offer individual consultations, in-depth draft reviews, and advice for crafting individual comprehensive funding development plans. Other services include proposal workshops, department-specific programming and events, and informational and peer-review sessions. Notre Dame graduate students also gain access to our large collection of successful sample proposals through contact with our office.

Our Team

Our mission is to foster Notre Dame student success: helping our students to develop transferable skills, to craft a compelling narrative, and to share their research.  We assist Notre Dame graduate students in applying and winning prestigious external fellowships and grants using a peer-mentor model comprised of our multidisciplinary fellowship advising team. Our consultants are current Notre Dame graduate students and alumni who are experienced, successful grant and fellowship writers. Our consultants will work with you one-on-one to provide constructive feedback on applications. We offer flexibility in scheduling our consultation meetings, both in-person and online. We can also help you identify potential funding, generate a funding development plan throughout your graduate studies, and produce competitive external funding applications.

Start with Canvas

Our in-person and digital consultations are designed to accompany the Canvas self-directed tutorials. The tutorials provide specific, step-by-step instructions for grant application and grant writing. Once you have reviewed the relevant tutorials, email us at gradgrants@nd.edu to schedule an appointment. In your email, be sure to articulate your goals for the consultation.

Graduate School Staff

  • Kayla Hurd

    Kayla Hurd

    Analyst and Consultant, Office of Grants and Fellowships

    *Appointment by email only (khurd@nd.edu)

    Kayla Hurd

    Kayla Hurd

    Analyst and Consultant, Office of Grants and Fellowships

    (574) 631-2443
    khurd@nd.edu

    • Manage External Grant and Fellowship Selection Processes
    • Guide Students in Identifying and Obtaining Successful Extramural Funding
    • Proposal Writing and Development
    • Data Collection and Management 

    Kayla Hurd is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, and her research involves examining the health implications of eating grasshoppers in Mexico through biochemical, nutritional, and anthropological methodologies. Kayla is available to review both internal and external grants with a social science focus as well as STEM oriented proposals.

  • Michael Skalski

    Michael Skalski, Ph.D.

    Analyst and Consultant, Office of Grants and Fellowships

    *Appointment by email only (mskalski@nd.edu)

    Michael Skalski

    Michael Skalski, Ph.D.

    Analyst and Consultant, Office of Grants and Fellowships

    (574) 631-1713
    mskalski@nd.edu

    • Manage External Grant and Fellowship Selection Processes
    • Guide Students in Identifying and Obtaining Successful Extramural Funding
    • Proposal Writing and Development
    • Data Collection and Management 

    Michael Skalski, Ph.D. is a Consultant and Analyst at the Graduate School’s Office of Grants and Fellowships at the University of Notre Dame. Michael offers help in grantsmanship, manages several prestigious fellowship competitions such as the Fulbright-Hays DDRA, and ensures that services provided by the office reflect the priorities of Notre Dame graduate students. Michael has experience with generating successful merit-based grant and fellowship applications. With background in history, international affairs, and foreign languages, he has worked as a researcher, instructor, and freelancer in academic publishing.

Graduate Student Consultants