Research is both a skill and a responsibility. Develop the knowledge and ethical foundation needed to conduct rigorous, responsible research while contributing to a culture of integrity, collaboration, and accountability within the scholarly community. Discover the resources and opportunities below to build your research skills, navigate ethical questions, and grow as a responsible scholar.

Research Resources

Guiding Your Research

Ethics

The Office of Research is a great resource for understanding your ethical obligations as a researcher. You can find their resources on research integrity on their website, including advice on the use of animal and human subjects, conflicts of interest, export control, broader research ethics, stem cell research, and research security. You can also learn more about research development and responsible conduct of research.

The Office of the Chief Information Officer also provides AI-related guidance through their resource page.

AI use is in part dependent on the guidance of your specific advisor, committee, professor, or department depending on the context. However, the Professional Development Unit is aware that AI use is an increasingly prominent topic in higher education. As AI tools continue to evolve, many students are navigating questions about their appropriate use in research, professional settings, and everyday life. The resources below provide a starting point for understanding AI and making informed decisions about its use:

With the advancement of technology, power dynamics, and high-stakes research graduate students may encounter in graduate school, it may be difficult to know the exact right answer. While your advisor can be a helpful resource, you also have other options at UCSB:

  • Ryan Sims, Academic Counselor: Ryan can provide academic support, an ear when you feel stressed, and referrals to campus resources.
  • Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): When help is needed in sorting out a personal concern, CAPS is a resource for learning new skills in building self-confidence, relating to others, reducing stress, solving problems, and identifying options.
  • Office of the OMBUDS: The Office of the Ombuds at UC Santa Barbara provides confidential consultation services to faculty, staff, students, parents, or anyone else with a campus-related concern. The ombuds addresses workplace issues, interpersonal conflict, academic concerns, policy questions, and many other problems, whether as a first step, last resort, or at any point along the way. David Rasch serves as the representative for graduate students.
  • Office of Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention: The mission of the Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Office (”TIX/DHP Office”) is to ensure all UCSB community members fulfill the campus’ commitment to create and maintain a work and academic environment free of discrimination and harassment.
  • The Lab: Offers an interactive movie where students can experience a simulation of an ethical decision.

Funding

The UCSB Graduate Division's "Funding Graduate School" section is a great place to start learning about fellowships, employment opportunities, and and financial aid information. In particular, the central campus fellowships and UCSB fellowships outlined by the Graduate Division's Student Financial Support team highlights some frequently repeated opportunities applicable to many different disciplines.

The Graduate Student Association also highlights some recurring opportunities for graduate student funding, including travel and childcare grants.

The GradTeach Google Group also sends out notifications about opportunities for Teaching Assistant, Reader, and Researcher positions at UCSB.

The Professional Development Unit and Graduate Division also will occasionally send out emails regarding upcoming opportunities as well, such as the annual Mentorship Awards. You can also reach out to the Professional Development Unit's Funding and Engagement Graduate Peer at gsrc@graddiv.ucsb.edu for advice about your search and potential opportunities.

Unlike the typical financial aid or funding for undergraduate students, graduate student fellowships and grants are often specific to a kind of research, time in degree, and funding intentions. Below are some funding databases and resources that you can use to search for opportunities that directly apply to your needs:

  • Graduate Division Digital Fellowship Library: Features fellowship application materials from former successful applicants to a variety of fellowship programs.
  • Graduate Division LinkedIn Page: Weekly posts about upcoming funding opportunities.
  • Professional Development Funding Newsletter: Comes out one to two times per quarter with a variety of upcoming funding opportunities.
  • Pivot: A comprehensive database of funding opportunities worldwide and across all disciplines, as well as a flexible portfolio of tools to support research collaborations.
  • UCLA GRAPES: Search for awards from among 625 scholarships, grants, fellowships, and postdoctoral awards.
  • National Science Foundation (STEAM): Funding database for research areas in Biological Sciences, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Education and Human Resources, Engineering, Environmental Research and Education, Geosciences, Integrative Activities, International Science and Engineering, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.
  • Pathways to Science: Search 1,200+ fully funded STEM programs and funding opportunities nationwide.
  • GrantForward: Federal and private funding opportunities in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
  • ProFellow: Search 1,000+ professional and academic fellowships.

The GSA Emergency Relief Grant is designed to help graduate students who are experiencing sudden financial distress due to unforeseen circumstances. Examples of this type of hardship include but are not limited to the loss of an immediate family member, a medical emergency, or an unexpected loss of employment. The GSA also offers a Childcare Grant and Conference Travel Grant.

The UCSB Basic Needs Crisis Response page outlines other emergency options, including resources for food assistance, housing assistance, financial assistance, and wellbeing assistance.

The Engagement and Funding Peer provides advising and support to UCSB graduate students with a focus on funding and professional development program assistance. This peer helps students navigate internal and external funding opportunities through drop-in hours, answering emails, coordinating funding newsletters, and hosting workshops, as well as sharing guidance on managing finances during graduate school.

Looking for more information about funding? You can reach out to the current Engagement and Funding Peer at gsrc@graddiv.ucsb.edu, or explore our upcoming events on Shoreline. Upcoming funding workshops include the Finding Funding session and panels on finding and preparing for fellowship and grant opportunities.

The PDU is not comprised of tax experts, and therefore is unable to help students file taxes or offer tax advice. However, the PDU does offer an asynchronous tax workshop for domestic and international graduate students that can help students learn how to file. More information on how to sign up for these workshops will be sent through email in December.

Research Assistance

While most international opportunities will stem from students winning awards for travel and study outside of UCSB, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers international educational and cultural exchange programs for passionate and accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals of all backgrounds to study, teach, or pursue important research and professional projects. You can learn more about our institution's deadlines and requirements here.

We always recommend consulting with your dissertation chair and committee about the requirements surrounding the dissertation process. The Dissertation Write-In, hosted by Katie Baillargeon, is a summer writing program designed to help Ph.D. candidates (ABD) make meaningful progress on their dissertations. These free, four-day writing retreats provide dedicated writing time, structured accountability, and a supportive scholarly community. The MultiCultural Center also hosts free writing sessions for graduate students who would like to write in community with others. As you near completion with your dissertation, you can also consult with the Graduate Division's Academic Services team regarding final formatting and submission.

The UCSB Writing Program hosts a variety of courses throughout the year, including some graduate student classes to help students improve their writing communication. You can find a list of current and previous offerings on their website. Some upcoming 2026 - 2027 graduate writing courses with Dr. Katie Baillargeon include:

Fall 2026: Writing 280AA. Intro to Grad Writing Expectations. Mondays, 1 - 3:50 pm, Room 1432, South Hall
Graduate students who would like to develop their writing skills will have the opportunity to practice drafting and revising a variety of advanced writing assignments common to the graduate experience. Students will first study the rhetorical features associated with various advanced graduate writing genres before producing disciplinary-specific versions of these texts. Email baillargeon@ucsb.edu for an add code.

Winter and Spring 2026: Writing 282. Thesis and Diss Structured Writing Community. Date, Time, and Location Forthcoming!
Graduate students who have produced at least one chapter of their thesis or dissertation and who must still complete at least one more chapter will be provided with writing instruction, individual feedback, and writing time to complete their thesis/dissertation. Only advanced graduate writing will be drafted and considered in this course. Email baillargeon@ucsb.edu for an add code once classes are listed.