Unfortunately, due to the ongoing budget constraints and cuts in the School of Arts and Sciences and GSAS, we are suspending the University Prize Instructorship (UPI) competition for the 2024-2025 academic year. We are not accepting applications in spring 2024.

If you have questions, please reach out to Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Alyssa Canelli.

University Prize Instructorships, sponsored by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, awards a stipend which aligns with that academic year's per-course adjunct rate ($7,671 in 2022-2023) to advanced doctoral students to design and teach upper-division courses in their field of research. UPI instructors will also participate in a professional development cohort that meets monthly. Up to five instructorships will be awarded to candidates who propose courses that contribute substantially to the undergraduate curriculum and who have demonstrated excellence and commitment to teaching. Instructors may elect to co-teach and split the stipend equally. In this case, each applicant must fulfill the eligibility criteria and complete all parts of the application.

The 2023 winners of the University Prize Instructorship are:

  • Kanaya Malakar (Physics): Algorithmic Art
  • Emma McGuirk (Neuroscience) and Anne Silveira (Molecular and Cell Biology): Seeing Inside Cells: Using Microscopy to Visualize Cellular Dynamics
  • Nathanial Walker (Politics): Sovereignty: Continuity and Change
Previous winners include:

Several prior awardees have given their permission to view their successful applications. If you have any questions about the UPI application process, please contact the GSAS Assistant Director of Operations and Academic Administration, Abigail Arnold.

Application Process

Information for Departments and Divisions

February 2021, updated January 2022

In consultation with university counsel, we have created the following definitions and processes, to ensure that all prize instructorships are in compliance with the CBA. If a department would like to deviate from these structures, then the instructorship must follow the hiring protocol and pay rates of the Teaching Fellow or the Adjunct faculty union, whichever applies. If a division or department would like to alter the competition and selection process or criteria, please send the request to the GSAS Dean and Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs (currently, Wendy Cadge and Alyssa Canelli).

Any questions regarding this policy can be sent to Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Alyssa Stalsberg Canelli (acanelli@brandeis.edu), and the Director of Employee and Labor Relations, Liz Tierney (etierney@brandeis.edu).

1. UPI: Sponsored and funded by GSAS, competition open to all PhD students in all disciplines
DVPI: Sponsored and funded by a Division, competition open to all PhD students in that division
DPI: Sponsored and funded by a single department, competition only open to PhD students in that department.

2. Awards a stipend equal to the adjunct faculty pay rate in that academic year to doctoral students to design and teach upper-division courses in their field of research. PhD candidates can elect to submit a co-taught course and split the stipend equally.

3. This process is not used to find an instructor for a particular course; the courses themselves are competing cross-disciplinarily against one another on their merits (pedagogy and course design, curricular appeal and need).

4. Enrollment is limited to 20 undergraduate students, but instructors may increase the enrollment with approval from GSAS and the Registrar. Courses with an enrollment of fewer than 5 may be canceled.

5. Competition process guidelines

  • The Division or Department must communicate eligibility requirements to the students.
  • The Division or Department must establish a formal application process, which should include most of the elements in the GSAS-administered UPI process.
  • The Division or Department must establish a formal application review and award process. Division or Department must establish a review committee of no fewer than three members which identifies awardees and alternate

6. Selection criteria and awardee commitment details can be found in the accordions higher up on this page.  

Hiring Process

Once final awardees are selected, the following must be sent to Chris Nayler (cnayler@brandeis.edu) to process the academic appointment and payment. This info should also be sent to Heather Felton (hfelton@brandeis.edu) for DivSci awardees.

  • Student Name and Student ID 
  • Source of Funds (i.e. ChartString/Workday FDM) 
  • Semester of award