Bu Eagle Doctoral Fellowship

The Bu Eagle Doctoral Fellowship is a program supported by the Psychology Development Fund and other donors in honor of Fr Jaime C Bulatao, SJ (“Father Bu”), founder of the Ateneo Department of Psychology and a pioneer of Psychology in the Philippines. 

The Bu Eagle Doctoral Fellowship seeks to form academic leaders who will establish or strengthen the Psychology Departments in their college or university outside Metro Manila. The full fellowship covers full tuition and fees including dissertation writing and oral defense fees. Fellows will also receive PhP 30,000 monthly allowance for the duration of study. 

The Fellowship may also support a student’s dissertation fees and research expenses (instead of full tuition and allowance for the duration of the program). In this case, the subsidized amount would depend on the projected budget and expenses of the student, which would be submitted to the screening committee of the Department for evaluation.

After obtaining the degree, the applicant is expected to be employed in a Philippine higher education institution outside Metro Manila for one (1) year for every year of fellowship support. 

This is a competitive fellowship and a specific number of Fellows will be awarded in a school year depending on the Fellows’ stage of graduate study.

Eligibility

1. Psychology faculty from Philippine higher education institutions outside Metro Manila
2. New (accepted for SY 2024-2025) or current PhD Psychology or PhD Clinical Psychology student of the Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University
3. Current students can be at any stage of their graduate program (e.g. coursework or dissertation) as long as they are well within the residency term limit of 7 years for PhD programs in the Loyola Schools 
4. [For full fellowship] Can reasonably complete the degree within a maximum period of four (4) years from the time the fellowship is awarded as indicated in the individual program of study

Conditions 
[for Full Fellowship]

1. The student is required to carry a full-time load per semester to ensure timely completion
   • Must enroll in at least 9 units during the regular semester and 3 units in the Intersession.
2. A minimum of 1 year to a maximum of 4 years of support can be granted from the time the fellowship is awarded. This would depend on the Fellow’s stage of graduate study. If the student is unable to complete the degree program within the advised fellowship period, as stipulated in the fellowship contract, the student will have to revert to personal or other means to pay for the remaining semesters until graduation.
3. The student must meet the retention grade and policies of the Department.
4. Shifting to another degree program is allowed provided it is a PhD program of the Department of Psychology.
5. The student must be actively involved in a research lab of the Department.
6. The student may file for leave of absence (LOA) or withdraw from enlisted subjects, subject to the approval of the Department Chair and the conditions of the Fellowship. Fellowship privileges will be suspended during the LOA period.

Requirements

Note that applicants applying for the PhD Psychology or PhD Clinical Psychology program for SY 2024-2025 may concurrently apply for the Fellowship.

• Completed application form, link: https://forms.gle/RjZ7aZPqYu35zY169
• Transcript of Records from the previous school attended (if new applicant; already required in the general application to the PhD program) or latest printout/screenshot of student’s grades from AISIS (for current students)
• Curriculum vitae, including research projects and publications
• Research Statement (1-2 pages, 1000 words maximum) that includes: 
  1. the specific domain or area in psychology that you are interested in investigating, and particular questions or problems you would like to pursue
  2. the relevance or significance of the questions or problems
  3. references to academic theories, frameworks, or publications that have informed this interest (use correct citations)
  4. describe any work that you have done in this area, if any (e.g. previous research, publications, jobs, etc.)
  5. connect this area of interest with research being done in the Department (mention the specific research labs and/or faculty you would like to work with); see Department website for more information on the research of faculty
• Articulation of future plans/goals, particularly in the context of your home institution
• Names of two recommenders, at least one of which is from a supervisor or senior colleague in the applicant’s home institution [only for full Fellowship]
• Letter or certification from the home institution indicating agreement with the return service of the applicant after obtaining the degree
• Endorsement of research/dissertation supervisor [only for the dissertation/research support]
• Amount requested and itemized budget/projected costs of research/dissertation work [only for the dissertation/research support]

Procedure

1. Full fellowship and research/dissertation support applicants complete the application form and upload the required documents via this link: https://forms.gle/RjZ7aZPqYu35zY169
2. Application documents for full fellowship will be reviewed during the application period for admissions (i.e. March-May 2024); applications for research/dissertation support can be reviewed at any time.
3. Applicants to the fellowship will be screened by a committee composed of senior faculty of the Ateneo Department of Psychology. An interview may be requested and scheduled, in which case you will notified by email.
4. Applicants will be notified via email of the results of their fellowship application, at least two weeks before the enlistment period in the first semester 2024-2025.