Funding Opportunities

Funding from assistantships and scholarships are available to top-performing students. Nine- and twelve- month graduate assistantships and scholarships are available on a competitive basis. Graduate assistantships (GA) provide funding support to cover stipends, tuition costs, and subsidized health insurance coverage. Additional funds are provided to students on a competitive basis to cover research expenses and travel to present research at professional conferences.

Students receiving standard GA appointments perform teaching and research tasks. This may involve serving as a teaching assistant (TA) for an undergraduate course or acting as a research assistant (RA) on a faculty member’s funded research project. Students are given clear expectations about their responsibilities and are expected, on average, to work 20 hours per week. When assigning assistantships, effort is taken to match the student’s interests and background with the research and teaching needs of the school’s faculty.

To apply for a standard GA please check the appropriate box on the graduate school application. No other action is required to be considered for a GA.

In addition to school RA and TA positions, SOE faculty often secure external research grants that support RA positions. Some, but not all, current grant-supported RA positions are advertised below.  Please contact SOE graduate faculty, who share your research interests, to inquire about RA openings they may have.

Current grant-support RA positions:

 

Financial Analyst Assistantship/Internship – College of Natural Sciences Forestry & Agriculture (NSFA)

NSFA is a large, complex college made up of 11 academic departments and numerous teaching labs and clinics, research labs, a marine center, experimental farms and the university forest. Funding for the college is diverse with over $24 million in base funds and $7 million in federal appropriations, state MEIF funds and revenue supporting research and service programs. Budgeting, reporting and financial management for the base funds straddle two overlapping fiscal years, university and federal. In addition to base funding, NSFA researchers bring in an average of $18 million in extramural grant funding annually, with an average of over $100 million in funding in force. The college has an active development program and receives ongoing financial support from its endowed gift portfolio. The college employs over 500 people including faculty, staff, graduate students and technicians. The Finance Office provides services and support in the overall management of financial, human resources and administrative functions across the college and experiment station.

Position Responsibilities include: reviewing and preparing personnel action forms; assisting in budget preparation and financial reporting; assisting in functions related to purchasing, invoicing, receipts and expense/travel reimbursements; and preparation of journal entries and account reconciliations. The position is the first point of contact for the office and provides some general support including scheduling meetings, opening and distributing mail and maintaining filing systems. The position completes other reasonably related duties as assigned. Work involves handling sensitive and confidential information on a regular basis and requires the ability to work with complex spreadsheets, databases and a variety of financial and human resource systems applications. Each intern will have the opportunity to work on a high impact financial project for the college. The intern will also participate in college wide administrative meetings and training sessions. This position works 20 hours per week during the academic year and 30 hours in the summer with holidays and two weeks off.?


 

Three Research Assistantships in Human Dimensions

Xuan Chen, Assistant Professor-School of Economics, University of Maine

Evaluating production efficiency, risks, product marketability and financial status of the aquaculture operations in Maine

We are seeking a highly motivated student in economics to fill a position for a fully funded Master’s program fellowship in Economics, Financial Economics or Resource Economics and Policy beginning in Fall 2015. The fellowship includes a stipend, tuition waiver, subsidized health insurance and research funds. The student will be advised by Dr. Xuan Chen. The student needs to be interested in applied economics. Students with the following majors are preferred but are not limited to: economics, agriculture, finance, marketing, mathematics, statistics, engineering, marine sciences and food sciences.

The student must have a Bachelor’s degree at the time of hire. Interest or training in quantitative analysis is required, as well as excellent oral and written communications skills.

The successful candidate will be instrumental in applying economic methodologies to analyze aquaculture productions of various species in Maine. The research will also evaluate the economic viabilities of emerging technologies and new varieties within the aquaculture industry. The appointee will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with researchers from across disciplines engaged in the research project and stakeholders of the aquaculture industry.

For more information, please contact: xuan.chen@maine.edu or at (207)581-3184

For more information about Dr. Chen’s work please visit http://umaine.edu/soe/faculty-and-staff/chen/

For more about the School of Economics graduate programs please visit http://umaine.edu/soe/prospective-graduate-students/

 

Todd Gabe, Professor-School of Economics, University of Maine & Jim McConnon, Professor-School of Economics, University of Maine

Economic Contribution of Aquaculture in Maine

Gabe and McConnon are seeking a graduate research assistant (M.S. student, non-thesis) to work on a project examining the economic contribution of aquaculture in Maine. The study will estimate aquaculture’s direct statewide economic contribution using secondary data from the 2013 Census of Aquaculture and information from other publicly-available sources. An input-output model of Maine’s economy will be used to estimate multiplier effects associated with aquaculture. The student will assist with assembling the data set, performing the input-output analysis, and writing the report. Along with what is described above, the project will likely include—and the student will assist with—other analyses including comparisons of aquaculture activities among states.

For more information, please contact  todd.gabe@maine.edu or  mcconnon@maine.edu

For more information about Dr. Gabe’s and McConnon’s work please visit http://umaine.edu/soe/faculty-and-staff/gabe/ and http://umaine.edu/soe/faculty-and-staff/mcconnon/

For more about the School of Economics graduate programs please visit http://umaine.edu/soe/prospective-graduate-students/

 

 

Caroline Noblet, Assistant Professor-School of Economics, University of Maine

Examining socio-economic factors influencing coastal communities, consumers and Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture.

Seeking highly motivated students interested in interdisciplinary work to fill a position for a fully funded Master’s program fellowship in Resource Economics and Policy or Ecology and Environmental Sciences beginning in Fall 2015.  A fellowship includes a stipend, tuition waiver, subsidized health insurance and research funds.

The student will be advised by Dr. Caroline Noblet and will have the opportunity to be a member of a multi-disciplinary research team, the Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network, supported by a major Nation Science Foundation grant.  The successful candidate(s) will be instrumental in documenting the socio-economic baseline of Maine’s coastal communities with a focus on aquaculture – including perceptions, preferences and willingness to make tradeoffs among different uses for the coast. Research will also evaluate the economic potential of emerging aquaculture efforts through understanding consumer acceptance, and willingness to pay for these products. The research team will collaborate on surveys, focus groups, and analysis/ interdisciplinary modeling that incorporate economics and psychology to understand social and individual responses to change in economic and physical environments.  The team will focus on decision making and information processing in both private (consumption choices) and public choices (such as acceptance of alternatives). The student will also have the opportunity to work collaboratively with researchers from across disciplines engaged in the research project and entities who contribute to natural resource decision making in Maine.

For more information, please contact: caroline.noblet@maine.edu or 207.581.3172

For more information about Dr. Noblet’s work please visit http://umaine.edu/soe/faculty-and-staff/noblet/


Research Assistantship in Environmental Economics  and Policy
Jonathan Rubin, Professor of EconomicsPer Garder, Professor of Civil Engineering
Automated Vehicles: Economic Incentives for Environmental Benefits and SafetyWe are seeking a highly motivated student in economics to fill a position for a fully funded Master’s program in Resource Economics and Policy beginning in Winter 2015 or Fall 2015. The Research Assistantship includes a stipend, tuition waiver and subsidized health insurance. The student will be advised by Dr. Jonathan Rubin and Dr. Per Garder. The student needs to be interested in applied economics and policy. Students with the following majors are preferred but are not limited to: economics, civil engineering, mathematical modeling and transportation.


For more about the School of Economics graduate programs please visit http://umaine.edu/soe/prospective-graduate-students/