HOS doctoral students are eligible to request up to a maximum of $5,000 in research funds to help with their dissertation research project. The college will determine the award amount based on the justification in the proposal request. Students are not guaranteed to receive the maximum amount.

Eligibility Requirements

Hospitality PhD students must:

• Be in their third year.
• Passed their Dissertation Proposal Defense exam.
• Be in good academic standing, with an overall HOS Graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. This includes all coursework completed in this program.
• Have continuous enrollment each semester in the doctoral program, either on a part-time or full-time basis.
• Submit the Dissertation Research Funds Request Form within 30-days of passing the Dissertation Defense Exam.

Process to Request Dissertation Funding

• Complete the Dousign Dissertation Research Fund Pre-Authorization form.
  • Below is the .pdf of the form, so you can see what are allowable expenses.
    • Dissertation Research Funds Pre-Authorization Request form.
• All required supporting documents and the completed form will be sent to Diane Wrightman via email, upon completion of your Docusign form.
• The Hospitality Office of Graduate Programs along with the Dean’s Office will review all proposals. Students will receive a decision within 30 business days once documents are received.
• Pre-approval must be granted before research expenses can be incurred.
• All funds awarded must be spent within the semester they are awarded.

Reminder: PhD students are not guaranteed to receive a full $5,000 in research funds.

Approved Dissertation Research Funds Expeditures

Hospitality PhD students who receive approval for dissertation research funds must work with Valerie Calbert (valerie.calbert@unlv.edu) in the Hospitality Graduate Programs Office and Josephine Ishou (josephine.ishou@unlv.edu) in the Hospitality Business Office prior to incurring any expenses to learn the university policies to purchase any services or pay invoices.

Students who do not follow the university guidelines for expenses incurred for their research may be responsible for covering the expenses with their own funds.