Welcome to the 53rd year of the Mark Diamond Research Fund (MDRF)! The MDRF offers grants to graduate students for research expenses related to their thesis or dissertation. PhD students may apply for up to $5,000, and Master’s and MFA students for up to $3,000. The MDRF grant is only for University at Buffalo graduate students in programs participating in the Graduate Student Association and who have not waived the student activity fee. Applicants should be in the latter stages of research.
If you have any questions, please contact MDRF Director, Courtney Doxbeck, at gsa-mdrf@buffalo.edu. Please note: due to the high volume of emails and applications for review, the Director does not schedule application review meetings within two weeks of a deadline.
Upcoming MDRF Application Deadlines
PLEASE NOTE: It may take up to 3 weeks to complete paperwork and procedures required to activate MDRF grants once they have been approved. Please plan accordingly when deciding on which deadline is most appropriate to submit your application.
Electronic applications are due by 3:00pm on the due date. Failure to adhere to this deadline will result in the automatic rejection of your application. The following deadlines are for the electronic submissions:
WINTER: Friday, October 25, 2024, for research to be conducted December 1, 2024 – November 30, 2025
SPRING: Friday, March 28, 2025, for research to be conducted May 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026
SUMMER: Friday, June 27, 2025, for research to be conducted August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2026
All application cycles will be electronic-submission only through our new grant management system via the link below.
**As per the MDRF Guidelines and Obligations, and GSA’s Financial Policies and Budgetary Guidelines, all grant expenses must be paid or reimbursed out of the budget from the fiscal year in which they were incurred. Therefore, no grant expenses may be incurred between July 15th and July 31st each year in order to allow for the proper closing of the fiscal year.**
Applying for the MDRF
The Winter 2024 MDRF grant application is now CLOSED. The Spring grant application will open in late January.
MDRF Application Instructions (updated 10/31/2024)
MDRF Grant Application: HTTPS://UBMDRF.GRANTPLATFORM.COM/
Note: If you are a first-time applicant, you must register an account to fill-out and submit an application. Please use your UB email address when registering. If you are a reviewer and wish to submit an application, please contact the MDRF Director for an account role change.
Decisions regarding your Winter application will be issued by November 29, 2024. All decisions are final and cannot be appealed. Advisors cannot email the MDRF Director regarding decisions.
Committee Member Assurance Form
MDRF Regulations and Penalties
Grant Application Workshops and Review
Application Workshops: The MDRF application workshop can be accessed via the links below. After reviewing these videos, any additional questions can be addressed via email or during office hours.
Application Review: Applications for review should be emailed to the MDRF Director in a Microsoft Word Document and will be accepted for one full review. Please send the document to gsa-mdrf@buffalo.edu.
About Mark Diamond
Mark Diamond attended the University at Buffalo as a graduate student in the 1980s. He was very active in the Graduate Student Association and worked tirelessly to continue making research funds available to UB graduate students, regardless of their area of study, as Director of the then “Graduate Resource Access Development Fund.”
This fund was an initiative that was started by the Graduate Student Association in 1971 to help students gain access to funds needed in order to complete their research goals. Unfortunately, Mark perished in an automobile accident after having served as the fund director from 1981-1985. As a tribute and legacy to him, the Graduate Student Association voted to rename the research grant fund in 1986 in his honor. The grant is funded through the mandatory graduate student activity fee and the Graduate School.