Fellowships and Assistantships
The New York Botanical Garden offers fellowships and Assistantships every year to support Graduate Students working through our partner programs. Applications must be submitted to NYBG and at least one affiliated program. NYBG application here.
Graduate Fellowship in Botany (TBD)
General fellowship, open to all applicants. Qualified candidates should apply through NYBG and one or more of NYBG’s partner programs: The City University of New York, Yale School of the Environment, New York University, Fordham University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Florida International University.
Fields of study include systematics, genomics, biodiversity informatics, ecology, ethnobotany, food security, conservation biology, environmental science, and plant morphology, anatomy, and development. NYBG graduate students combine field- and laboratory-based research and actively use the collections and laboratory facilities at NYBG. Preference is given to candidates who will integrate diverse methodologies and leverage NYBG’s collections and professional networks to develop interdisciplinary research projects.
Deadlines for affiliated programs vary; NYBG applications must be received by January 1 each year.
Annette Kade Charitable Trust
Fellowship in Tropical Plant Systematics (1)
(French or German students)
Fellowship support for a German or French student doing doctoral research in tropical plant systematics. In the 2027-28 academic year, one graduate fellowship will be granted, with preference for candidates who will integrate diverse methodologies such as molecular systematics, genomics, bioinformatics, biogeography, or plant morphology and development.
Funding is available for one of two situations: (1) Students who apply and matriculate through a partner university program, or (2) students who are enrolled in a French or German Ph.D. program and would like to conduct dissertation research at NYBG. Preference will be given to students whose interests combine field- and laboratory-based research and who will actively use the collections and laboratory facilities at NYBG. Limited funds are also available to cover fieldwork and laboratory expenses related to the dissertation project. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis beginning January 2026, with relevant deadlines for affiliated-program admissions.
Research Assistantship: Systematics of Protium (Burseraceae) (1)
Dr. Douglas Daly, NSF-funded research project
The most likely partner for this research project is The City University of New York.
The New York Botanical Garden seeks one Graduate Assistant for Dr. Douglas Daly’s NSF-funded research project on the systematics of Protium (Burseraceae). The project will integrate data to complete a monograph of Protium (Burseraceae), one of the most important tree genera in the Americas. In Amazonia, Protium includes more than 125 species, and it is the second most abundant genus in the region, accounting for about 4% of all tree individuals and four of the most common 40 species, comprising literally billions of trees. As one of the better-studied and most important Neotropical tree lineages, Protium is serving as a model system to understand the processes underlying the origins and maintenance of tropical tree diversity. The Graduate Research Assistant would build on foundations of fieldwork and a solid background of “traditional” plant anatomy and morphology, with the potential to gain expertise in genomics, bioinformatics, web-based interactive keys, and near infrared spectroscopy.
Please direct inquiries to Douglas Daly, Ph.D., B.A. Krukoff Senior Curator of Amazonian Botany (ddaly@nybg.org). Interested candidates must submit applications to NYBG and an affiliated program. Deadlines for affiliated programs vary; NYBG applications must be received by January 1 each year.